It is quite interesting to me that Hemingway would leave their child, Bumby, home all alone with the cat. If there were some sort of emergency, what would the cat be able to do? Nothing. It seems to me they don't really care that much about their child. Also, who names their cat F. Puss and what does the F stand for? Feline? Ferdinand? In a quick google search, it seems the cat's name is Feather Puss. In this book called "Hemingway's Cats," it says that Hemingway often gave his cats strange names and shortened them to nicknames easily remembered. Remembered by whom? Is he losing his mind/memory? Does he forget names easily? Is this why his son's name is Bumby? It also says in the book that he was reluctant to become a father because he thought it would interfere with his writing. I guess this is why he leaves Bumby at home all alone? On another note, it seems that Hadley and Ernest leave Bumby behind a lot. In Schruns he is watched over by someone else while they go skiing and such. They spend an awful lot of time together to not have a good marriage. I think Hemingway just likes the sex. He mentions sex more than once earlier in the book, but says nothing about Hadley. He just says that sex is nice. Maybe he's an addict. Perhaps this is why he has many wives throughout his life. He liked sex so much that he couldn't just have it with one lady.
Fitzgerald is just strange. I have never read The Great Gatsby, but I imagine it is strange if Fitzgerald wrote it. All great writers must be insane because every famous writer we have come across in this book is insane. Something weird always happens, like Fitzgerald with the champagne. If he is a writer, he should be able to hold his liquor because that's all writers do in this book--sit in cafe's and drink and write.
Hadley and Ernest apparently split up in this part of the book. I read it like there was another woman and it was all his fault. He apparently wrote about it and left it out, however, I would love to read it. I wish it was included in this book.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Week 3: February 13-19
This week as I was reading I had a change of heart about my feelings on Hemingway's writing style. At first I thought it was simple and consequently boring. This week I read over some parts a little more slowly and I discovered that I appreciate it's simplicity. His writing is so honest. There are many writers who use flowery language and I have become accustomed to it, but I have come to believe it is just fake. I've come to realize that I prefer Hemingway's honest writing.
I re-read the Field's essay on Hemingway this week. I must have skipped over this quote the first time I read it:
"Ernest cared far less than I about aesthetics. What he cared about was the action and the emotional body of the traveler. He was a born traveler as he was a born novelist."
-Janet Flanner
This is basically what I said in one of my previous blog posts about Hemingway. Hemingway doesn't poetically describe the beauty of everything he sees in Paris. Rather, he speaks of things from a traveler's perspective. When he refers to a building or landmark, he adds where it is in relation to some other landmark he previously mentioned. It kind of allows you to map out the 1920's in Paris in your head. He also gives the reader a real sense of the culture in expatriate Paris by writing of his experiences and his opinions of people and places as he is writing about this or that particular day/experience. The way people act tell a lot about the culture and socially accepted things.
Hemingway also introduces other writers he is associated with in Paris. He pretty much gives the juicy details that people would probably never know about these writers. Hemingway makes it seem like Ford Madox Ford is losing it. Ford tells something to Hemingway and Hemingway said yes, you told me. Ford asks are you sure, that he had never told that to anyone in his life. Ford also orders a drink and when the waiter brings it he says he didn't order that particular drink when, in fact, he had. He also mistakes a man for Hilaire Belloc. He also meets with lots of other writers and speaks with them and tells us what he thinks of them.
One thing that the c-span video brought up was that Hemingway was very depressed during most of his years in Paris. In his writing, you can tell a little bit, particularly in the conversation with Ford. As soon as Ford sees him he tells him he looks "glum" and Hemingway denies it, implying that he doesn't want to come to terms with it and he will continue to ignore his depression. He also doesn't have a lot of self-confidence. He tells Mr. Lavigne that he writes like a pig. When talking to Ernest Walsh, he asks him if he is marked for death. When Walsh replies no, he says "give me time." Clearly, he doesn't believe he will live long.
