I'll do that, eventually, I got a pretty huge stack of books on my "to read" list, and I've vowed (probably futilely) not to buy any more books until I'm through it.
One thing I do love about Hemingway, though, is the titles he comes up with. Some of the best ever.
Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi
It's why I began reading his work.
"Do you mind if I reel in this fish?" - Dale Harris
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn." - Ernest Hemingway
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I love Hemingway's works. The Sun Also Rises is not only my favorite Hemingway book, but my favorite book. I thought it was really honest, and somewhat vulnerable of Hemingway to write. There is "macho" men in that book, but Jake never came across like that to me. The characters were so believable. Their actions and conversations were life-like and believable. They were all scarred, but what's brilliant is that Hemingway never stated that outright. He alluded to it, but he let the character's demons come-out in their conversations and actions. You really felt part of the gang drinking on some terrace in Pamplona.
Atmosphere to, with such sparse prose he described things so well and brought them to life. I really felt a difference between Paris and Pamplona and the fishing trip.
"Smooth seas rarely make skillful sailors."
Totally agree on this (not necessarily my absolute number 1 book but definitely right up there). Hemingway's masterpiece.
I searched this thread as I am wondering why so many people jump circles around Hemingway. I'm currently reading a Movable Feast and I feel like I am rafting down a slow moving stream. The passing landscape ranges from breath taking to woefully ordinary.
My favorite books by Hemingway are The Sun Also Rises. I think many agree that this is one of his best novels, but opinions vary. Following this, I really enjoyed The Old Man in the Sea.
I didn't like A Farewell to Arms much. My favorite is The Old Man And The Sea.
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"Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood. The doctors didn't know if my eyes would ever heal."
-Pi
I have to toss in my ballot with The Sun Also Rises. I prefer not only the characters and plot (or lack of it) but I think his prose was stronger here, in A farewell to arms his prose seem's to lack the same preciseness as in TSAR. In AFTA the dialogue also seems more artificial, compared to that dialogue of TSAR where you really do feel the scene and conversation to be so alive.
Also I love how in TSAR Hemingway perfectly captures the sense of being young, rich and bored. Numb to life yet lacking nothing. The only writers who catch that sentiment better are Byron and Tolstoy, but even then Hemingway is up there when it comes to the novel. I would rank him second only to Tolstoy.
I agree to a point, but Hemingway's character Jake Barnes did work in The Sun Also Rises. He was a journalist. I don't think his character was bored as he was spending free time between jobs with his friends on vacation. I also don't think he was necessarily rich, but lived among the rich and had a salary to keep up. Being that Jake is the protagonist, I didn't always feel that Hemingway was portraying life as easy, so much as his characters living a really nice lifestyle.
It wasn't that the characters were particularly wealthy but they were in comparison to the French, whose currency was very much weaker than the US dollar. People getting paid in dollars were on easy street in post WW1 France and Spain.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
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