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Stellar Guild
The Hemingway Hoax
Around 1991, Haldeman wrote: ""What is the book about? The subtitle A 'Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror' is accurate. In a way, it's a horror novel tinged with ghastly humor, as the apparently insane ghost of Ernest Hemingway murders a helpless scholar over and over; the scholar slipping from one universe to the next each time he dies, in what is apparently a rather unpleasant form of serial immortality. The tongue-in-cheek explanations for how this could happen qualify the book as a science fiction novel.
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it."
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it."
155 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
71 people are currently reading
901 people want to read
About the author
Joe Haldeman
437 books2,187 followersBrother of Jack C. Haldeman II
Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA president Russell Davis called Haldeman "an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend."
Haldeman officially received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at the Nebula Awards Weekend in May, 2010 in Hollywood, Fla.
Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA president Russell Davis called Haldeman "an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend."
Haldeman officially received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at the Nebula Awards Weekend in May, 2010 in Hollywood, Fla.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
June 27, 2018
The premise of Joe Haldeman’s The Hemingway Hoax is interesting. Having a Hemingway scholar forge the manuscript which Hadley had lost at a train station in Paris. It seems straightforward, but planning how best to create said forgery quickly takes a backseat to deception, betrayal and blackmail. And then it gets weird! Really weird! Apparently, Haldeman’s (unused) subtitle for The Hemingway Hoax was ‘A Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror.’ The terror in the subtitle is real. Creating a forgery of Hemingway’s work has cosmic ramifications which involve the possible end of all life on earth, as well as time travel and travel to parallel worlds. This is a journey even more imaginative than his The Forever War (which I’ve read and enjoyed); however, it also felt like a confused mess! I might read this again at some point to see if I can make more sense of it. 3.25 stars.
September 8, 2022
This is my first Haldeman story and, I must say, it deserves all the awards it got.
It's mix between literary fiction, pulp and noir, all wrapped up in a multidimensional universe. Time travel was never my subgenre of choice, but lately I've had my share of brilliant pieces, current one included.
Most of the main character traits are autobiographical, as the author himself states at the end.
Great characters, bold plot, and superb writing. Highly recommended.
It's mix between literary fiction, pulp and noir, all wrapped up in a multidimensional universe. Time travel was never my subgenre of choice, but lately I've had my share of brilliant pieces, current one included.
Most of the main character traits are autobiographical, as the author himself states at the end.
Great characters, bold plot, and superb writing. Highly recommended.
July 18, 2021
I think this is Haldeman's masterwork. The novella is tighter, but the short novel is near-great, too. The long novella is the version that won all the prizes, and that's the version I recommend.
Here's the author's description, cribbed from his website circa 2003. This could be construed as spoiler-y. But not very, and it may avoid some of the puzzlement that other readers noted here. Trust me, this is a great work of art.
Haldeman:
"What is the book about? The subtitle A 'Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror' is accurate. In a way, it's a horror novel tinged with ghastly humor, as the apparently insane ghost of Ernest Hemingway murders a helpless scholar over and over; the scholar slipping from one universe to the next each time he dies, in what is apparently a rather unpleasant form of serial immortality. The tongue-in-cheek explanations for how this could happen qualify the book as a science fiction novel.
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it." Amen!
Here are the many reprints of the novella: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...
If you've missed it, you're in for a great read. One of my personal 100 (or so) Best Ever stories.
Here's the author's description, cribbed from his website circa 2003. This could be construed as spoiler-y. But not very, and it may avoid some of the puzzlement that other readers noted here. Trust me, this is a great work of art.
Haldeman:
"What is the book about? The subtitle A 'Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror' is accurate. In a way, it's a horror novel tinged with ghastly humor, as the apparently insane ghost of Ernest Hemingway murders a helpless scholar over and over; the scholar slipping from one universe to the next each time he dies, in what is apparently a rather unpleasant form of serial immortality. The tongue-in-cheek explanations for how this could happen qualify the book as a science fiction novel.
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it." Amen!
Here are the many reprints of the novella: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...
If you've missed it, you're in for a great read. One of my personal 100 (or so) Best Ever stories.
February 19, 2020
Dark, paranoid, absurd and more than a little perplexing it really felt like Haldeman was channeling his inner Philip K Dick here. The first half of the story feels more like a crime pulp than anything else with the protagonist contemplating pulling off a literary forgery, but by the second half has clearly evolved into so much more with the introduction of multiple timelines and/or universes, supernatural beings who live outside time and space, and some strange goings-on. By the end things have become truly bizarre. Haldeman's own description is most apt:
"What is the book about? The subtitle A 'Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror' is accurate. In a way, it's a horror novel tinged with ghastly humor, as the apparently insane ghost of Ernest Hemingway murders a helpless scholar over and over; the scholar slipping from one universe to the next each time he dies, in what is apparently a rather unpleasant form of serial immortality. The tongue-in-cheek explanations for how this could happen qualify the book as a science fiction novel.
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it."
Overall, quite unexpected and a really fun ride! I can certainly see how this won the Hugo for Best Novella (1991).
"What is the book about? The subtitle A 'Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror' is accurate. In a way, it's a horror novel tinged with ghastly humor, as the apparently insane ghost of Ernest Hemingway murders a helpless scholar over and over; the scholar slipping from one universe to the next each time he dies, in what is apparently a rather unpleasant form of serial immortality. The tongue-in-cheek explanations for how this could happen qualify the book as a science fiction novel.
... It may be the most 'literary' of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I've ever written. Nobody will be bored by it."
