I'm all over the map on how to rate this one. It's better than 3 stars, but probably not worth 4 (but I'll round up). I was surprised to find that this was Hemingway's first "novel" in eight years. Is it a novel? On one hand, you could probably view this as a collection of short stories and a novella, with the connective thread being that Middle Aged Man of the Sea: Harry Morgan. But there are connective threads here (the Depression being the main one) where the reader can discern a beginning to end storyline arc. So yeah, it's a novel, but it's one that's also an experiment in form (in a clunky sort of way).
What To Have and Have Not does have going for it, is Harry Morgan. He's a great character. Hemingway tough, even brutal, but throughout the book you will see little flashes that show Morgan as a man of Conradian duty and honor. These qualities are most visible when he's in the presence of his (ex-prostitute) wife and children, and on occasion with a few other men in the town that he respects as stand up guys. The novel opens with Harry rejecting an attempt to enlist him in illegally getting some men out of Cuba (I think -- or is it the other way around?). It means big bucks, but it's also dangerous work. Harry is trying to keep things legal in hard times (with Revolution in the air), so running human cargo is definitely out. Besides, Harry has been engaged in a weeks long fishing charter with a supposedly rich customer who wants to catch the big one. The rich guy hasn't paid up yet, but Harry isn't too worried. To underscore the seemingly safe wisdom of Harry's choice, is a really violent (and well done) gun battle in the book's first pages.
But the rich guy walks the check and Harry is left with a heavy debt. Another opportunity to run human cargo comes up, which allows Harry to recover his loss, but at a heavy price -- murder. It's probably true that Harry just beat his victim (a well dressed Chinese businessman with too much money to spend) to the lethal punch, but you're never really sure. I liked the fact that Hemingway kept things murky here, but Harry's amoral (and desperate) character really comes into sharp focus. He's not really a good guy, but just a guy capable of doing hard things. You are left with the distinct sense that Harry, if events had of unfolded badly, would of killed everyone on his boat, which would of included his drunken "friend," Eddy, and twelve Chinese trying to get to the U.S.
The second, and shortest, section of the book has Harry shot up on his boat, a liquor run gone bad. At this point, it's apparent that Harry has gone over to smuggling as a way to make ends meet. This section is interesting, because you get a glimpse of what Hemingway must of thought of the New Deal, as he has Harry spotted by an official with the government who happens to be on another boat. The official is an an ass, and makes a point of turning Harry in, causing Harry to lose this boat (and thus his livelihood). And Harry, due to his wound, also loses his arm.
What follows, in section three, is a bizarre mix of story and literary feud. Harry gets involved with a bunch of revolutionary bank robbers, and you can see where this is all going to end. It's at this point that Hemingway introduces a number of other characters, with the primary one being Richard Gordon. Gordon is a stand in for John Dos Passos. Hemingway is at his most nasty here. This should have sunk the book, but strangely it doesn't. The Gordons, and others arrival at Key West, shows them to be clueless and decadent. Contrasting this, in the preceding pages, is Harry's last night with Marie. A night filled with lovemaking and prime Hemingway speak.
"Do you want to?"
"Yes. Now."
"I was asleep. Do you remember when we'd do it asleep."
"Listen, do you mind the arm? Don't it make you feel funny?"
"You're silly. I like it. Any that's you I like. Put it across there. Put
it along there. Go on, I like it, true."
Hemingway is probably the only writer I know that can both move me and make me laugh when I read passages like this. It's seems so stylized, but is it? Whatever the case, it's this section that redeemed Harry for me.
Not so true are Gordon and his wife. Hemingway spends considerable time (in a short novel) applying the wrecking ball to their lives, while offstage Harry, a true man of action, is fighting and dying. I found this effective. The reader is constantly aware of Harry's slow return (as if on his shield) from his mortal shootout, without it being mentioned much. Hemingway ratchets things up by omission, with all the empty bar talk, cheating, and fights, etc. In the book's last pages, he has Harry's fishing boat, with Harry on board raving and bleeding out, contrasted against the rich yachts and empty lives of those on board them. Overall, it's not a great book, but it's certainly an interesting one. Those looking for signs of Hemingway's decline, probably need to look elsewhere. If anything, this odd novel (with it's fascinating historical context) has me appreciating more the accomplishment of For Whom the Bell Tolls, which would be Hemingway's next novel.