3.74 AVERAGE


I liked it enough to finish it, but it left me feeling confused at times. This book has stories that weren't necessarily finished, but I felt like they contributed to the other stories. However, I still feel like there was something missing.

Not Hemingway's best work
reflective sad slow-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A very strange collection. Hemingway writes about nothing happening so wonderfully - you’re completely there. He only shows, never tells, perhaps to a fault. I wanted just a little more emotion or context at times. Many of the stories you’ll get to the end of and think what was the point of that? But it does all come together like a novel, so some are more significant story beats than others. I loved The Two-Hearted River, it’s the best example of what Hemingway does a little better than Cormac McCarthy - writing every detail of a fairly mundane event, in such a way that you know just how the character feels by the end, and what it was “about”, without needing it spelled out. I absolutely believed in Nick, but I don’t know if I liked the time I spent with him.