Hemingway loses Mrs. Stein's friendship essentially because he can't accept her being a lesbian. He overhears her and her live-in girlfriend having sexual relations while waiting for her and flees. He says they are still friends, but it is not truly the same. We can see that Hemingway is an innocent and traditional young man because he is seemingly horrified by what he heard.
I re-read the Field's essay on Hemingway this week. I must have skipped over this quote the first time I read it:
"Ernest cared far less than I about aesthetics. What he cared about was the action and the emotional body of the traveler. He was a born traveler as he was a born novelist."
-Janet Flanner
This is basically what I said in one of my previous blog posts about Hemingway. Hemingway doesn't poetically describe the beauty of everything he sees in Paris. Rather, he speaks of things from a traveler's perspective. When he refers to a building or landmark, he adds where it is in relation to some other landmark he previously mentioned. It kind of allows you to map out the 1920's in Paris in your head. He also gives the reader a real sense of the culture in expatriate Paris by writing of his experiences and his opinions of people and places as he is writing about this or that particular day/experience. The way people act tell a lot about the culture and socially accepted things.
Hemingway also introduces other writers he is associated with in Paris. He pretty much gives the juicy details that people would probably never know about these writers. Hemingway makes it seem like Ford Madox Ford is losing it. Ford tells something to Hemingway and Hemingway said yes, you told me. Ford asks are you sure, that he had never told that to anyone in his life. Ford also orders a drink and when the waiter brings it he says he didn't order that particular drink when, in fact, he had. He also mistakes a man for Hilaire Belloc. He also meets with lots of other writers and speaks with them and tells us what he thinks of them.
One thing that the c-span video brought up was that Hemingway was very depressed during most of his years in Paris. In his writing, you can tell a little bit, particularly in the conversation with Ford. As soon as Ford sees him he tells him he looks "glum" and Hemingway denies it, implying that he doesn't want to come to terms with it and he will continue to ignore his depression. He also doesn't have a lot of self-confidence. He tells Mr. Lavigne that he writes like a pig. When talking to Ernest Walsh, he asks him if he is marked for death. When Walsh replies no, he says "give me time." Clearly, he doesn't believe he will live long.
Hemingway loses Mrs. Stein's friendship essentially because he can't accept her being a lesbian. He overhears her and her live-in girlfriend having sexual relations while waiting for her and flees. He says they are still friends, but it is not truly the same. We can see that Hemingway is an innocent and traditional young man because he is seemingly horrified by what he heard.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Week 2
Hemingway becomes addicted to gambling on horse races, so he quits. He mentions he often goes alone nowadays, so it seems that he is trying to escape something or the gambling it is becoming a sort of love affair to him. Perhaps he is falling out of love with his wife or his writing is going terribly. He foreshadows that he will replace his addiction with horse racing with bicycle racing. Bike racing is not gambling, but it is still a form of escapism.
I still don't understand Mrs. Stein, but I think it is funny that they often disagree on things. She speaks weird. I don't understand what she is saying most of the time.
Hemingway is now going to write a novel. He is poor and is skipping meals. I don't understand this novel and I have no idea why he is writing everything he writes.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Chapters 1-5
This week I read chapters 1-5 of A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition by Earnest Hemingway. First, I want to address some issues I had with the reading from last week. In the introduction of the book, I discovered that when the book first was published in 1964, there was heavy editing and some parts were completely rewritten because Hemingway died before finishing it. First of all, why in the world did this happen? Why would and editor change someone's own words without the author's consent? Is that even legal? This actually makes me angry. I am glad there are some fragments in the back because I want to see what and where he left off. I would be very interested in seeing his manuscripts if that were possible.
Moving on to the reading from this week, I discovered Hemingway's writing style is quite different than the books I normally read. In his book, there are minimal descriptions. The characters seem to be shaped more by the dialogue than visual descriptions of them. I'm a visual person, so this caught me a little off guard.
As I was reading, I was a little confused as to where this story is going. None of his writing seems very personal. I don't get a sense of love or admiration for his wife or really get a sense of his relationship anyone or how he feels about other characters. It just seems likes he's telling what is happening and that is it. Next week I might have more insight and input on the book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)