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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
How do I put into words what I felt after reading this book. I do not usually read biographies, preferring literary fiction but I was riveted throughout my reading of the biography of Martha Gellhorn. Rich with historical detail and anecdotal data about this remarkable woman’s life, I felt compelled to read every single word and still would like to know more. I have already ordered two books that she wrote. She was a tremendous force In the literary world and was larger than life . I highly recommend this book.
Gellhorn was both a truly terrible and truly magnificent person. Her career is something to be admired. Her personal life, not so much. Very well-written and informative. Recommend.
3.5/5
Tell the truth, but tell it slant. In my case, find the truth, but seen askance, as I made a habit of, whenever I embarked on a traversal of history, to not touch the overtly protruding line of Male and instead down less written and even more seldomly watered and weeded records of mothers, daughters, lovers, and wives. At least, that's my hypothesis for what led me to this particular biography, as it certainly wasn't any knowledge of Moorehead or more than the faintest idea of what it meant to report on the Spanish Civil War as a woman. My prioritizing 21st century reads at the closing of this year and a yearning for a sizable nonfiction got me to finally take this on, and what I found was a chronicle that was admirably contextual when it wasn't simperingly fawning, incisively entertaining when it wasn't clownishly unfeeling, and all in all worth reading even when its nauseating nationalism and naïve moralizing became inexcusably trite. So, far from the best biography I've ever read, but my vision of large chunks of the 20th century and a sizable selection of its most earthshaking events has been indescribably enhanced, and having the pompously singular Gellhorn at the helm certainly made the ride all the more incomparably satisfying.
Ahh, Gellhorn. I can't say she's boring, or that she deserved the many instances of misogyny, violent or indirect, that thwarted her intimacy, truncated her career, and trapped you her the other side of too easily burnt bridges and too fragile an end of life. Indeed, if you had to pick a woman to ride out the 20th century with, there are few who traversed as many countries and their battlefields as she did, and when she wasn't been insipidly acrimonious, she could be a compassionate stalwart and a witty grand old time indeed. Had this biographer been a tad more scrupulous about objectivity, or at least restricted her value judgements to the realm of unsupported theories and tenuous connections, I may have even awarded that fifth star. As it stands, Moorehead's mountains of detail couldn't distract from her ever-present judgmental attitude, especially when it came to Gellhorn's choice in who to side with in such contests as Spanish Republicans vs Spanish Nationalists, Czechoslovakia vs Germany, Vietnman vs the, and Palestine vs Israel. It certainly made the trajectory through this not-skimpy biography all the easier with a rah-rah cheerleader straining at the boundaries of a professional tone, but whenever a judgment call riddled with ignorance reared its head, it became very hard to take the writing seriously, especially when Moorehead was in the midst of castigating Gellhorn for her own bias. The observer observing the observer observing the observer, as it were, and while I don't regret my four star rating, I was glad when the text followed its subject and voluntarily exited stage left.
However much I've grumbled throughout this entire review, I do love reading the work of the present margins bringing the past margins to light and setting both them and themselves in their rightful place in the historical record. Thus, I'll probably always be looking forward to works such as [b:Cleopatra|7968243|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1294098301l/7968243._SY75_.jpg|12020129], [b:Indira|290376|Indira The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi|Katherine Frank|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387701553l/290376._SY75_.jpg|376987], [b:Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation|46153|Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties|Noël Riley Fitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347709475l/46153._SY75_.jpg|45304], [b:Sophia Tolstoy|6983051|Sophia Tolstoy A Biography|Alexandra Popoff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348710871l/6983051._SX50_.jpg|7224988] and other instances of women writing women, for what is penned in the likes of Wikipedia is patriarchally fucked and what is in academia is only slightly better in some cases and much worse than others, and until that changes, I seek out the voices with a personal incentive to reach out to their ancestors and bring them to life. Gellhorn would make mincemeat out of the type of puling fearmonger who measures 'woman' by how much they serve as doormat, but the fact that Moorehead went nearly 500 pages without mentioning a Black person beyond Mandela and a number of unnamed citizens of Africa and its diaspora is rather pathetic (especially when she attempted to argue in favor of reverse racism of all things). Still, if you're only here for Hemmingway or any number of suppurated masculinities, fuck off. Here lies a lady who went by the name of Martha Gellhorn, and damn was she good at what she did best.
