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Thread: Hemingway.

  1. #1
    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    Hemingway.

    I was watching a documentary last night on the final years of Hemingway, and somehow it struck home as the encapsulation of all that a full life is comprised of. The early years of expressing his creative talents and attaining recognition in surroundings that provided both; stimulus and inner pleasure.

    Some of us write for our own pleasure, or for a limited recognition on a forum such as this. Hemingway, (when once attaining prominence) seemed almost to be his own worst enemy in his drive to maintain that prominence. The wives, heavy drinking and the seeking of danger, were but vehicles that sought that elusive continuation of what he achieved in relative youth.

    He strikes me as very much akin to Andre Gide in his investigation of freedom and empowerment, in the face of moralistic and conventional constraints; and he seems to strive in his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of how to be fully oneself, without at the same time betraying one's values.

    The inevitable tragedy, ( to which all must accept) lay in a combination of; ill health in declining years, with that bane of all writers, when nothing will come from brain to pen.

    His standards being so high, he reached that stage and ended his mortal existence.

    Some of the happiest people I have met are those whose pleasures are simple; where the end of ambition comes as a great relief, and the acceptance of the nowness of life. irrespective of at what stage.

    Unfortunately we are all not built like that.

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    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
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    Just looked Hemingway up, it seemed that ha suffered from mental illness in his last years. Paranoia?

    I think that the great difficulty of aging is learning to deal with the limitations it imposes. Things are probably much worse for famous and successful people, who then find out that the world has found other darlings. One has to learn to substitute ones pleasures for other pleasures and make much of things that before seemed very small and uninteresting, like enjoying the taste of unseasoned vegetables.

    In your case, if you could find the heart to finish your spy story, maybe you could publish it in a internet or paper vehicle with a less limited (sniff!) audience.
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

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    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    Thanks buddy for the gentle push & encouragement to revisit the spy story.

    I'm not sure if I have the correct approach when starting longer stories, in not having thought out a clear ending, (unlike the short ones I can wrap up in a more succinct manner.)

    I let the narrative lead me chapter by chapter. Then when you find yourself in a cul de sac what do you do? Reverse, a three point turn or stop and gather your thoughts?

    Anyway, on a different note, I trust you are still riding out the virus storm, though God knows the circumstances are dire there.

    Best wishes & take care.
    M.

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    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
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    Hi, Mani

    I haven´t any doubt, that if you reread your two or three beginning chapters, you will arrive at a good solution.

    As for the pandemic storm: Numbers got a down a bit, because part of the adults have got at least the first shot. Everything seems to getting back "to the old normal". Cinemas and theaters open, the kids must all go back to school, people sit talking without masks. Personally I think it is still to early for that.

    UK was lucky to understand the seriousness of the pandemics at a comparatively early stage.

    So, I wish you fine post-pandemics but take care with whatever Greek letter might turn up!

    Best regards,
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

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