Overall, quite unexpected and a really fun ride! I can certainly see how this won the Hugo for Best Novella (1991).
September 15, 2019
2.5
I liked the premise, but at times I was confused or bored. Didn't like Bird as a character at all, especially his ethics, nor Lena or Castle. I only liked Pansy. A little slow paced at times.
I liked the premise, but at times I was confused or bored. Didn't like Bird as a character at all, especially his ethics, nor Lena or Castle. I only liked Pansy. A little slow paced at times.
November 17, 2012
A bizarre and fascinating book, that features time-travel and parallel worlds without making your head explode too often.
It's all very straight forward, three people plot to create a lost Hemingway manuscript, the Eternals get involved to stop the world from being destroyed only things don't go as anyone planned.
But really it's a bit weird as one character retains their memories as they die and shifts in to a parallel world that's slightly different. You saw The Butterfly Effect right? And as the end approaches that's when things spin out of control. I thought I had a grasp on things but that would be too easy and Haldeman seems to enjoy confusing you. I read the wiki article for this book and that seems to have confused me further.
So I'll stick with what was good; the very simple idea is well written and parallel worlds are dealt with in such a straight forward and understandable way that it was a joy to read for that alone. The differences from one world to the next and the use of memory are used to great effect. The main characters are a little flimsy but interesting at the same time, pretty much all you can expect from a 155 page novella about parallel worlds and time travel really. Aside from the final confusion it was a fun read that kept me interested throughout despite the appearances of not much plot developing.
It's all very straight forward, three people plot to create a lost Hemingway manuscript, the Eternals get involved to stop the world from being destroyed only things don't go as anyone planned.
But really it's a bit weird as one character retains their memories as they die and shifts in to a parallel world that's slightly different. You saw The Butterfly Effect right? And as the end approaches that's when things spin out of control. I thought I had a grasp on things but that would be too easy and Haldeman seems to enjoy confusing you. I read the wiki article for this book and that seems to have confused me further.
So I'll stick with what was good; the very simple idea is well written and parallel worlds are dealt with in such a straight forward and understandable way that it was a joy to read for that alone. The differences from one world to the next and the use of memory are used to great effect. The main characters are a little flimsy but interesting at the same time, pretty much all you can expect from a 155 page novella about parallel worlds and time travel really. Aside from the final confusion it was a fun read that kept me interested throughout despite the appearances of not much plot developing.
September 27, 2010
I like this book, but I still can’t believe that I can be this confused after just 160 pages.
Joe Haldeman’s FAQ at his website says that the subtitle of the book is A Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror. That describes it about as well as anything I could come up with. Haldeman also states that: “It may be the most literary of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I’ve ever written. Nobody will be bored by it.” And he’s absolutely right about that one, too.
John Baird is a Hemingway scholar on vacation in Key West with his wife. They’re facing a moderate financial crisis because a trust fund that has allowed them to live much better than an English professor’s salary is about to run dry. Baird meets a small-time hustler nicknamed Castle in a bar and tells him the story of how a satchel full of Hemingway stories and an uncompleted novel was stolen off a train early in his writing career. Castle proposes that he could help rig a typewriter to match the writer‘s during that time, and John could write an imitation that he would then ‘discover’ as a lost Hemingway novel. The scheme moves forward, but adultery and double crosses soon enter the mix as John starts modifying the plan.
That’s when things get weird.
Turns out that John’s forgery is causing echoes through various dimensions and time streams and a mysterious force in the guise of Hemingway visits John to tell him that he has to stop. When John refuses to quit, the entity kills him only for John to wind up as himself in a slightly different reality. No matter what the Hemingway entity does to John, he just keeps finding himself in alternate realities where the situation gets worse and worse.
It’s a quick and fun read, but I was more confused by it than the last season of Lost. A little reading on Haldeman’s web page and Wikipedia answered enough questions for me so I don’t feel quite so stupid. It’s an odd story, but where else are you going to get Hemingway, murder, sex, time travel, and parallel universes all in one book?
Joe Haldeman’s FAQ at his website says that the subtitle of the book is A Short Comic Novel of Existential Terror. That describes it about as well as anything I could come up with. Haldeman also states that: “It may be the most literary of my books, but it also has the most explicit sex and the most gruesome violence I’ve ever written. Nobody will be bored by it.” And he’s absolutely right about that one, too.
John Baird is a Hemingway scholar on vacation in Key West with his wife. They’re facing a moderate financial crisis because a trust fund that has allowed them to live much better than an English professor’s salary is about to run dry. Baird meets a small-time hustler nicknamed Castle in a bar and tells him the story of how a satchel full of Hemingway stories and an uncompleted novel was stolen off a train early in his writing career. Castle proposes that he could help rig a typewriter to match the writer‘s during that time, and John could write an imitation that he would then ‘discover’ as a lost Hemingway novel. The scheme moves forward, but adultery and double crosses soon enter the mix as John starts modifying the plan.
That’s when things get weird.
Turns out that John’s forgery is causing echoes through various dimensions and time streams and a mysterious force in the guise of Hemingway visits John to tell him that he has to stop. When John refuses to quit, the entity kills him only for John to wind up as himself in a slightly different reality. No matter what the Hemingway entity does to John, he just keeps finding himself in alternate realities where the situation gets worse and worse.
It’s a quick and fun read, but I was more confused by it than the last season of Lost. A little reading on Haldeman’s web page and Wikipedia answered enough questions for me so I don’t feel quite so stupid. It’s an odd story, but where else are you going to get Hemingway, murder, sex, time travel, and parallel universes all in one book?
