General Discussion on Ernest Hemingway

Eliot Rosewater

Over the last 6 months I have read four of Ernest Hemingways (perhaps best known) works - Fiesta, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea. Has anyone else read Hemingway? Any thoughts??


I think whats good about him is there is a mixture of both the obvious and the subtle. One can read many books and by not "getting" them not enjoy them one bit. But I thinks Hemingway's books that Ive read - particularly Fiesta and A Farewell to Arms - would be enjoyable even to those ignorant of any literary under-layers. I say that as someone who didnt really "get" all his work fully, and will probably return to them.

I think his writing style is pretty immense and for such understatement he is adept at portraying scenes and emotion.

And finally the openings of both A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are great. Perhaps thats just because Ive read those openings so much!

Hrududu

The only Hemmingway book I've read was "A Moveable Feast" and at the time I made a note to read more of his work so this is a good reminder.

Sammy Jennings

His short stories are brilliant, too. The bumper collection The First Forty Nine Stories was the first book of his I read, and even though I found Farewell to Arms pretty good and Old Man and the Sea okay, it's still my favorite.