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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I read these when I was a kid, I think in middle school, and they are still some if my favorite Hemingway stories. I loved the little vignettes info Nick's life as he grew up. It's a great coming off age story set that any young boy would be able to relate to and any young girl would enjoy as an insight into the inner workings of a male mind. I will definitely have to read this again at some point.
I'd read all these stories before but reading them together--and in order--was a lot more emotionally intense than I thought it would be.
Nick driving with his own kid at the end and thinking about his dad... WOOSH.
Nick driving with his own kid at the end and thinking about his dad... WOOSH.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I kind of enjoy reading Hemingway, but I've never been blown away by him.
Nice to collect all the Nick Adams stories in one place. I wish they had included year of publication, and what ss collection it came from as well. Many did come from "In Our Time" - and lack the before-story vignettes of war that are included in that volume.
And you can watch Hem's style change over the years - from being highly influenced by Sherwood Anderson, to his own. Or the great skiing story in here, which obviously imfluenced James Salter.
Ahhh, and those dirty, slothful Indians!
If you have any interest in Ernie, a must read. I am moving on now to "In Or Time" (where he claims that the stories have no connection to real life or people!!!!!) - about 100 pp of stories there which do not include Nick Adams, and all those 1 page vignettes not included here. I also want to read Peter Griffin's "Along With Youth" and Hem's own "The Sun Also Rises".
Nice to collect all the Nick Adams stories in one place. I wish they had included year of publication, and what ss collection it came from as well. Many did come from "In Our Time" - and lack the before-story vignettes of war that are included in that volume.
And you can watch Hem's style change over the years - from being highly influenced by Sherwood Anderson, to his own. Or the great skiing story in here, which obviously imfluenced James Salter.
Ahhh, and those dirty, slothful Indians!
If you have any interest in Ernie, a must read. I am moving on now to "In Or Time" (where he claims that the stories have no connection to real life or people!!!!!) - about 100 pp of stories there which do not include Nick Adams, and all those 1 page vignettes not included here. I also want to read Peter Griffin's "Along With Youth" and Hem's own "The Sun Also Rises".
This volume is a 1972 collection of Hemingway's short stories that contain the Nick Adams character, including previously unpublished story fragments. The stories are arranged in chronological order for the character, not chronologically as published; so the reader can process Nick as he develops over the course of his life, from a young child to a mature man with a son of his own. Much literary criticism has been devoted to these stories, but I read them with enjoyment in mind rather than attempting to explore or build upon those critiques. Hemingway is worth reading in his own right, without the burden/crutch of pre-conceptions; the Nick Adams stories I really liked were the ones about Nick's experiences fishing, hiking and camping in Michigan, for example "Indian Camp" and "Big Two-Hearted River," and additionally I found his character studies in "The Battler" and "The Killers" memorable. The fragmentary story I liked best was "The Last Good Country," although Hemingway left it unfinished and without a clear path toward resolution. I think that these stories can be a good gateway to literature for young men who say they don't like reading as pastime, because the stories read quickly, there's a lot that goes on in between the words, and Hemingway is getting his character Adams to work through issues that a lot of young men can identify with in their own lives.
Second time reading this--always get something new from it.
I read this while in Petoskey last summer since Hemingway used to hang out on Torch Lake. We like to visit the little store/deli where Hemingway used to hold forth.
I’ve read plenty of Hemingway, with a number of Nick Adams stories mixed in (I’ve at least read In Our Time and “Big Two-Hearted River” in undergrad. The benefit of this book is that it’s all of the Adams stories compiled side by side, so that it feels like a “meaningful narrative in which a memorable character grows from child to adolescent to soldier, veteran, writer, and parent,” as written in my edition’s intro.
Below I’ve noted a couple stories that really stood out to me.
“Three Shots” beautifully captures the innocence of youth, a young child left alone and afraid in a tent, when his father and buddy leave to hunt.
“The Last Good Country” is really a novella of a young man on the loose, accused of illegally hunting, and staying away from home and his captors. It’s about a sister’s love for her brother, a boy turning into a man, and the realities of adulthood setting in — importantly, it’s about dreaming of another life, fantasizing of a simpler existence, one not panicked by the realities and messiness of life.
“Now I Lay Me” and “Big Two-Hearted River” are two stories that wrestle with PTSD, the former much more obvious than the latter. In BTHR, we get a man reveling in the isolation and innocence of camping and fishing, of a man holding onto simple pleasures and grasping on the little happiness and joy that they bring — the free, light fishing contradicting the dark, tragic swamp just beyond the way.
“The Three-Day Blow” perfectly encompasses one of Hemingway’s recurring themes: drunkenness. A man and his friend try to hold it together while drinking, escaping the burdens of life that are offered a new perspective by drink: “He wasn’t drunk. It was all gone. All he knew was that he had once had Marjorie and that he had lost her. She was gone and he had sent her way.”
“Cross-Country Snow” is also about the pleasures, and downsides, of drinking, as two men stop in for a drink on their skis, before heading home. The happiness and discussion can only be heightened by the wine, a floating, funny feeling that each character enjoys, however fleeting, before reality once again sets in.
That narrative of these stories takes us into the backwoods of Michigan as a child, through vagrancies of teenage years, through a world war, and back into the woods, a changed man from war. Hemingway’s sparse, rugged, and even ugly and blunted prose is constant throughout, and his topics of camping, fishing, drinking, blended with escapism, isolation, and a fleeting grasp on happiness, make for a great bonfire read.
Below I’ve noted a couple stories that really stood out to me.
“Three Shots” beautifully captures the innocence of youth, a young child left alone and afraid in a tent, when his father and buddy leave to hunt.
“The Last Good Country” is really a novella of a young man on the loose, accused of illegally hunting, and staying away from home and his captors. It’s about a sister’s love for her brother, a boy turning into a man, and the realities of adulthood setting in — importantly, it’s about dreaming of another life, fantasizing of a simpler existence, one not panicked by the realities and messiness of life.
“Now I Lay Me” and “Big Two-Hearted River” are two stories that wrestle with PTSD, the former much more obvious than the latter. In BTHR, we get a man reveling in the isolation and innocence of camping and fishing, of a man holding onto simple pleasures and grasping on the little happiness and joy that they bring — the free, light fishing contradicting the dark, tragic swamp just beyond the way.
“The Three-Day Blow” perfectly encompasses one of Hemingway’s recurring themes: drunkenness. A man and his friend try to hold it together while drinking, escaping the burdens of life that are offered a new perspective by drink: “He wasn’t drunk. It was all gone. All he knew was that he had once had Marjorie and that he had lost her. She was gone and he had sent her way.”
“Cross-Country Snow” is also about the pleasures, and downsides, of drinking, as two men stop in for a drink on their skis, before heading home. The happiness and discussion can only be heightened by the wine, a floating, funny feeling that each character enjoys, however fleeting, before reality once again sets in.
That narrative of these stories takes us into the backwoods of Michigan as a child, through vagrancies of teenage years, through a world war, and back into the woods, a changed man from war. Hemingway’s sparse, rugged, and even ugly and blunted prose is constant throughout, and his topics of camping, fishing, drinking, blended with escapism, isolation, and a fleeting grasp on happiness, make for a great bonfire read.
Some grand some pale
Some fame some dull
This collection is like Wilt's 100 point game before winning any finals - cool n all and nice record , but where are your rings, Cousin Ernest?
Meanwhile, John Bill Russell Steinbeck is winning titles.
Some fame some dull
This collection is like Wilt's 100 point game before winning any finals - cool n all and nice record , but where are your rings, Cousin Ernest?
Meanwhile, John Bill Russell Steinbeck is winning titles.