Read a biography of Hemingway borrowed from the library.
I have read almost all of Hemingway's novels and short stories, some several times, e.g. A Farewell To Arms, The Sun Also Rises For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea, Across the River and into the Trees,, etc
While I enjoyed reading them, my main criticism of Hemingway is that he is a hedonist, intent on his own pleasures, and with no social commitment He wants to show to the world that he is a man, and therefore his works, and his life, abound with machismo and braggadocio. He loves bull fighting, big game hunting, deep sea fishing, cock fighting, and, of course, heavy drinking---all to prove to the world that he is masculine..
Except perhaps for ' For Whom the Bell Tolls ', his works serve no social purpose.
Hemingway had cultivated a style of writing based on the ' iceberg theory', carefully calculated to make his story sell and thus make a lot of money for him. Otherwise i think he cared a damn for what happened to the world and to others.
Hemingway always gave credit to The Kansas City Star, where I was a columnist for a long time, for helping him write with brevity and clarity. Hemingway worked there less than a year.
ReplyDeleteyou must be old
DeleteWhy should he bother about social cause? he was a author from Capitalist country, he did his work well, he beleived inenjoying the life, and he also used to enjoy his own personality.
DeleteHowever Justice Katju your observation about him is correct but conclusion is not so fitting. IMHO.