March 15, 2021
This is a short little bit of literary weirdness that's a must for Hemingway fans as well as for those of Haldeman. It's a nice blend of scholarship with existentialist horror and humor, and though I remember liking the the novella version better at the time I had a lot of fun with this. I wondered if perhaps Haldeman grew tired of being introduced as "the author of The Forever War" as if that were a part of his name, and set out to write something as completely different as he could to demonstrate his range and intellectual reach. Very good stuff!
January 9, 2021
A heist to forge Hemingway stories turns to a time travel narration - ranging from pulp fiction to film-noir including graphic sex and violence, from easy storytelling to Hemingway style and up to stream of consciousness.
Please, find a detailed review at my blog.
Please, find a detailed review at my blog.
July 13, 2019
Wow, this book relentlessly explores not just Ernest Hemingway's style and how it works on different readers and different characters but also "all the ways" people can go wrong, get things wrong, or get their just deserts . . . I can somehow picture Walter Mosley handing this to Dr. Faustus who then goes to sit reading this book by the fire while all hell breaks loose outside. Readers of the The Paris Wife, Mrs. Hemingway, or the Timeless episode "The Lost Generation" and ever rolled their eyes or felt something was "missing" each time could do worse than to turn here to try to figure out the recipe for the Hemingway signature"special sauce." Fans of Supernatural episode "Mystery Spot" may love this too!
July 10, 2018
This reads as if Haldeman got drunk, ate a peyote brownie, then sat down to imitate Philip K. Dick. It’s as erudite as it is bonkers.
March 1, 2019
A short, crisply written story of alternate reality, time travel, and parallel worlds. It won both a Hugo and a Nebula for best novella in 1991. Four solid stars.
November 27, 2015
En 1922, una joven promesa de nombre Ernest Hemingway, pierde una maleta con sus manuscritos. Muchos años más tarde, a John Baird, experto en la obra de Hemingway, un estafador le propone falsificar uno de estos manuscritos para hacerlo pasar por auténtico. Baird, remiso en un principio, acabará implicándose, junto con su esposa Lena, más y más en dicho engaño. Pero lo que parece un simple fraude, parece que puede afectar a las diferentes realidades, a distintos mundos paralelos. Es aquí donde entran en juego los misteriosos vigilantes del tiempo, uno de los cuáles tendrá como misión impedir que la historia de Hemingway cambie.
‘El engaño Hemingway’ (The Hemingway Hoax, 1990), del estadounidense Joe Haldeman, empieza bien, pero en su parte central se nota que el autor ha metido mucha paja, ha rellenado en exceso con escenas de sexo y diálogos que no vienen al caso. En cuanto al final, me parece confuso y bastante flojo. Esta novela larga se llevó el Premio Nebula 1990 y el Premio Hugo 1991, lo que me reafirma en lo inútil como guía de este tipo de premios, de todos los premios.
‘El engaño Hemingway’ (The Hemingway Hoax, 1990), del estadounidense Joe Haldeman, empieza bien, pero en su parte central se nota que el autor ha metido mucha paja, ha rellenado en exceso con escenas de sexo y diálogos que no vienen al caso. En cuanto al final, me parece confuso y bastante flojo. Esta novela larga se llevó el Premio Nebula 1990 y el Premio Hugo 1991, lo que me reafirma en lo inútil como guía de este tipo de premios, de todos los premios.
June 30, 2018
Best piece I've read by Haldeman thus far. Clever, creative and fun. And a must for a Hemingway fan as well.
November 2, 2016
-Noir, género, literatura y también barullo.-
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En un bar de Key West, el profesor John Baird conoce a Sylvester Castelmaine, Castle, que sutilmente le propone falsificar trabajos perdidos de los primeros años de Ernest Hemingway, autor en el que John es experto. Pero el encuentro tal vez no sea todo lo casual que parece y, además, puede tener influencia en la estabilidad espacio-temporal que algunos seres controlan.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En un bar de Key West, el profesor John Baird conoce a Sylvester Castelmaine, Castle, que sutilmente le propone falsificar trabajos perdidos de los primeros años de Ernest Hemingway, autor en el que John es experto. Pero el encuentro tal vez no sea todo lo casual que parece y, además, puede tener influencia en la estabilidad espacio-temporal que algunos seres controlan.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
August 25, 2020
This was a quick, fun little read. A time travel who-dun-it and a nod to Hemingway's influence on modern literature and the "male" psyche (mostly tongue-in-cheek). If you like Hemingway, and are a fan of time travel books with very little science involved, I think you'll like this one. 4 stars.
January 31, 2021
An interesting premise. I'm not a fan of Hemingway. Ignoring that, I got thirty pages in and I didn't see how this was considered science fiction. Then it hit. Yeah, this is a fun science fiction novel. The book ramps up quick and you're just trying and keep up. I sort of understood the ending. It is an impressive book and just 155 pages makes it even more. Might have to try more of this author.
July 7, 2020
I don't really get what the point of this book was, but it was kind of fun to read.
There's no real character development (and, frankly, hardly a cast of characters at all). I do like the opening premise of trying to produce a Hemingway forgery. But it is such a shame that the author seemed to have no real interest in this idea, and instead what the reader gets is a quick novella about alternate dimensions with no substance. The best I can say about this book is that it definitely is an easy and pleasant read. But when you put it down at the end, it feels like you haven't read anything at all.
There's no real character development (and, frankly, hardly a cast of characters at all). I do like the opening premise of trying to produce a Hemingway forgery. But it is such a shame that the author seemed to have no real interest in this idea, and instead what the reader gets is a quick novella about alternate dimensions with no substance. The best I can say about this book is that it definitely is an easy and pleasant read. But when you put it down at the end, it feels like you haven't read anything at all.