Tell the truth, but tell it slant. In my case, find the truth, but seen askance, as I made a habit of, whenever I embarked on a traversal of history, to not touch the overtly protruding line of Male and instead down less written and even more seldomly watered and weeded records of mothers, daughters, lovers, and wives. At least, that's my hypothesis for what led me to this particular biography, as it certainly wasn't any knowledge of Moorehead or more than the faintest idea of what it meant to report on the Spanish Civil War as a woman. My prioritizing 21st century reads at the closing of this year and a yearning for a sizable nonfiction got me to finally take this on, and what I found was a chronicle that was admirably contextual when it wasn't simperingly fawning, incisively entertaining when it wasn't clownishly unfeeling, and all in all worth reading even when its nauseating nationalism and naïve moralizing became inexcusably trite. So, far from the best biography I've ever read, but my vision of large chunks of the 20th century and a sizable selection of its most earthshaking events has been indescribably enhanced, and having the pompously singular Gellhorn at the helm certainly made the ride all the more incomparably satisfying.
Ahh, Gellhorn. I can't say she's boring, or that she deserved the many instances of misogyny, violent or indirect, that thwarted her intimacy, truncated her career, and trapped you her the other side of too easily burnt bridges and too fragile an end of life. Indeed, if you had to pick a woman to ride out the 20th century with, there are few who traversed as many countries and their battlefields as she did, and when she wasn't been insipidly acrimonious, she could be a compassionate stalwart and a witty grand old time indeed. Had this biographer been a tad more scrupulous about objectivity, or at least restricted her value judgements to the realm of unsupported theories and tenuous connections, I may have even awarded that fifth star. As it stands, Moorehead's mountains of detail couldn't distract from her ever-present judgmental attitude, especially when it came to Gellhorn's choice in who to side with in such contests as Spanish Republicans vs Spanish Nationalists, Czechoslovakia vs Germany, Vietnman vs the, and Palestine vs Israel. It certainly made the trajectory through this not-skimpy biography all the easier with a rah-rah cheerleader straining at the boundaries of a professional tone, but whenever a judgment call riddled with ignorance reared its head, it became very hard to take the writing seriously, especially when Moorehead was in the midst of castigating Gellhorn for her own bias. The observer observing the observer observing the observer, as it were, and while I don't regret my four star rating, I was glad when the text followed its subject and voluntarily exited stage left.
However much I've grumbled throughout this entire review, I do love reading the work of the present margins bringing the past margins to light and setting both them and themselves in their rightful place in the historical record. Thus, I'll probably always be looking forward to works such as [b:Cleopatra|7968243|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1294098301l/7968243._SY75_.jpg|12020129], [b:Indira|290376|Indira The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi|Katherine Frank|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387701553l/290376._SY75_.jpg|376987], [b:Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation|46153|Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation A History of Literary Paris in the Twenties and Thirties|Noël Riley Fitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347709475l/46153._SY75_.jpg|45304], [b:Sophia Tolstoy|6983051|Sophia Tolstoy A Biography|Alexandra Popoff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348710871l/6983051._SX50_.jpg|7224988] and other instances of women writing women, for what is penned in the likes of Wikipedia is patriarchally fucked and what is in academia is only slightly better in some cases and much worse than others, and until that changes, I seek out the voices with a personal incentive to reach out to their ancestors and bring them to life. Gellhorn would make mincemeat out of the type of puling fearmonger who measures 'woman' by how much they serve as doormat, but the fact that Moorehead went nearly 500 pages without mentioning a Black person beyond Mandela and a number of unnamed citizens of Africa and its diaspora is rather pathetic (especially when she attempted to argue in favor of reverse racism of all things). Still, if you're only here for Hemmingway or any number of suppurated masculinities, fuck off. Here lies a lady who went by the name of Martha Gellhorn, and damn was she good at what she did best.
I first came across Martha Gellhorn in a book I read last year - [b:Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War|17934367|Hotel Florida Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War|Amanda Vaill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382110121l/17934367._SX50_.jpg|25142226]. When one of the reading challenges I attempt each year had a prompt requiring a book about a writer/author, I knew I wanted to use it as an opportunity to learn more about her.
This book is well researched and well written. As I was reading I couldn't help but think of Santayana's quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I think the stories of Gellhorn's life - both the story she lived and the stories she wrote - hold lessons for us today.
This book is well researched and well written. As I was reading I couldn't help but think of Santayana's quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I think the stories of Gellhorn's life - both the story she lived and the stories she wrote - hold lessons for us today.
This densely packed biography reads like a history of the twentieth century. Gellhorn was an interesting and complex woman; a writer compelled to report on the world as she sees it, however unpopular that was. While generally interesting, I did find it occasionally repetitive and tiresome, and it took me quite some time to get into it. All in all, I'm glad I persisted with it, but I'm also glad that I'm finally finished it.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Martha Gellhorn did not like that her accomplishments were overshadowed by having been Ernest Hemingway's third wife. She would most like to be known for her now-forgotten novels. What she deserves to be remembered for is her ground-breaking war reporting that paved the way for women to report from conflict zones.
