|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2009 11:09:38 GMT
Ernest Hemingway born on this day in 1899. Love him,hate him,indifferent.? Favorites?
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 21, 2009 15:02:57 GMT
I haven't read Hemingway in years, but opening anything of his at random instantly reminds the reader of why Hemingway is considered so important. That bricklayer precision of his in laying one word after another had an impact that affects writing to this very day.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jazz on Jul 21, 2009 16:28:29 GMT
I hesitate to use the word 'indifferent'. I read most of his work years ago as well and think that he is worth reading, at least one book, for his unique style. God knows, it wouldn't take long. The book I love the most is A Moveable Feast and I read it by chance only four years ago. I think this is his masterpiece and is an exceptional portrait of the young hopeful American expatriate circle in Paris in the 20's.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2009 16:57:47 GMT
I am a big fan of simple prose, so I like Hemingway. Fancy phrasings quickly tire me out. (Not always, but usually.)
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jul 21, 2009 17:05:19 GMT
Someone lent me a book of his writings and there was a fair amount of his early journalism, for the Toronto Daily Star I believe. That was good, but then when he started all that great white hunter and deep-sea fishing stuff, I just ended up skipping huge sections of it all.
I did have to read The Old Man and the Sea in Grade 10 or something and absolutely hated it. I remember liking the book about the Italian front in WW1, and maybe also For Whom the Bell Tolls, but it took me a few years before I went to look for more Hemingway. And as I mentioned on the biography thread, I recently read a book about Martha Gellhorn, and it really didn't make me want to read any more of his stuff.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 21, 2009 18:52:51 GMT
What I dislike about The Old Man and the Sea is what I call the idiot-savant treatment of "quaint foreigners". It's been copied by writers ever since and makes me squirm with distaste. In this style the peasant/fisherman/native/etc. speaks in simple, declarative sentences that never contain contractions. Everything this sort of character says is borderline simple-minded, yet with a rich freight of profundity.  |
|
|
|
Post by traveler63 on Jul 22, 2009 2:49:06 GMT
My favorite was For Whom the Bell Tolls. His writing was colorful and painted a mental picture. There are few contemporary writers that have that kind of talent.
I started the new James Patterson book Swimsuit. Read 5 pages and it went back to the library. I really don't know what today's authors are all about. It seems like most of them just want to shock the hell out of you by describing more and more horrific acts against other human beings. I keep searching for something to read that has some merit to it, with a good story.
|
|
|
|
Post by nic on Jul 22, 2009 6:25:18 GMT
I spent a large part of my thirtieth birthday in the Bar Hemingway, so it should come as no surprise that I am a fan. For me though, his short stories are sublime; that's what his style was best suited too.
Take a moment to reread "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and tell me it's not exhilarating. It's only made more so through the economy of the prose.
I currently have True At First Light in my stack of books to read.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2009 10:22:45 GMT
The short stories are by far my favorite as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jul 23, 2009 7:56:36 GMT
I think I've only read two books by him, a short story compilation (with the Kilimanjaro story) and 'Death in the Afternoon', which I really liked. Never finished 'The Old Man and the Sea'.
|
|
