Hemingway on Hunting

by Ernest Hemingway, Seán Hemingway (Editor/Introduction), Patrick Hemingway (Foreword)

Ernest Hemingway's classic writings on hunting—one of his greatest passions—brought together in one volume, a must-have for any fan of Hemingway or hunting.

Ernest Hemingway’s lifelong zeal for the hunting life is reflected in his masterful works of fiction, from his famous portrayal of an African safari in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” to passages about duck hunting in Across the River and Into the Trees . For Hemingway, hunting was more than just a passion—it was a means through which to explore our humanity and man’s relationship to nature. Courage, awe, respect, precision, patience—these were the virtues that Hemingway honored in the hunter, and his ability to translate these qualities into prose has produced some of the strongest accounts of sportsmanship of all time.

Hemingway on Hunting offers the full range of Hemingway’s writing about the hunting life. With selections from his best-loved novels and stories, along with journalistic pieces from such magazines as Esquire and Vogue , this spectacular collection is a must-have for anyone who has ever tasted the thrill of the hunt—in person or on the page.

Genres: Outdoors, Nonfiction, Literature

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, on July 2, 1961 (a couple weeks before his 62nd birthday), he killed himself using one of his shotguns.

Reviews

[Yong Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of magazine articles and book excerpts. Except for the short on Francis Macomber, all rather forgettable.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this because I am hunting for the first time this year. I was disappointed that many of the stories were more about relationships than hunting. There were some parts I really liked, especially some of the wording.

It consists of short stories and excerpts, so you have to read them all to know if you will like any.

One thing to keep in mind is when the stories were written. Back in the day, people shot lots of game for the sake of shooting, not just to eat them. It appears that he learned to hunt more ethically later in his life, if you can go by his writings.

This is not a book for children, mainly because of the sexual references.

[Joseph Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the Introduction by EH's grandson Sean. He reminisces on several stories regarding EH's hunting escapades and gives new details on his African safari trips which were very captivating. The first half of the book is excerpts from some of Hemingway's novels as well as some of his short stories and the second half contains hunting stories he published in magazines and wrote to friends in letters, as well as a few more short stories. The letters and magazine articles were the most interesting part of the main body of the book by far, and you could see Hemingway's wry humor show through in a more natural way, especially in his later stories.

[Rudolf Waldner · Rating 5 out of 5]

As ever, Hemingway's writings move me. This conglomeration of articles and snippets from his other works all based on hunting and fishing satisfied my Hemingway cravings. I'm not a pro-hunting type and felt sad for the deaths of the different animals, but is was another time, another place, and written with eloquence.

[David Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hemingway on Hunting by Ernest Hemingway (Lyons Press 2001)(818.0) features excerpts from Hemingway's writing about hunting. There is an introduction by Sean Hemingway and a forward by Patrick Hemingway, so the great man's estate is obviously on board. This is a companion book to Hemingway on Fishing. I'll take Robert Ruark's stories about hunting and fishing over those of Papa H. any day. My rating: 4/10, read 1/19/11.

[Curtis Anthony Bozif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful excerpts on hunting from larger works. Most passages are about big game hunting in Africa. Not much about deer hunting in the Americas, which was what I was looking for. Nice none the less.

[Ryan ZumMallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hunting awesome animals like lions, bears, buffalo and leopards is super awesome.

[Philip Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eclectic sorting of good passages of his work.