Ernest Hemingway

The "Old Man's" house was still occupied when I last went by in '84.

Regards,

Tam 3
 
I read The Old Man and the Sea when I was in school and enjoyed it. Never could finish anything else he wrote.

Same with Tom Clancy; Red October was great, the rest was overblown twaddle.
 
I've been in his house, downed a few rum and Cokes in his old haunts in Havana and enjoyed some of his writing. He was a man of his time when heroes came with a spirit of the outdoors, danger, drink and a good gun.He was bigger than many lives of his time and provided many with a temporary relief from war, poverty and stress. I can't think of a single man today who can match his character. He apparently lived his life to the fullest and chose his own path. How many of us can say the same?
 
I have found books about Hemingway more fun to read than books by Hemingway.
My favorite story of his, "The Short Happy Life of Francis McCumber", (I believe that is the correct title) is probably the reason I have never married...............
 
I own and have read only one of Ernest Hemingway's books A farewell to arms to be honest i thought it was pretty good.
 
Islands in the Stream has a passage where a man hunting a German submarine during WW II uses his .357 magnum revolver to kill a crab that stands its ground. IIRC, the revolver is not identified as S&W but I always figured it had to be S&W. There was a mention of the revolver and the FBI, another clue that it was S&W I guess.
 
I have been derelict in my reading of Faulkner. After I finish working on Cooper (Twain was right about him being a little wordy), I plan to transition to Faulkner a little.
 
As a voracious reader, I have read most of his works. I think Old Man and the Sea is his best work. I liked the Nick Adams stories.
 
While not a novelist, some of you may enjoy Paul Theroux's books based on his travels thru South America, (The Old Patagonian Express), China (Riding the Iron Rooster) -- note: he used the trains and other travel modes that the local folk did, The Happy Isles of Oceania (paddling a canoe thru the various countries/islands of the SOuth Pacific), The Pillars of Hercules, and one of my favorites, Dark Star Safari (his train and bus trip thru Africa -- a really good book).
 
I have read a little Hemingway, but I'm a big Robert Ruark fan
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I thought Hemingway was overrated for the longest time. Then I started reading his short stories. I (like most people) read and judged him by his novels. After reading some of his shorts, I realized that the novel was clearly not his best genre. His shorts kill. His minimalist style fits the short form like a glove. Read: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (story set in a African big game hunt:)) and Hills Like White Elephants. These stories (and many more) really kill.
 
I admit I did enjoy The Old Mand and the Sea. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls just didn't do it for me.

As for Robert Ruark, I've read several of his works and enjoyed them all. I guess I prefer a different writing style, or type of book, as I really enjoy reading Elmer Keith, Col. Townsend Whelen, etc.
 
Hemingway's son, Patrick lives 5 miles away. Nice guy, been to his home a few times. Did look at some albums from some of his Dad's trips over to Africa. Kind of strange to kow you are looking at photos of this famous person. Yet they are in a family photo album.
 
I am not one of those who idolize Hemingway or his writing. He could write a pretty good short story, to give credit where it is due. His private life was a mess and he wasn't the great adventurer he proposed himself to be. At the end he took the coward's way out. In all, not very appealing as a writer or a man.

Russ
 
Hemingway's writings were too dark for me. I had a collection of his short stories at one time. After the third or fourth one I was starting to get depressed. I gave it away.
 
Remembered a Gertrude Stein quote on Hemingway.

"The man married three women from St. Louis. He certainly did not learn much." ;)
 

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