February 1, 2021
**อ่านฉบับเเปลของเพจจักรวาลไซไฟครับ
พล็อตนิยายไซไฟนี่มีลูกเล่นเยอะแยะ ที่ดังๆและอาจคุ้นชินกันก็คือพวกสงครามอวกาศ ส่วนจะสงครามแบบไปทางลิเกๆ หรือ จะบู๊สะบั้นหั่นแหลกนั่นก็เป็นอีกเรื่อง และพล็อตอีกแบบที่เราอาจคุ้นชินไม่แพ้กัน คือ การเล่นกับมิติของของเวลาและจักรวาล ซึ่ง กาลพิศวงกลลวงเฮมมิงเวย์เล่มนี้ นำมันมายำใหญ่พิเศษใส่ไข่ อย่างมีชั้นเชิงทีเดียว
The Hemingway Hoax กาลพิศวงกลลวงเฮมมงเวย์ เล่าถึงหนุ่มไม่น้อยแล้วนาม โจ บาร์ด เขาเป็น นักวิชาการที่ศึกษาเฮมมิงเวย์มาอย่างเข้มข้น วันหนึ่งมีชายปริศนานาม คาสเซิล มาเสนอให้เขาปลอมแปลงต้นฉบับนิยายเรื่องแรกของเฮมมิ่งเวย์ที่หายสาบสูญไป เพื่อหาเงินมาใช้ บาร์ดตกลงอย่างช่วยไม่ได้ ซึ่งการตกลงร่วมมือภารกิจหลอกลวงครั้งนี้ จะพาเขาไปพบกับเฮมมิงเวย์ ที่โผล่มาเตือนเขาว่าจงหยุดทำซะ ไม่งั้นละก็จะเกิดเหตุอะไรบางอย่างที่ยิ่งใหญ่เกินกว่าตัวของเราจะรับมือได้ และสิ่งนี้คือจุดเริ่มต้นของความวุนวายที่ไม่จบสิ้น
หลังจากอ่านพล็อตแล้ว บางคนอาจเดาได้เลยว่าเนื้อเรื่องมันเกี่ยวกับอะไร จะเดินไปทางไหน ตัวเนื้อเรื่องเองไม่ได้สลับซับซ้อนซ่อนเงื่อนมากมายนะครับ เราอ่านไปก็จะพอเดาๆสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นต่อไปได้ว่า บาร์ดพระเอกของเราจะเจอกับอะไรต่อไป Halderman เล่าด้วยน้ำเสียงเรื่อยๆเรียบๆพาคนอ่านติดตามชีวิตของบาร์ด จุดพลิกผันในเรื่องมีไม่เยอะครับ ช่วงต้น และกลาง จึงจะเนือยๆหน่อย แต่เมื่อเริ่มเข้าช่วงท้ายแล้ว จะสนุกดีดขึ้นมาทันที และตอนจบก็เปิดช่องเล็กๆให้คนอ่านตีความอีกด้วยว่าอะไรเกิดขึ้นกันแน่ (ผมวนอ่านบทจบสามรอบได้ ว่าจริงๆมันเกิดอะไรขึ้นกันแน่ )
คนที่ชอบพล็อตแนวมิติเวลาทับซ้อน ผีเสื้อกระพือปีกสะเทิอนถึงดวงดาวน่าจะชอบเล่มนี้ได้ไม่ยากครับ ไม่ต้องกลัวว่าจะมีการอธิบายหลักการทางวิทยาศาสตร์ มากมาย Halderman ลดทอนในส่วนนี้ลงและปล่อยให้มันเป็นจิตนาการของผู้อ่านเองว่ามันเกิดขึ้นจากอะไร ใครคือผู้ชักใยในเกมๆนี้ มันจึงเป็นไซไฟ สืบสวนเล็กๆที่อ่านง่ายและให้คอนเซปของกาลเวลาที่เหลื่อมกันได้ดีทีเดียวครับ
แต่ด้วยความที่มันง่ายนี่แหละ มันก็เป็นจุดอ่อนที่ย้อนกลับมาทำร้ายเหมือกัน ความง่ายในที่นี้นำมาพร้อมกับการขายรายละเอียดอธิบายไปหน่อย จนรู้สึกว่าถ้าลดการบรรยายไปอีกเล็กน้อย มันอาจเป็นไลท์โนเวลได้เลย คืออ่านได้ง่ายแต่ความออิ่มเอมของการเสพความสมจริงจะหายไปค่อนข้างเยอะ และบางจุดก็ไม่ได้อธิบายหรือข้ามๆไปเสียเฉยๆทั้งที่สามารถขยี้มันลงไปได้อีกเยอะ
และอีกอย่างที่สังเกตได้ชัดเจนคือการแปลและการเรียบเรียงที่ออกจะติดขัดในระดับหนึ่งเลยครับ ทำให้การอ่านมีสะดุดและงงๆบ้างในบางจุดจนต้องย้อนกลับมาอ่านใหม่ ซึ่งส่วนที่เรางงๆก็ดันเป็นส่วนสำคัญของเรื่องซะด้วย เลยต้องเปิดไปเปิดมาย้อนดูว่า นี่เราอ่านเข้าใจถูกแล้วใช่มั้ยเนี่ย (ฮา) ถ้าปรับการแปลและเรียบเรียงให้เนียนกริบกว่านี้จะทำให้อ่านสนกขึ้นอีกอย่างแน่นอนครับ
ในภาพรวมก็ยังเป็นไซไฟอ่านง่ายเล่มหนึ่งที่แนะนำให้อ่านกัน สำหรับใครที่ยังไม่เคยลองแนวมิติกาลเวลาที่ทับซ้อน ส่วนสยแข็งที่อ่านกันมาเยอะแล้ว เล่มนี้ก็เป็นตัวเลือกในการอ่านเพลินๆ เพื่อดูว่ามันจะถูกใช้ไปในทิศทางไหน จึงเป็นอีกเล่มที่คอไซไฟควรผ่านตาซักครั้งครับ
พล็อตนิยายไซไฟนี่มีลูกเล่นเยอะแยะ ที่ดังๆและอาจคุ้นชินกันก็คือพวกสงครามอวกาศ ส่วนจะสงครามแบบไปทางลิเกๆ หรือ จะบู๊สะบั้นหั่นแหลกนั่นก็เป็นอีกเรื่อง และพล็อตอีกแบบที่เราอาจคุ้นชินไม่แพ้กัน คือ การเล่นกับมิติของของเวลาและจักรวาล ซึ่ง กาลพิศวงกลลวงเฮมมิงเวย์เล่มนี้ นำมันมายำใหญ่พิเศษใส่ไข่ อย่างมีชั้นเชิงทีเดียว
The Hemingway Hoax กาลพิศวงกลลวงเฮมมงเวย์ เล่าถึงหนุ่มไม่น้อยแล้วนาม โจ บาร์ด เขาเป็น นักวิชาการที่ศึกษาเฮมมิงเวย์มาอย่างเข้มข้น วันหนึ่งมีชายปริศนานาม คาสเซิล มาเสนอให้เขาปลอมแปลงต้นฉบับนิยายเรื่องแรกของเฮมมิ่งเวย์ที่หายสาบสูญไป เพื่อหาเงินมาใช้ บาร์ดตกลงอย่างช่วยไม่ได้ ซึ่งการตกลงร่วมมือภารกิจหลอกลวงครั้งนี้ จะพาเขาไปพบกับเฮมมิงเวย์ ที่โผล่มาเตือนเขาว่าจงหยุดทำซะ ไม่งั้นละก็จะเกิดเหตุอะไรบางอย่างที่ยิ่งใหญ่เกินกว่าตัวของเราจะรับมือได้ และสิ่งนี้คือจุดเริ่มต้นของความวุนวายที่ไม่จบสิ้น
