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yars_reading_corner's review
2.0
My brain kept playing The Lovesick Blues reading this, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Audio of Kilimanjaro performed by Charlton Heston
4**** for the title story (3*** for the collection as a whole)
This slim volume contains 10 short stories, including the most famous SoK.
This short story reflects many of Hemingway’s own concerns in the mid-late 1930s. He worried about the effects of “politics, women, drink, money and ambition” on American writers (from Green Hills of Africa). Here he voices those concerns through his main character, Harry, a writer who is dying in the bush from an infected leg wound. Their truck broken down, Harry and his wife have little to do but wait for the plane that should come “soon” to rescue them. Immobilized by his gangrenous leg, Harry reflects – sometimes in a delirious state – on his life and writing career. Today’s reader, knowing how Hemingway ended his own life, can see considerable foreshadowing here. Harry’s obsession with what he had not written, while succumbing to the temptations of an easy life, is slowly but surely poisoning him as much as the infection in his leg is. Heston’s narration of this particular short story is very good; the uber-macho man performing the uber-macho author’s work. I would rate THIS story 4****.
Most of the rest of the stories in the book are not as much to my liking. There are continued threads of death, killing, guns, violence and alcohol abuse through this collection, and, frankly, I just didn’t care about his characters. To be fair, I think this is more a function of what’s happening in my own life rather than a reflection of Hemingway’s talent and skill. The story Fifty Grand about a prizefighter struggling at the end of his career, was very good (I’d give it 4****). The final story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, takes us back to an African safari and a marriage falling apart. I thought this was the best in the collection, though perhaps more obvious than some of the others. Still, I would give it 4.5****
So while I enjoyed and appreciated three of the ten stories, the rest of the volume left me cold. I give it 3 stars over all.
4**** for the title story (3*** for the collection as a whole)
This slim volume contains 10 short stories, including the most famous SoK.
This short story reflects many of Hemingway’s own concerns in the mid-late 1930s. He worried about the effects of “politics, women, drink, money and ambition” on American writers (from Green Hills of Africa). Here he voices those concerns through his main character, Harry, a writer who is dying in the bush from an infected leg wound. Their truck broken down, Harry and his wife have little to do but wait for the plane that should come “soon” to rescue them. Immobilized by his gangrenous leg, Harry reflects – sometimes in a delirious state – on his life and writing career. Today’s reader, knowing how Hemingway ended his own life, can see considerable foreshadowing here. Harry’s obsession with what he had not written, while succumbing to the temptations of an easy life, is slowly but surely poisoning him as much as the infection in his leg is. Heston’s narration of this particular short story is very good; the uber-macho man performing the uber-macho author’s work. I would rate THIS story 4****.
Most of the rest of the stories in the book are not as much to my liking. There are continued threads of death, killing, guns, violence and alcohol abuse through this collection, and, frankly, I just didn’t care about his characters. To be fair, I think this is more a function of what’s happening in my own life rather than a reflection of Hemingway’s talent and skill. The story Fifty Grand about a prizefighter struggling at the end of his career, was very good (I’d give it 4****). The final story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, takes us back to an African safari and a marriage falling apart. I thought this was the best in the collection, though perhaps more obvious than some of the others. Still, I would give it 4.5****
So while I enjoyed and appreciated three of the ten stories, the rest of the volume left me cold. I give it 3 stars over all.
nicolas00's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ruairim95's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Misogyny
m0rozovas's review against another edition
1.0
(Had to read two Hemingway stories for class)
WE GET IT, YOU'RE SEXIST UGHH
WE GET IT, YOU'RE SEXIST UGHH
mrodgerson's review
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
fbarros's review against another edition
2.75
I'm giving this one an average rating. Like any collection of short stories, it's hard to like them all, but honestly, most of them were just ok experiences for me.
"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" stand out among the others as my favorites, but having two bullfighter stories just wasn't for me. Most of the stories were also very similar and didn't resonate at all.
--- Kilimanjaro:
"For this, that now was coming, he had very little curiosity. For years it had obseessed him; but now it meant nothing in itself. It was strange how easy being tired enough made it.
Now he would never write the things he had saved to write, until he knew enough to write them well"
The reflections and flashbacks to the First World War of a dying man make the story captivating but the way he treats his wife made me shiver with disconfort.
"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" stand out among the others as my favorites, but having two bullfighter stories just wasn't for me. Most of the stories were also very similar and didn't resonate at all.
--- Kilimanjaro:
"For this, that now was coming, he had very little curiosity. For years it had obseessed him; but now it meant nothing in itself. It was strange how easy being tired enough made it.
Now he would never write the things he had saved to write, until he knew enough to write them well"
The reflections and flashbacks to the First World War of a dying man make the story captivating but the way he treats his wife made me shiver with disconfort.
kmt75's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5