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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
This is a great book if you have other stuff on your mind that you want to think about instead.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Hemingway's stories have a deserved reputation. The best can turn you inside out. There are flaws ("uncomfortably, tightly, moistly, lovely, tightly..." and the rest of that list of adverbs rate a Bad Sex Writing lifetime achievement award, for example) but there are few writers this side of Homer who have written so convincingly of the horrors and compulsions of war or vanity and emptiness at the core of the average male. Not comfortable reading, especially in middle age.
There are some very cool stories in here:
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Indian Camp
Soldier’s Home
Cat in the Rain
Big Two Hearted River (Parts 1 & 2)
Fifty Grand
A Clean Well-Lighted Place
A Day’s Wait
Fathers and Sons
But in the majority of stories not very much at all happens, characters are quickly forgotten as there’s nothing about them as people or their actions to cling to. Lots of lovely descriptions of scenery but the stories begin to drag when there’s so little going on.
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Indian Camp
Soldier’s Home
Cat in the Rain
Big Two Hearted River (Parts 1 & 2)
Fifty Grand
A Clean Well-Lighted Place
A Day’s Wait
Fathers and Sons
But in the majority of stories not very much at all happens, characters are quickly forgotten as there’s nothing about them as people or their actions to cling to. Lots of lovely descriptions of scenery but the stories begin to drag when there’s so little going on.
slow-paced
There are some storytellers I feel indebted to for their perspectives, and for the writing methods they use to communicate them. Of these storytellers, I have connected more to Hemingway's work than any other. His writing style, terseness, adventurism, vices, and cynicism are all characteristics I've identified with, and better understood by experiencing them through his work.
This collection includes every short story he published in his lifetime. These are collected from short story books he had previously published separately so it is an incredible bargain, especially as it is available in mass-market paperback for less than $10.
The stories range widely in length of plot and depth of characters, with some being a paragraph long and others stretching twenty or thirty pages. One can also recognize the development of Hemingway's writing techniques over the course of his career by comparing one of his early works such as Up in Michigan to one of his later ones like The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
Ultimately, this book is worth a buy for anyone who either enjoys Hemingway's work, or great short story collections.
My favorite stories in this collection:
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Up in Michigan
The End of Something
A Very Short Story
The Undefeated
In Another Country
Hills Like White Elephants
Fifty Grand
Banal Story
The Light of the World
The Sea Change
Fathers and Sons
This collection includes every short story he published in his lifetime. These are collected from short story books he had previously published separately so it is an incredible bargain, especially as it is available in mass-market paperback for less than $10.
The stories range widely in length of plot and depth of characters, with some being a paragraph long and others stretching twenty or thirty pages. One can also recognize the development of Hemingway's writing techniques over the course of his career by comparing one of his early works such as Up in Michigan to one of his later ones like The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
Ultimately, this book is worth a buy for anyone who either enjoys Hemingway's work, or great short story collections.
My favorite stories in this collection:
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Up in Michigan
The End of Something
A Very Short Story
The Undefeated
In Another Country
Hills Like White Elephants
Fifty Grand
Banal Story
The Light of the World
The Sea Change
Fathers and Sons
Got this mainly for the boxing story "Fifty Grand", which was excellent. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of the 'nothing happens' variety of short story that make up 90% of this book. Sure, Hemingway's spare prose might be good, but when it services inconsequential tales filled with faint characters, there's just not much to enjoy.
Good short stories easy to digest Hemingway style of writing. Overall really enjoyable experience