หลังจากอ่านพล็อตแล้ว บางคนอาจเดาได้เลยว่าเนื้อเรื่องมันเกี่ยวกับอะไร จะเดินไปทางไหน ตัวเนื้อเรื่องเองไม่ได้สลับซับซ้อนซ่อนเงื่อนมากมายนะครับ เราอ่านไปก็จะพอเดาๆสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นต่อไปได้ว่า บาร์ดพระเอกของเราจะเจอกับอะไรต่อไป Halderman เล่าด้วยน้ำเสียงเรื่อยๆเรียบๆพาคนอ่านติดตามชีวิตของบาร์ด จุดพลิกผันในเรื่องมีไม่เยอะครับ ช่วงต้น และกลาง จึงจะเนือยๆหน่อย แต่เมื่อเริ่มเข้าช่วงท้ายแล้ว จะสนุกดีดขึ้นมาทันที และตอนจบก็เปิดช่องเล็กๆให้คนอ่านตีความอีกด้วยว่าอะไรเกิดขึ้นกันแน่ (ผมวนอ่านบทจบสามรอบได้ ว่าจริงๆมันเกิดอะไรขึ้นกันแน่ )
คนที่ชอบพล็อตแนวมิติเวลาทับซ้อน ผีเสื้อกระพือปีกสะเทิอนถึงดวงดาวน่าจะชอบเล่มนี้ได้ไม่ยากครับ ไม่ต้องกลัวว่าจะมีการอธิบายหลักการทางวิทยาศาสตร์ มากมาย Halderman ลดทอนในส่วนนี้ลงและปล่อยให้มันเป็นจิตนาการของผู้อ่านเองว่ามันเกิดขึ้นจากอะไร ใครคือผู้ชักใยในเกมๆนี้ มันจึงเป็นไซไฟ สืบสวนเล็กๆที่อ่านง่ายและให้คอนเซปของกาลเวลาที่เหลื่อมกันได้ดีทีเดียวครับ
แต่ด้วยความที่มันง่ายนี่แหละ มันก็เป็นจุดอ่อนที่ย้อนกลับมาทำร้ายเหมือกัน ความง่ายในที่นี้นำมาพร้อมกับการขายรายละเอียดอธิบายไปหน่อย จนรู้สึกว่าถ้าลดการบรรยายไปอีกเล็กน้อย มันอาจเป็นไลท์โนเวลได้เลย คืออ่านได้ง่ายแต่ความออิ่มเอมของการเสพความสมจริงจะหายไปค่อนข้างเยอะ และบางจุดก็ไม่ได้อธิบายหรือข้ามๆไปเสียเฉยๆทั้งที่สามารถขยี้มันลงไปได้อีกเยอะ
และอีกอย่างที่สังเกตได้ชัดเจนคือการแปลและการเรียบเรียงที่ออกจะติดขัดในระดับหนึ่งเลยครับ ทำให้การอ่านมีสะดุดและงงๆบ้างในบางจุดจนต้องย้อนกลับมาอ่านใหม่ ซึ่งส่วนที่เรางงๆก็ดันเป็นส่วนสำคัญของเรื่องซะด้วย เลยต้องเปิดไปเปิดมาย้อนดูว่า นี่เราอ่านเข้าใจถูกแล้วใช่มั้ยเนี่ย (ฮา) ถ้าปรับการแปลและเรียบเรียงให้เนียนกริบกว่านี้จะทำให้อ่านสนกขึ้นอีกอย่างแน่นอนครับ
ในภาพรวมก็ยังเป็นไซไฟอ่านง่ายเล่มหนึ่งที่แนะนำให้อ่านกัน สำหรับใครที่ยังไม่เคยลองแนวมิติกาลเวลาที่ทับซ้อน ส่วนสยแข็งที่อ่านกันมาเยอะแล้ว เล่มนี้ก็เป็นตัวเลือกในการอ่านเพลินๆ เพื่อดูว่ามันจะถูกใช้ไปในทิศทางไหน จึงเป็นอีกเล่มที่คอไซไฟควรผ่านตาซักครั้งครับ
July 20, 2015
Kuigi ma pole teadlikult küll ühtegi Hemingway romaani-juttu lugenud oli enamus raamatust põnev ja hästi kirjutatud. Tegelased olid mitmekülgsed, sündmustik ise muutus aina tempokamaks ja kõik need muud kiidusõnad. Aga lõpp jättis hinge kerge rahulolematuse. Mul on tunne, et seda teksti oleks saanud palju paremini ja vähem häguselt kokku tõmmata. Ehk kui suurem osa raamatust olin enam kui kindel, et hindeks tuleb viis, siis peale lõpplahendust korrigeerisin arvamust ühe punkti võrra. Mis seal ikka, tekstis leidunud katkete järgi saaks Hemingway veelgi vähem punkte (Aga võibolla oli Joe Haldeman lihtsalt vilets Hemingway jäljendaja?). Ilmselt ei saa minust kunagi Hemingway fänni aga Haldemani austajaks võin muutuda küll. Ehk tõlgitakse teda veel edaspidigi.
March 8, 2019
In 1922 Hemingway’s wife Hadley lost a bag containing his unpublished work. John Baird toys with the idea of fabricating some or all of the missing fiction and making millions. It required considerable suspension of disbelief when this idea was presented as consequential enough to affect the fate of the multiverse but, according to non-linear dynamics, such causal connections are remotely possible. I find the idea of multiple universes in which plot alternatives are played out rather exhausting, so I have to admire the construction of the story. However, I also found the characters so off-putting that it was just as well that the book is rather short.
September 9, 2019
