Hemingway: The 1930s

Reynolds' Hemingway #4

by Michael S. Reynolds

"[R]eads like a novel, filled with strongly drawn characters and a wealth of lively detail.... The book offers as much insight into the creative process as it does into this crucial period of our history."―Lee Smith In the years between A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls , Ernest Hemingway matured as a writer against the backdrop of Cuban revolutions, African game trails, Key West impoverishment, and the Spanish Civil War. He experimented in fiction and nonfiction, pushing his limits as a writer, in such works as Death in the Afternoon , Green Hills of Africa , and To Have and Have Not . In this "masterpiece in the making," Reynolds brings us so close to Hemingway that "you can all but smell Hemingway's whisky breath coming off the pages" ( Library Journal ). Photographs

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir

386 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

As part of Reynolds' lifelong research, aided by his wife and editor Ann, he followed Hemingway's travels through Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Key West, Fla., and visited the novelist's childhood home in Oak Park, Ill.

Reynolds served on the editorial board of the Hemingway Review. He also helped establish the Hemingway Society, which presents the annual Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for the best first work of fiction published in the U.S., and organized its biannual conferences for Hemingway scholars. The professor was particularly delighted with the 1996 conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, one of Hemingway's familiar stomping grounds, which was attended by five friends of the late author.

Internationally respected, Reynolds was consulted in 1992 about 20 newly discovered newspaper stories allegedly written by Hemingway for the Toronto Star in the early 1920s. Some of the articles, which Reynolds and other scholars authenticated, were found in the Hemingway section of the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, the world's leading center of Hemingway studies.[More...]

Reviews

[cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is both for The 1930's and for The Final Years. I agree these are wonderfully researched and very good reads. I'm in the middle of a reassessment of Hemingway anyway and have gone back to re-read and read all his work. I never thought much of his style in the few books I read when I was young because I wasn't after straightforward, to the point prose but was more into sentences two paragraphs long and lyrical to boot. As I've gotten older I appreciate more the boiling down of prose to it's essence as few writers can do.

Among women, there is so much hostility towards Hemingway because of the way he treated women and people in general and for his obvious extreme machismo, which today seems so boorish.
These books explain better his cyclical mood swings and depression and near hysteria between books and these symptoms are more more understood today than 50 years ago. He only had extremes and those were either as a grandiose asshole or as the most fascinating and powerful personality ever. I decided to stick to his words.

The Paris years, when he was younger and the City was alive with literary novelty and friendship among writers, I believe were his best. Though his writing was newer and he had yet to become so successful, he and Hadley thrived with passion and excitement. He struggled as he always would with his writing but as it began to be picked up his ferocious confidence and commitment soared. He never doubted for long how great he could be. Paris worked it's magic on writers as it worked it's magic on painters. Perhaps the geographical closeness of these creative spirits helped to balance the isolation writing requires. What came out of those stimulating years was the foundation for his literary career.

The intensity and driven behavior towards his writing which he displayed all his life leave me breathless. His writing was his life. His adventures and lovers were primarily fodder for his books. His writing made him and saved him and propelled him and overwhelmed him.

To be able to write For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms puts him among other literary geniuses.

[Brian Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 4th of five volumes, this installment did not disappoint. It covers Hemingway's "prime", the years he was most acknowledged as a literary heavyweight, from A Farewell to Arms to the composition of For Whom The Bell Tolls. The details are fascinating as we follow Papa from Paris to Key West to Cuba to Spain to Africa to Wyoming. What surprised me most is how Reynolds details the unravelling of Hemingway's psyche and mental cohesion at this point. For those of us who know the ending, the seeds are sown here even as he achieves his notoriety. A fantastic read for those curious as to Hemingway's literary progression in this decade and for insightful psychological investigation. Always complex, Hemingway just continues to defy expectations in this series.

[Ryan Fritze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really write reviews for the books I read, but I feel like this one requires some clarification.

This is a well-written book, and if you are interested in Ernest Hemingway's life, then this book is the one to pick up. I'm sure that the other books by Michael Reynolds on the subject are just as well-written and informative.

The only reason I gave this book two stars is that I realized about halfway through the book that I am not as interested in Ernest Hemingway's life as I initially thought I was. I just don't want a two-star review to turn people off from the book.

This is a long way of saying "It's not you, it's me", except this time it's actually true.

[Nicole C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discusses Hemingway's marriage to Pauline Pfieffer (his second wife), the move to Key West, his African safari, and the stirrings of his relationship with Martha Gellhorn, who would become his third wife. This is written in a very engaging style, with some wonderful descriptions taken from letters and the like.

[Blair Erotica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many bios of Hemingway and the series by Reynolds is far and away the best in that it is both comprehensive and readable. It shows that he understands why someone would want to read a biography.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part 4 of a five-part biography of Ernest Hemingway and the whole endeavor is a tremendous accomplishment. I was surprised to see that this volume was dedicated to one of my college professors, a great teacher who made me realize that I should have been studying literature instead of engineering. Maybe in the next life.

As was the case with the earlier volumes, the author did a tremendous amount of research and he follows Hemingway almost day be day. The 1930s is when Hemingway achieved his great fame, after the success of A Farewell to the Arms. But the critics were not always kind to Hemingway during this decade, as Death in the Afternoon, Winner Take Nothing, The Green Hills of Africa, and To Have and Have Not were not regarded as highly as his earlier novels (and only one of those books was a novel). If you regard Hemingway as a prime example of toxic masculinity, you have plenty of evidence here, as he spends much of his time slaughtering animals when hie isn't writing, ignoring his children or trading in his current wife for another woman. Still, his drive to write works of literature that will outlast him is interesting to read about, as is the long section about his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, leading to the writing of what many (including myself) consider to be his best book, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

They say that being physically active improves one's mental health, and vice-versa, and I think that Hemingway was a prime example of that. His various physical activities - the hunting, the fishing, the wars - all served as research and preparation for the great challenge of writing. Even if you're not a fan of Hemingway, the uncompromising way in which he lived makes for interesting reading.

[John Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rather pedestrian book covers a lost decade in Ernest Hemingway's life. Although Hemingway produced a few top-notch stories during this period - most particularly The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber - he spent most of his time hunting, fishing, carousing, and churning out a few mediocre books. The author spends most of his time chronicling the mundane details of Hemingway's life - where he traveled, where he stayed, who he socialized with, and so on - rather than delving deeply into Hemingway's mind and psychology, which would have made an interesting study during any decade of his life. Three stars.

[Hibou le Literature Supporter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Vol. 4 of Reynolds' 5-volume biography (and the 3rd that I've read). I think the Paris Years Vol. 2 is my favorite, but each one is a wonderful blend of writerly advice, ambition, gossip, flaws, betrayals. This one has a bit too much hunting and fishing for my taste, but still an excellent portrait of Key West in the 1930s and the Martha Gellhorn last 50 pages is a real treat. She is an underrated novelist/journalist.

[Michael Alligood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and concisely written. While Reynolds interjects his opinions sparingly, this book is most researched (documented) facts based on a variety (and numerous) published accounts including letters, travel logs, personal accounts, articles, etc.

[Cal Godot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hemingway becomes "Papa" and begins to inhabit the legendary figure with which most are acquainted. Reynolds' research is meticulous and his writing appropriately fast-paced and direct in this action-packed volume.

[Charles Kerns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographers shouldn't hate their subjects, but shouldn't be too slavish. Reynolds nears the slavish side but stays almost clear.

[Michael Percy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was saddened to learn, as I went to write this review, that Michael Reynolds died in 2000. Initially, the concept of the book made me wonder whether Reynolds' work is merely a retelling of the master's work: whether Reynolds had much talent at all and simply used another's carefully-crafted public image as a topic for elevating one's own status. Moreover, my first thoughts were that chronologically-ordered books tend to be a hard slog to read. Australian war historian Lex McAulay came to mind as he writes very well-referenced, precisely-detailed and scholarly work which can be incredibly difficult to read other than for research purposes and I couldn't help seeing the similarities in style from a "readability" perspective. Nonetheless, Reynolds successfully melds chronology, at-times lengthy quotations, details and historical context with his own blend of character depictions and descriptions, without ever appearing to over-step the mark and over-dramatise history in what is an essentially good, scholarly and entertaining read. Reynolds' ability to capture the history of a character who was synonymous with the spirit of so many of the more romantic elements of the twentieth century is remarkable. I was reading Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" and a number of his famous short stories while also reading Reynolds' work, an approach which I intend to continue as I read and study more of Hemingway's legacy while reading Reynolds' "The Paris Years". Nevertheless, I couldn't help but notice how the chronologically-ordered chapters move from year to year until the last few chapters where the years are suddenly jammed together as if the author became frustrated with the approach and forsook the planned structure in order to finish the book using less words than originally intended. On learning of Reynolds' death, and reflecting on Hemingway's witnessing the beginnings of his own legacy, however, i cannot help but think that Reynolds' work stands on its own two feet and is worthy of much praise as a historical piece. While not in the same vein as Hemingway's oft more glamorous career, I can not help but think that Reynolds' lifetime effort to record for posterity the lifetime of another was, in its own way, a life worth living. With that in mind, I suspect the true greatness of Reynolds' work is in the entire series on Hemingway, and not just this one volume.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great details in this biography...even better paired with the short stories and novels discussed. I was inspired to read this after a trip to Key West, only to discover how much Hemingway would dislike the city today. Not a boring biography!

[H. Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I have learned thus far (and after reading several other biographies of Hemingway) is that many many of Papa's biographers begin to write in a style that I can only call Hemingwayesque.

[Ann Ranhem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first book about H in Paris in the 1920's. It was excellent! Why, shouldn't this one be just as good?

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

The entire series on Hemingway by Reynolds is entertaining.

[Gale]

INSIGHTUL ABOUT The rise to popularity...and his personal life...he did not know he was a success until later..