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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
In my teens and 20s I had a fanatical love for Hemingway, but I only read The Sun Also Rises, the short stories, and his letters. I read The Sun Also Rises at least 10 times, maybe more. But when I tried to read For Whom the Bell Tolls I couldn't stomach it, and then I had no ambition to read the other books, so I just read The Sun Also Rises again and again.
I've been thinking I'd like to read this book, and Death in the Afternoon, and then maybe someday I'll try one of the other novels. Anyway, this came into my hands and I devoured it, even though the writing is often like a parody of Hemingway's writing and it almost made me want to laugh. There's a lovely, sweet nostalgia in this. I didn't realize he'd written it more than 30 years after Paris. Here we have the pain-racked older Hemingway remembering the years when he was young and married to his first wife. They were poor and very happy together.
Here also are Gertrude Stein and Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound (who sounds really wonderful) and some others I don't know much about, and a little name-dropping such as now and then he sees James Joyce in a restaurant. Part of the fun is all of them, and the star at the center of their orbits is Paris. The love affair of Hemingway and his wife, though, is what really glows and shines. Their happiness is the molten core and all the warmth and loveliness of Paris in this story is coming from that. The book on its surface is not about them, and their sweet relationship — it is about Paris and that time and Hemingway himself and his own orbit among the writers who lived there then.
I've been thinking I'd like to read this book, and Death in the Afternoon, and then maybe someday I'll try one of the other novels. Anyway, this came into my hands and I devoured it, even though the writing is often like a parody of Hemingway's writing and it almost made me want to laugh. There's a lovely, sweet nostalgia in this. I didn't realize he'd written it more than 30 years after Paris. Here we have the pain-racked older Hemingway remembering the years when he was young and married to his first wife. They were poor and very happy together.
Here also are Gertrude Stein and Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound (who sounds really wonderful) and some others I don't know much about, and a little name-dropping such as now and then he sees James Joyce in a restaurant. Part of the fun is all of them, and the star at the center of their orbits is Paris. The love affair of Hemingway and his wife, though, is what really glows and shines. Their happiness is the molten core and all the warmth and loveliness of Paris in this story is coming from that. The book on its surface is not about them, and their sweet relationship — it is about Paris and that time and Hemingway himself and his own orbit among the writers who lived there then.
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
A beautiful glimpse into a moment, a place, which will never be repeated. Sure, Hemingway is delusional, and unable or unwilling to grasp his responsibility for everything, but that doesn't make the story less.
8/10. This was my first time reading Hemingway and, damn, that man can write. It's not hard to see why this little book holds such an iconic status. It is a portal into the culture of inter-war Paris; a celebration of many of the era's literary giants; a snapshot of philia; a loose collection of thoughts on the writing process; and an exemplar of wit and wry humor. This was one of those rare books that actually make me chuckle, and compelled me to dog-ear corners so I can easily refer to some of Hemingway's most compelling musings from time to time.
Each chapter is packed with references and riffs that I'm sure make this popular assigned reading in many literature and history courses. The only downside for me personally was that I feel some of the more subtle references may have escaped me having never read Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, etc.
For some reason, I found Hemingway's sharp prose and wit most effective in his descriptions and analyses of things and people he does not like. For example, telling someone you find annoying that the only reason you won't shoot them is because there's a law against it absolutely savage.
This maybe wasn't the most obvious entry point into Hemingway's catalogue, but now I'm definitely looking forward to eventually reading his greatest works.
Each chapter is packed with references and riffs that I'm sure make this popular assigned reading in many literature and history courses. The only downside for me personally was that I feel some of the more subtle references may have escaped me having never read Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, etc.
For some reason, I found Hemingway's sharp prose and wit most effective in his descriptions and analyses of things and people he does not like. For example, telling someone you find annoying that the only reason you won't shoot them is because there's a law against it absolutely savage.
This maybe wasn't the most obvious entry point into Hemingway's catalogue, but now I'm definitely looking forward to eventually reading his greatest works.
File under books I would have liked when I was a pretentious teen.
Hemingway's memoir of Paris in the years when he was becoming Hemingway. A great read.
Comment n'ai-je pas lu Hemingway plus tôt ?! Je n'en sais rien... Du coup, quelle bonne idée d'entrer dans son œuvre par ses souvenirs de sa vie à Paris (et ailleurs) dans les années 1920 !
Je découvre l'homme dont quelques amis, irréductibles fans de l'auteur, m'ont tant parlé ces 5 dernières années, par moi-même et au début de sa carrière, alors qu'il est, selon ses propres mots, jeune, pauvre et heureux.
Un merveilleux voyage ponctué de réflexion sur l'écriture et des anecdotes sur les artistes de l'époque qu'il croise, côtoie ou se voit mentionner. Découverte de certaines figures essentielles de la littérature et des arts, redécouverte sous un jour un peu moins favorable pour certains. Et toujours l'écriture, le métier d'écrivain, l'attitude d'Hemingway face à ses propres écrits, ceux des autres et la manière à la fois abrupte et pudique avec laquelle il fait face à certains aspects de la vie.
Une excellente découverte avant de m'engager dans ma lecture "obligatoire" mais néanmoins volontaire, pour un séminaire sur le Modernisme Américain, de "The Sun Also Rises", mentionné à la fin de "A Moveable Feast".
Le début d'une nouvelle histoire d'amour?
Je découvre l'homme dont quelques amis, irréductibles fans de l'auteur, m'ont tant parlé ces 5 dernières années, par moi-même et au début de sa carrière, alors qu'il est, selon ses propres mots, jeune, pauvre et heureux.
Un merveilleux voyage ponctué de réflexion sur l'écriture et des anecdotes sur les artistes de l'époque qu'il croise, côtoie ou se voit mentionner. Découverte de certaines figures essentielles de la littérature et des arts, redécouverte sous un jour un peu moins favorable pour certains. Et toujours l'écriture, le métier d'écrivain, l'attitude d'Hemingway face à ses propres écrits, ceux des autres et la manière à la fois abrupte et pudique avec laquelle il fait face à certains aspects de la vie.
Une excellente découverte avant de m'engager dans ma lecture "obligatoire" mais néanmoins volontaire, pour un séminaire sur le Modernisme Américain, de "The Sun Also Rises", mentionné à la fin de "A Moveable Feast".
Le début d'une nouvelle histoire d'amour?
Bought this book on a whim after reading Great Gatsby. Apparently this is one of Hemingway's most popular books (according to the book store owner, I won't pretend I fact checked), and I had previously read and enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea. I may read more of his fiction, but this memoir was a struggle to finish. Maybe if I were a more literary person and knew more about the other authors mentioned I would have picked up on missed references and enjoyed it more, but coming into it blind he just bounces from cafe to cafe drinking too much, without ever actually doing much other than name dropping all the other authors he knew.
The only pieces I did enjoy were when he gave insights to the other author's personal lives, all too briefly mentioning when Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice fought once, or discussing the marital woes of the Fitzgeralds.
The only pieces I did enjoy were when he gave insights to the other author's personal lives, all too briefly mentioning when Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice fought once, or discussing the marital woes of the Fitzgeralds.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced