The Importance of Reading Ernest discussion

Hello everyone. Hope you're enjoying the group thus far.

Thanks to Gio for her excellent work so far with Up in Michigan, and please hop in with any comments you have.

We need a discussion leader for Cat in the Rain. Any takers?

has anyone picked this up?

I know it is one of his short stories.

brad, do you want to co-lead?

Are you up for The Sea Change, Preb? I've made you the discussion leader, tentatively. Feel free to ask me any questions you have.

Hi Brad,
I'm up for The Sea Change. Absolutely!

Am I supposed to set up the discussion? Or will you handle that?

But as soon as I'm straight on that, I'll post a comment.

Best regards to all,
Preb

I'll set up the file and then you can go straight to the discussion, just make sure you don't start the discussion until we've had a chance to talk more about Night Before Battle. Thanks for volunteering Preb. I look forward to your discussion.

what happened to preb????

I've not seen him anywhere on here in ages.

i got an email from Stephen that he was cancelling his account on here, but I see he's not done it yet, yet he's been quiet.......
you have him listed as discussion leader, so, i wondered if you knew more about what he's up to then i do?????

I like the new name of this group - very clever!

Yeah, it's a good one isn't it? Nice choice, Gio.

Hemingway didn't like his first name, btw. Thought it was too close to 'earnest' and he didn't care to be identified that way.

ok, john, i am curious, where did you hear that?

Oh, darn. Thought I'd struck gold with a like-minded group of Hemingstein fans, but I see hopes for discussions of shorts and novels never really got off the ground. Durn the durn fog (as Twain, not Hemingway, once wrote).

We've never really tried the novels yet, Newengland. Today is our first day with The Sun Also Rises, so please stick around this month and help us make it happen.

OK, I'll pitch in. I've read Sun a gazillion (Japanese for "a million") times, but not recently. I'll follow along with my book nearby and jump in now and again.

Gary wrote: "ok, john, i am curious, where did you hear that?"

I believe I read it in a couple different biographies on Hem, years back.

Wiki also has it: "Hemingway later claimed to dislike his given name, which he "associated with the naive, even foolish hero of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest".[4:]"

Early Life section of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_H...

Thanks, John, I've shared that all my "ernest" friends!!!

gary

John, have you read the bio by A.E. Hotchner? I actually met the man in person. He was so interesting,and soooo old, but sharp as a tack!

I love the new book he has out of pictures he took of Hem!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/00614...

http://www.harpercollins.com/harperim...

yay - glad my name got picked. now i must stumble over to the used book store to get a copy. its been a while since i've read it

start stumbling, honey! congrats!

Hi - can you please tell me how this works, do we all red a certian amount of pages and then discuss it? Am quite busy, but I am looking forward to it. Thanks for inviting me Gary! do you want more participants? If so, I can post it on my blog.
www.hemingwayproject.blogspot.com
Allie

You just read the book at your own pace, then come into our Sun Also Rises discussion thread, pick a topic and post whatever you want whenever you want. Just engage on your own terms Allie. I always mark certain threads with a spoiler warning in case there is someone who hasn't finished the book, thus avoiding annoying book wrecking comments.

Allie, please post this on your blog,and ask for members! yes! please! tell them to look for gary as one of the moderators,and they can join the discussion. Thanks!

Gary wrote: "John, have you read the bio by A.E. Hotchner? I actually met the man in person. He was so interesting,and soooo old, but sharp as a tack!

I love the new book he has out of pictures he took of Hem!..."

Haven't read that one, Gary, but have seen the name 'Hotchner' mentioned several times in relation to Hemingway.

I read several bios on Hemingway, but the one that really fascinated me was the one from the man Hemingway referred to as 'Maestro'. The guy who hitch hiked down from the north to the Keys to hang with EH because he wanted to be a writer and thought EH was the best. EH wrote of him in Esquire Magazine, "Monologue to the Maestro: A High Seas Letter"

His daughter pubbed the bio after 'Maestro' died, though it was something like 30 years after the time period in question!

I'm looking for it in Google but can't find it ...

Ah, here we go. Arnold Samuelson was Maestro. He wrote With Hemingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba
http://www.amazon.com/Hemingway-Year-...


Article:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid...

It's funny (and cruelly deceptive), but more than any other writer, Hemingway makes would-be writers think they can write.

(Hope that makes sense.)

A notice about the reading group is up on the blog, please feel free to add anything in the comments, this is a good group of Hemingway people! www.hemingwayproject.blogspot.com

Hemingway typically used a short declaritive style some might initially find 'easy.' But it picks up steam as the pages progress, and takes on a distinct rhythm. Before you know it, you're halfway through the book. And he uses 'and' to join thoughts better than anybody else I've read.

Hi Newengland,
I know what you mean about Hemingway.Too many would-be writers think that by writing something like "Nick liked the water. It was cold. Nick liked cold water," they have nailed the Hemingway style. Far from it, of course.

The same kind of thing happens among jazz pianists. The great autodidact, Erroll Garner,had the misfortune to be loved both by great jazz musicians and the public at large. As a result, his style of playing is imitated by more amateur pianist than anyone else. Of course, most of them,focus on only the most obvious facets of his playing.Professionals, recognize Erroll's genius and while some occasionally play like him(Cyrus Chesnut, Phineas Newborn Jr, Keith Jarrett, George Shearing, Jamal and Peterson)they do so in tribute rather than imitation of him.

I think many of us also are tempted to try to write like Faulkner. I plead guilty myself. It's hard not to want to write those gorgeous sentences that seem to go on forever, but are magically beautiful, profound and rhythmic.If we're smart,we soon learn not to mess with perfection.

Agree with both of you, J&J. And Joseph, you are a rare man indeed -- one who loves Faulkner and Hemingway equally! Me, I heart Hem's stuff but avoid Faulkner's convoluted diction like the plague. I think I have company, too.

Yes you do, Newengland. A writer friend of mine told me recently,"Everybody talks about Faulkner but nobody reads him." I know that his style of writing has somewhat gone out of style.I also know that John Gardner was right ,when he criticized Faulkner for occasionally becoming so enamoured of his "chops" that he couldn't resist showing off. . . often to the detriment of a story.
Still, to me, there is so many wonderful facets of his writing that I'm willing to forgive him almost anything.Sure, he was known among his neighbors as "Count No Account," and he did once arrogantly announce that the best thing about winning awards was that he no longer had to work in the post office where he was at the beck and call of"anyone with a nickel for a stamp."
Still, there is magic in his writing. I once took an informal survey of some writer friends and the majority chose Faulkner as their favorite writer.
Besides ,in moments of special clarity, the great man himself warned us of the dangers of not being willing to"kill (our) babies." I bet he killed off a lot more than he let live. Best.

P.S.My publisher noted on the back of one of my books that my writing combined elements of both Hemingway and Faulkner. I know publisher's are given to exaggeration and even untruths, but I didn't speak to anyone for over a week.

I can't claim to love them equally, for I reserve my true love for Hemingway, but I like Faulkner immensely, and I've read a huge chunk of his work.

I too love hemingway, and also really like faulkner. also read a huge chunk of works. definately worth the challenge to read faulkner.