I read the novella that won the Hugo/Nebula awards (rather than the novel) and it starts with a fine premise (a Hemingway scholar is enticed to 'create/find' the missing Hemingway early stories), throws in an unexpected angle, then gets crazier and crazier becoming increasingly abstract, bizarre and metaphysical. It's taut, funny, freaky, sexy and violent. It's a delight. The ending is so far from the beginning and yet ties everything up in a satisfactory way. Excellent stuff and well worth reading.
Read overnight in a haze of insomnia.
Read overnight in a haze of insomnia.
May 8, 2019
This book? Not needed at all. Did pick up in speed eventually which made for easy reading. Lost its 3 star rating for unnecessary and random use of the n-word...multiple times. Author later goes on to call the character who used the word misogynistic (which is valid), but not racist, so clearly the author has a lack of self awareness.
Once again...I only read this because of my book club.
Once again...I only read this because of my book club.
October 21, 2018
Haldeman pastiches two of his favourite authors - Hemingway and Heinlein - in this slim novel. Heinlein readers familiar with "All You Zombies" or "By His Bootstraps" should have no problem guessing the outcome by the midway point.
Amusing. 3.5 stars.
Amusing. 3.5 stars.
August 29, 2016
Winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award in 1991, this novella has been on my to-read list for a while now. I am a fan of Joe’s work, but this one I’ve kept putting back on the pile.
I’m never quite sure why, but I think the main reason is that I’ve always assumed that the story will work best with a knowledge of Ernest Hemingway, something I don’t have. (A basic working knowledge, sure, but little more.) As a result, I’ve always felt that I probably wouldn’t ‘get it’.
Well, the good news is that I think I got most of it. But I’m still not entirely convinced it worked for me.
The Hemingway Hoax is a time travel tale from Joe. Set initially in 1996, it tells of John Baird, a Hemingway scholar with an eidetic memory, who is persuaded by a low-life, Sylvester “Castle” Castlemaine, to create a fake Hemingway manuscript based on the so-called ‘lost stories’ of 1921. (In that year, Hemingway’s writing career suffered a setback when his first wife, Hadley, lost a bag containing the manuscript and all the carbon copies of his first novel on a Parisian train. Since that time there has been speculation about the nature of the novel and whether the manuscript survived and may turn up one day.)
The story becomes sf-nal when we discover that there are wider issues at stake. Somewhere, or somewhen, there are entities who control the paths of destiny in the multiple parallel versions of our world that exist. Hemingway appears to be a nexus point and therefore anything that affects the cultural influence of Hemingway is a threat to them.
Baird becomes aware of this himself when one of the entities appears to him in the form of Hemingway on a train travelling from Boston to Florida, and warns him to give up on the scheme. We then have a succession of deaths with Baird reappearing as himself, but different. He seems to be appearing in different places to show him what the consequences of his actions might / might not be.
Back in Florida, in 1996, life continues roughly as before, though with a rather ‘film-noir’ twist. As in the best traditions of the genre, Castle arranges for Pansy, an ex-call girl, to seduce Baird whilst Castle has an affair with Baird’s wife Lena, so that Baird can then be blackmailed by Lena and Castle into continuing with the hoax.
