Hemingway - opinions

I've never read him and I've never known any (sane) person who has.

Actually, come to think of it, the name Hemingway makes me think of Michael Palin and the book/TV series he made about him.

What I've read, I've liked.

I was forced to read a Hemingway story once in a workshop and then listen while the speaker enthused about the brilliance of the man.

I did not particularly enjoy the story.

I will not be tracking down Hemingway stuff to read.

I read the Old Man and the Sea in highschool. Um, sorry, but blech!

When I think of Ernest Hemingway, I think of depression and suicide. Didn't he shoot himself or something? I've only read "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and it was dark and scary and not really an enjoyable read for me. From memory, it was full of bombs exploding and people being taken prisoner and other people hiding out. I read it years ago, but it's one book I can say I definitely would not read again.

Booze and beaches.

I'll be the odd person out. I loved Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, I've read it a couple of times. I also enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea. I consider them classic "must-reads".

I think of the movie Save the Last Dance.

Guess I'll be the first to say it: I'm crazy about Hemingway (check out my sig ). When I think of Hemingway, I think of For Whom the Bell Tolls, one of my favorite novels. To my mind it's a tale of great courage, and though it's very sad (made me cry and cry at the end), it's ennobling and uplifting. And Pilar is one of my all-time favorite female characters in fiction.

The next thing I think of is Hemingway's excellent Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which contains, IMHO, some of the most poignant and moving statements ever made by a writer on writing, excerpted here:

"For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.​

And the third thing I think of is his skill with short stories. He had the short story down to an art form.

Edited to say: Ha, I'm not the first on this thread to say "I like Hemingway", after all -- Kristie911 posted while I was still getting this post together.

I like his short stories better than his novels.

As for Hemingway himself, I have not only his books, but books about him as well as a PBS video. By the way, for you Hemingway fans out there, Ernest Hemingway / A Literary Reference by Robert Trogdon is an interesting book about Hemingway's life and work.

Was there some specific thing about Hemingway that you needed an opinion on, or just some general comments?

I think of spare prose, machismo, suicide, Cuba. I've read one or two novels, a bunch of short stories and neither hate nor love the man's work.

My best impersonation:
"Outside, it was dark. Inside, it was light. I ate some cheese. She had bad teeth, but poured me a sambuca. We drank, and then fished."
Add gratuitous amounts of sangria, and maybe a train ride, and there it is.
Actually, I like Papa. One day I will go to Key West to see his house.

a very gifted writer who has set the tone for modern day minimalist writing style

Pellegrina Leoni said:

Guess I'll be the first to say it: I'm crazy about Hemingway (check out my sig ). When I think of Hemingway, I think of For Whom the Bell Tolls, one of my favorite novels. To my mind it's a tale of great courage, and though it's very sad (made me cry and cry at the end), it's ennobling and uplifting. And Pilar is one of my all-time favorite female characters in fiction.

The next thing I think of is Hemingway's excellent Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which contains, IMHO, some of the most poignant and moving statements ever made by a writer on writing, excerpted here:

"For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.​

"How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him."​

And the third thing I think of is his skill with short stories. He had the short story down to an art form.

Edited to say: Ha, I'm not the first on this thread to say "I like Hemingway", after all -- Kristie911 posted while I was still getting this post together.

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Excellent song by Metallica. Okay...... Okay.

The Old Man and the Sea, one of my favorite books.
Achieving great things with such spare prose.
Completely not getting "Hills Like White Elephants" in high school only to be enchanted by it in my adulthood.




-Michelle

If it hadn't been for Hemingway, I'd never have wanted to start writing.

While reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, I find myself noticing that he breaks a few rules we've set down for ourselves these days, like passive voice. In spite of that, I'm enjoying the story, and parts of it make me cry.

His style may be minimalist, but I can see clearly the scenes before me.

He's definately not my favorite, not even close to it. When I hear Hemingway, I think alcoholism and spare, tight prose.

When I think Hemingway, I think his famous "icebeg rule for writing" -- most of the story should be underwater, only the tip of the icebeg should hint at the drama, or something to this effect. I think of the writer, the MC in The Snows of Kilimanjaro who is dying. Hemingway has this character thinks:

“Now he would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well.”

Isn't it beautiful?

The rest, booze, beach, fish, women, ego, Cuba, suicide -- irrelevant. An imperfect human being on his own imperfect life journey.

Yes, I am a fan of Hemingway as an artist, a master of words.

Adagio

Stew21 said:

When you think of Ernest Hemingway you think of....

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... big guns and a big male ego.

i really know little about him, but think those two things first. next, i free associate and start thinking about the importance of being earnest....

Pellegrina Leoni said:

Guess I'll be the first to say it: I'm crazy about Hemingway (check out my sig ). When I think of Hemingway, I think of For Whom the Bell Tolls, one of my favorite novels. To my mind it's a tale of great courage, and though it's very sad (made me cry and cry at the end), it's ennobling and uplifting. And Pilar is one of my all-time favorite female characters in fiction.

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ALLELUIA!
I was beginning to think I would have to be the only defender of Hemingway here! For WHom the Bell Tolls is the single best book I have ever read. No other book before or after has ever caused me to actually weep (shed tears, yes, but not weep) after I turned the last page - and the weeping went on for days afterwards. To this day, whenever I see a field of harvested grain in autumn I think of Maria's straw-coloured cropped head. It wrenched me apart. I read it just as I started writing myself and my prayer then was to one day write a book that made readers react just the way I had. That would be the summit of writing for me. A great, gret book. And I agree totally about Pilar. Oh, she is delightful!

The movie (Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper) is also good, but not nearly as moving.

That was the first Hemingway I ever read, and I immediately declared him my favourite writer. I tried reading more boks from him but it was all disappointing, I loathed The Sun Also Rises - probably the WORST book I ever read. Ol Man and the Sea? Blah. Farewell to Arms was only so-so.