Reading the Classics #24: Ernest Hemingway
Before I get started, I have 2 things I want to say. First off, I have an important question to ask y'all, and I have it in the comments section. Please answer, I would appreciate your feedback. Second, I just finished reading a very interesting book called Classics for Pleasure, written by Michael Dirda. The guy's basically doing what I'm doing and putting it into a book, but he's much more interesting and knows a lot more than me. I would recommend reading it. Here's the link if you want to take a look. https://www.amazon.com/Classics-Pleasure-Harvest-Michael-Dirda/dp/0156033852
With that said, let's get into the actual post. So, Ernest Hemingway. Lived from 1899 to 1961. Eventually killed himself. I have very mixed feelings about this guy. I've always found his writings to be boring and depressing. Don't get me wrong, I like dark and depressing stuff (as you know), but this guy is just dry depressing. So, for a long time, I've always said that I hated this guy. But recently, I've started seeing him in a new light. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I'm finding more to him than I originally thought was there. His books aren't necessarily depressing as they are realistic. His heroes are ordinary people trying to combat the problems of life. It's a new perspective for me, and I'm finding it quite intriguing. But, let me talk about his books a bit more.
1. For Whom the Bell Tolls
2. A Farewell to Arms
3. The Old Man and the Sea
4. Men Without Women
The first book on that list is about an American who decides to take part in the Spanish Civil War. The novel describes his experiences with the soldiers, planning the destruction of a certain bridge, and facing the reality that it entails an almost certain death for both him and his Spanish friends. It's a good read as historical fiction, as a philosophical dialogue, and as the story or a regular guy who wants to do something heroic. Definitely worth reading.
A Farewell to Arms is somewhat similar to the last book in that it, too, involves an American who enlists in a foreign country to fight a war (although in this case, it's Italy instead of Spain, and the war is World War I). The hero goes through stages of heroism and cowardice, he falls in love, and he experiences heartbreak trying to get away from the horrors of the war. Some parts remind me of All Quiet On the Western Front. But this is another good read.
The Old Man and the Sea was the first Hemingway novel that I ever read, and my hate of Hemingway began here. Recently I read it again, and I still didn't like it, but it wasn't as bad as the first time. This story is of a fisherman in Cuba whose goal is to capture an extremely large fish. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one, but read it if you want. It's Hemingway's most famous work.
The last book to talk about is Men Without Women. It's a collection of short stories, and I don't have much to say about it except that I didn't really enjoy it. This one I also wouldn't recommend.
Well, that's my take on Hemingway. He wrote some interesting stuff, some of which is drawn from his own life experiences. I've gone from hating him, to kinda liking him, and maybe I'll become a huge fan someday. I'm kinda going through this same experience with Herman Melville at the moment, but I'll save that topic for another post. Thank you for reading! And here's a hint about the next post in this series: Wildfell Hall.
19 B.C.- Aeneid
1590-1592- The Taming of the Shrew
1592-1594- The Comedy of Errors
1593- Titus Andronicus, Richard III
1595- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II
1595-1596- Romeo and Juliet
1596-1599- The Merchant of Venice
1598- Love's Labor's Lost, Henry IV Part 1
1598-1599- Much Ado About Nothing
1599- Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V
Early 17th Century- Hamlet
1600- Twelfth Night
1602- Othello
1603- King Lear, Macbeth
1610-1611- The Tempest
1630-1651- Of Plymouth Plantation
1667- Paradise Lost
1671- Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes
1726- Gulliver's Travels
1729- A Modest Proposal
1811- Sense and Sensibility
1813- Pride and Prejudice
1814- Mansfield Park
1815- Emma
1817- Sanditon
1818- Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Frankenstein
1819- Rip van Winkle
1820- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1836-1837- The Pickwick Papers
1837- Oliver Twist
1839- The Fall of the House of Usher, Nicholas Nickleby
1842- The Masque of the Red Death, Dead Souls
1842-1843- The Pit and the Pendulum
1843- A Christmas Carol, The Tell-Tale Heart
1844- The Chimes, The Three Musketeers
1844-1845- The Purloined Letter
1845- The Raven, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Count of Monte Cristo
1847- The Man in the Iron Mask
1849-David Copperfield, Annabel Lee
1853- Bleak House
1854- Hard Times
1855- Little Dorrit
1859- A Tale of Two Cities
1864- Great Expectations
1887- A Study in Scarlet
1890- The Sign of Four
1891- Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, The Picture of Dorian Grey
1892- The Adventure of the Speckled Band
1893- Mrs. Warren's Profession
1894- Candida, Salome
1895- The Importance of Being Earnest
1896- The Devil's Disciple
1897- Dracula
1898- Youth
1899- Heart of Darkness
1900- Lord Jim
1901-1902- Man and Superman
1902- The Hound of the Baskervilles
1904- Peter Pan
1905- The Scarlet Pimpernel
1906- Sir Nigel
1907- The Secret Agent
1910- The Phantom of the Opera
1912- Pygmalion
1914- Dracula's Guest, The Burial of the Rats
1927- Men Without Women
1929- A Farewell to Arms
1940- For Whom the Bell Tolls
1945- Animal Farm
1949- 1984
1950- I, Robot, Pebble in the Sky
1952- The Old Man and the Sea
1957- The Cat in the Hat