This biography is a thorough look at Gellhorn's life, with care taken to center her life and activities within the history and politics of the time. And with Gellhorn being a regular visitor to the Roosevelt White House, breaking into journalism with reports on the living conditions of mill workers in North Carolina and Massachusetts during the Depression, being on the ground in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and reporting during the Second World War, including being among the first reporters on the beaches on D-Day, this makes for interesting reading. She traveled all over Europe during the last days of the war, including riding through Italy with the soldiers fighting and a post-liberation visit to the Dachau concentration camp. Later, she'd visit both Israel and try to get a pass to report on the Vietnam War.
The book bogs down in the final third, when Gellhorn's life becomes less about her career and more about her disappointments with aging and relationships. She was not a good mother and when the book turned to detailing things like how many times she humiliated her son or the time her cats peed on the sofa, I found my love for this detailed book waning. I'd recommend it for the first two-thirds and suggest skipping the rest. She was an important historical figure, but certainly not an unproblematic one.
This biography is a thorough look at Gellhorn's life, with care taken to center her life and activities within the history and politics of the time. And with Gellhorn being a regular visitor to the Roosevelt White House, breaking into journalism with reports on the living conditions of mill workers in North Carolina and Massachusetts during the Depression, being on the ground in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and reporting during the Second World War, including being among the first reporters on the beaches on D-Day, this makes for interesting reading. She traveled all over Europe during the last days of the war, including riding through Italy with the soldiers fighting and a post-liberation visit to the Dachau concentration camp. Later, she'd visit both Israel and try to get a pass to report on the Vietnam War.
The book bogs down in the final third, when Gellhorn's life becomes less about her career and more about her disappointments with aging and relationships. She was not a good mother and when the book turned to detailing things like how many times she humiliated her son or the time her cats peed on the sofa, I found my love for this detailed book waning. I'd recommend it for the first two-thirds and suggest skipping the rest. She was an important historical figure, but certainly not an unproblematic one.
Amazing life to read about. Gellhorn was a truly unique person and so much of her passion and her definition of a good life spoke to me.
There are some truly scandalous things in her life, that I didn’t expect and I’m glad, this biography exists.
There are some truly scandalous things in her life, that I didn’t expect and I’m glad, this biography exists.
Martha Gellhorn. What a broad! I love learning about women of yesteryear who refused to inhabit the prescribed female roles. I admire Martha's grit and tenacity as a journalist, and I envy her life of world travel.
I do wish she hadn't been so foolish as to marry, of all the jealous rotten rogues, Ernest Hemingway. But I suppose she can be forgiven, considering that she fell in love with him in a war zone while she was covering the Spanish Civil War. It would have been tempting to cling to a strong, manly fellow American for comfort under those circumstances. And Hem was said to be extremely charming and persuasive while in pursuit of a woman. Fortunately for Martha, it was just temporary insanity. The marriage only lasted about four years.
I do wish she hadn't been so foolish as to marry, of all the jealous rotten rogues, Ernest Hemingway. But I suppose she can be forgiven, considering that she fell in love with him in a war zone while she was covering the Spanish Civil War. It would have been tempting to cling to a strong, manly fellow American for comfort under those circumstances. And Hem was said to be extremely charming and persuasive while in pursuit of a woman. Fortunately for Martha, it was just temporary insanity. The marriage only lasted about four years.
I found this biography from the source material for Beautiful Exiles, and was intrigued. I didn't know much about Martha Gellhorn prior to reading that book and wanted to know more.
This is a thoroughly researched biography, penned by a woman whose mother was close friends with Martha. Lots of primary source materials, such as letters, were used.
Martha Gellhorn was a fascinating woman, but also maddening. Intrepid, fearless, but also cold and distant. It's obvious she didn't quite think through what adopting a child would do to her life. You can't just go traipsing around to multiple countries when you have a kid. And she just stuck Sandy with nannies all the time! Ridiculous.
I do want to read some of her own work now, though.
This is a thoroughly researched biography, penned by a woman whose mother was close friends with Martha. Lots of primary source materials, such as letters, were used.
Martha Gellhorn was a fascinating woman, but also maddening. Intrepid, fearless, but also cold and distant. It's obvious she didn't quite think through what adopting a child would do to her life. You can't just go traipsing around to multiple countries when you have a kid. And she just stuck Sandy with nannies all the time! Ridiculous.
I do want to read some of her own work now, though.