The Bell Tolled
I finished the Hemingway book, and liked it...
I'm interested in whether anyone consuming these blogs has read For Whom the Bell Tolls and what your memories of it are. Having just gone through the experience, I'd say of course the ending (which I won't spoil and which is up there in "'Tis A Far Far Better Thing I Do" territory) is sticking with me, and then also dang Lupe, who's a pretty marvelous character.
Hemingway obviously gets a raft of crap for the guy he was. Sounds like he deserves it! And listen, from this very book, Maria isn't exactly the most believable person. (But then again: is Robert Jordan?) However, Lupe is great. And in my memory Brett from The Sun Also Rises is three-dimensional. If you read the short story "Up In Michigan," I think it's at least disingenuous to claim Hemingway doesn't understand and can't write sympathetic women. (Of course, that was a *really* early story.)
All of which is to maybe say: it's probably better to actually read this stuff rather than decide a writer "hasn't aged well" or "is problematic" *without* reading them. That's my response to the David Foster Wallace backlash that's now about in the world...anyone who has told me Infinite Jest "is problematic" almost universally hasn't read it. Of course, if you actually *do* read a book and still say, "Wow, I don't think this is the way the world is," cool. Of course, that's, like, just your opinion, man.
Next up for me, speaking of books that rub people the wrong way: a re-read of London Fields by Martin Amis.
I'm interested in whether anyone consuming these blogs has read For Whom the Bell Tolls and what your memories of it are. Having just gone through the experience, I'd say of course the ending (which I won't spoil and which is up there in "'Tis A Far Far Better Thing I Do" territory) is sticking with me, and then also dang Lupe, who's a pretty marvelous character.
Hemingway obviously gets a raft of crap for the guy he was. Sounds like he deserves it! And listen, from this very book, Maria isn't exactly the most believable person. (But then again: is Robert Jordan?) However, Lupe is great. And in my memory Brett from The Sun Also Rises is three-dimensional. If you read the short story "Up In Michigan," I think it's at least disingenuous to claim Hemingway doesn't understand and can't write sympathetic women. (Of course, that was a *really* early story.)
All of which is to maybe say: it's probably better to actually read this stuff rather than decide a writer "hasn't aged well" or "is problematic" *without* reading them. That's my response to the David Foster Wallace backlash that's now about in the world...anyone who has told me Infinite Jest "is problematic" almost universally hasn't read it. Of course, if you actually *do* read a book and still say, "Wow, I don't think this is the way the world is," cool. Of course, that's, like, just your opinion, man.
Next up for me, speaking of books that rub people the wrong way: a re-read of London Fields by Martin Amis.
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I also love the many levels it is written on, and how it goes into the politics and high level players in the war. I have read that his knowledge of these matters was in some instances eerily insightful and in others completely apocryphal.
Yes, there are flaws. It's a messy, ambitious book and it doesn't all fit perfectly. The romance is highly improbable, but I happily suspended any disbelief because everything around it was so enjoyable.
There are problematic elements, sure, but god what a boring fucking way to engage with art, constantly worrying about ho much more refined and righteous you are than the book you are reading. By all means be aware of these elements, even critique them as you read, write an essay about it if you must, but there is so much more to be gained from art than that kind of surface level reactionary nitpicking. Just read it for what it is, in its own context, and get over yourself. Then go read some Toni Morrison to cleanse your palette.