This is initially unknown to Baird who, through multiple encounters with the Hemingway entity, and multiple deaths, stays with the plan, as much to annoy the mysterious alien as anything else. Increasingly desperate to get Baird to change his mind, the alien-that-is-like-Hemingway offers to show Baird what happened to Hadley’s bag, if he would give up on the hoax.
Travelling back in time, they see the thief –
SPOILER ALERT!!!! (it is Hemingway himself) END OF SPOILER ALERT!! –
who speaks to Baird and the entity before vanishing.
The last part of the novella is where things become complex and appropriately fractured. Baird experiences Hemingway’s memories, backwards from the end. He reaches the point where the young Hemingway, contemplates his future, but then Baird’s awareness separates and comes to consciousness of his abilities. He moves back in time, steals Hadley’s bag, allowing himself to be seen doing it in the person of Hemingway. He drops it off for himself to find in the present, before abandoning time for the spaces between. Thus, this new “Baird entity” creates himself out of Hemingway’s psychic trauma, and it is implied that he actually creates all the other entities we have encountered in the story.
As that summary suggests, there’s a lot packed into a fairly short tale here and Haldeman uses lots of skill to combine lots of writerly tricks. (At the end of the novella, in his Afterword, Joe says that he has been a student of Hemingway’s writing and life for about twenty-five years.) We have Haldeman writing snippets of prose in a Hemingway style, fairly complex temporal gymnastics, and what begins as a lighter, decidedly caper-esque tone turns into a much darker, more extreme film-noir gangster tale. At this point I guess I should warn some readers that there’s a lot of very bloody and violent death here, as well as a lot of sex that may not be for everyone.
For me it was a tale that made you think, that I enjoyed, but in the end I felt that I wasn’t getting the full picture without knowing more of the real Hemingway himself. The ending was clever, but I can’t say that I loved it, feeling it was perhaps a little more style than substance. Very well done, but rather a disappointment.
In summary then, The Hemingway Hoax is a good read, and a clever read, but one that I liked rather than loved. Whilst I can see why it’s been on my virtual shelf for a while, it was worth a look. But I suspect that it may be one for literary buffs wanting to dabble in SF rather than the other way around.
I’m never quite sure why, but I think the main reason is that I’ve always assumed that the story will work best with a knowledge of Ernest Hemingway, something I don’t have. (A basic working knowledge, sure, but little more.) As a result, I’ve always felt that I probably wouldn’t ‘get it’.
Well, the good news is that I think I got most of it. But I’m still not entirely convinced it worked for me.
The Hemingway Hoax is a time travel tale from Joe. Set initially in 1996, it tells of John Baird, a Hemingway scholar with an eidetic memory, who is persuaded by a low-life, Sylvester “Castle” Castlemaine, to create a fake Hemingway manuscript based on the so-called ‘lost stories’ of 1921. (In that year, Hemingway’s writing career suffered a setback when his first wife, Hadley, lost a bag containing the manuscript and all the carbon copies of his first novel on a Parisian train. Since that time there has been speculation about the nature of the novel and whether the manuscript survived and may turn up one day.)
The story becomes sf-nal when we discover that there are wider issues at stake. Somewhere, or somewhen, there are entities who control the paths of destiny in the multiple parallel versions of our world that exist. Hemingway appears to be a nexus point and therefore anything that affects the cultural influence of Hemingway is a threat to them.
Baird becomes aware of this himself when one of the entities appears to him in the form of Hemingway on a train travelling from Boston to Florida, and warns him to give up on the scheme. We then have a succession of deaths with Baird reappearing as himself, but different. He seems to be appearing in different places to show him what the consequences of his actions might / might not be.
Back in Florida, in 1996, life continues roughly as before, though with a rather ‘film-noir’ twist. As in the best traditions of the genre, Castle arranges for Pansy, an ex-call girl, to seduce Baird whilst Castle has an affair with Baird’s wife Lena, so that Baird can then be blackmailed by Lena and Castle into continuing with the hoax.
This is initially unknown to Baird who, through multiple encounters with the Hemingway entity, and multiple deaths, stays with the plan, as much to annoy the mysterious alien as anything else. Increasingly desperate to get Baird to change his mind, the alien-that-is-like-Hemingway offers to show Baird what happened to Hadley’s bag, if he would give up on the hoax.
Travelling back in time, they see the thief –
SPOILER ALERT!!!! (it is Hemingway himself) END OF SPOILER ALERT!! –
who speaks to Baird and the entity before vanishing.
The last part of the novella is where things become complex and appropriately fractured. Baird experiences Hemingway’s memories, backwards from the end. He reaches the point where the young Hemingway, contemplates his future, but then Baird’s awareness separates and comes to consciousness of his abilities. He moves back in time, steals Hadley’s bag, allowing himself to be seen doing it in the person of Hemingway. He drops it off for himself to find in the present, before abandoning time for the spaces between. Thus, this new “Baird entity” creates himself out of Hemingway’s psychic trauma, and it is implied that he actually creates all the other entities we have encountered in the story.
As that summary suggests, there’s a lot packed into a fairly short tale here and Haldeman uses lots of skill to combine lots of writerly tricks. (At the end of the novella, in his Afterword, Joe says that he has been a student of Hemingway’s writing and life for about twenty-five years.) We have Haldeman writing snippets of prose in a Hemingway style, fairly complex temporal gymnastics, and what begins as a lighter, decidedly caper-esque tone turns into a much darker, more extreme film-noir gangster tale. At this point I guess I should warn some readers that there’s a lot of very bloody and violent death here, as well as a lot of sex that may not be for everyone.
For me it was a tale that made you think, that I enjoyed, but in the end I felt that I wasn’t getting the full picture without knowing more of the real Hemingway himself. The ending was clever, but I can’t say that I loved it, feeling it was perhaps a little more style than substance. Very well done, but rather a disappointment.
In summary then, The Hemingway Hoax is a good read, and a clever read, but one that I liked rather than loved. Whilst I can see why it’s been on my virtual shelf for a while, it was worth a look. But I suspect that it may be one for literary buffs wanting to dabble in SF rather than the other way around.
October 17, 2015
This is one of those stories that's probably better as a concept than a narrative. Haldeman himself frames it well in the afterword (I'm paraphrasing): "I realized that if someone could make a lot of money at a lot of risk for creating a counterfeit Hemingway story, then I could make a little money at no risk writing a story about that." And that's essentially the plot: Hemingway scholar Baird is an aging academic with a depleted trust fund, a war injury that damages his sex drive, and a younger, somewhat bored, wife. Enter a conman who convinces him the answer to his flagging fortunes is to construct and sell a fake Hemingway novel. Everything seems to be going fine--well, fine apart from his wife having an affair with the conman and setting up an encounter with a prostitute to blackmail him--when he's met with an extradimensional being who informs him that it is in charge of presering the multiverse in regards to the concept of masculinity as presented by early 20th century North America, and that Baird's composition is threatening existence--cease and desist, or be killed. To its surprise--and certainly to Baird's--he does not die, but is shunted off into another universe to try and fix the whole mess.
When I first read the story, I was an undergraduate unfamiliar with Hemingway. Now, I'm a graduate very aware with Hemingway, and I'm not a fan. (Basically, I'm not buying the version of masculinity he's selling.) But I appreciate how Haldeman sets up little references to Hemingway throughout the book; if you were a sci-fi reader who IS a Hemingway fan, you could bump the rating up another star. My biggest fault with the book--besides playing very loose with the nature of the threat here--is that the characters aren't particularly likeable. It's a five person cast: one is a con man whose schtick is that he becomes more villainous each time Baird changes universes; one is not really a person but some sort of interdimensional cop with a penchant for solving its problems with killing things; one is literally a hooker with a heart of gold; and the other two are Baird and his wife who are exceptionally cavalier on cheating with each other. I don't think cheating makes a character naturally unsympathetic, but that their relationship seems to be founded on such a mutual uncaring towards each other--while still having lots of sex--and that this uncaring is largely unacknowledged is kind of grim. And it makes it a lot harder to accept that Baird is this wonderful person, which is necessary to buy the hooker's change of heart in the whole scheme. Finally, the ending is very predictable, while still not making a lot of sense.
I appreciate what Haldeman is doing here, how he's playing with concepts of literature and sci-fi. But considering the rest, it's a good thing it was a short book, and I think it would have been better off being shorter still.
When I first read the story, I was an undergraduate unfamiliar with Hemingway. Now, I'm a graduate very aware with Hemingway, and I'm not a fan. (Basically, I'm not buying the version of masculinity he's selling.) But I appreciate how Haldeman sets up little references to Hemingway throughout the book; if you were a sci-fi reader who IS a Hemingway fan, you could bump the rating up another star. My biggest fault with the book--besides playing very loose with the nature of the threat here--is that the characters aren't particularly likeable. It's a five person cast: one is a con man whose schtick is that he becomes more villainous each time Baird changes universes; one is not really a person but some sort of interdimensional cop with a penchant for solving its problems with killing things; one is literally a hooker with a heart of gold; and the other two are Baird and his wife who are exceptionally cavalier on cheating with each other. I don't think cheating makes a character naturally unsympathetic, but that their relationship seems to be founded on such a mutual uncaring towards each other--while still having lots of sex--and that this uncaring is largely unacknowledged is kind of grim. And it makes it a lot harder to accept that Baird is this wonderful person, which is necessary to buy the hooker's change of heart in the whole scheme. Finally, the ending is very predictable, while still not making a lot of sense.
I appreciate what Haldeman is doing here, how he's playing with concepts of literature and sci-fi. But considering the rest, it's a good thing it was a short book, and I think it would have been better off being shorter still.
July 18, 2017
This book was the perfect plane read for me. I love Hemingway, I'm falling for Haldeman, and this book kept me engrossed! I am always intrigued by plots involving time travel and this one fit the normal bill. I'm learning that Haldeman means there will be violence (always somewhat graphic, never glorified) and some sex. His writing style keeps me wanting to turn the page and often makes me chuckle out loud. I enjoyed the description of the Hemingway collection at the JFK library outside of Boston as I had the pleasure of using it while I was in a college class on Hemingway. This book made me ready for my next trip to Key West. The only thing I wasn't a super fan of was the very ending. It seemed abrupt and I may need to reread it to fully grasp it.
October 3, 2008
Fun, little book. Hemingway scholar attempts to recreate H's early style and forge one of H's lost stories. Great concept...then there's the sci-fi, multiple-dimensions of probability (many of which are explored). The story had a strong enough concept that the sci-fi element sort of interferes with it and slows it down unnecessarily. Quick read in the cold with a few cups of coffee...really hit the spot.
November 14, 2018
My five-star rating applies to the award-winning novella. My recollection is that the expansion (not by that much) to short-novel length diluted the intensity a bit. The novella is the one I reread, and I should again. What a story!
Here's my review of the novella: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here's my review of the novella: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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