Zăpezile de pe Kilimanjaro și alte povestiri

by Ernest Hemingway, Ionuţ Chiva (Translator)

„La vreo treiscinci de metri, intre ierburi, marele leu zacea lipit de pamint. Isi tinea urechile ciulite, statea nemiscat si numai coada lunga, terminata-ntr-un smoc de par negru, zvicnea usor in sus si-n jos. Se pusese la pinda de cum ajunsese la adapost, dar rana din stomac ii facea greata, iar cea din plamini ii slabea puterile si cu fiecare respiratie gura i se umplea de o spuma rosie. Avea coastele umede si fierbinti, mustele se ingramadisera in micile deschizaturi pe care gloantele le facusera in pielea sa cafenie, privea drept inainte cu ochii mari si galbeni ingustati de furie, clipind doar cind durerea respiratiei il sageta si rascolind cu ghearele pamintul infierbintat si moale. Tot ce era el, durerea, slabiciunea, ura si toata forta care-i mai ramasese erau adunate intr-o totala concentrare asupra atacului. Ii auzea pe oameni vorbind si ii astepta, adunindu-se, pregatindu-se sa sara de indata ce aveau sa apara dintre ierburi. Auzind glasurile care se apropiau, coada i se ridica si intepeni, si apoi, cind ei intrara intre ierburi, scoase un miriit icnit si sari.” (Ernest Hemingway)

Genres: Short Stories, American

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Cristians. Sirb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicatesă!

Despre Hemingway, au rămas prea puține nespuse! Ca simplu cititor cum mă aflu și eu, e și o chestie de smerenie sau de bun-simț să nu te sfincterești degeaba, crezând că ai avea ceva nou și semnificativ de adăugat.

Scriitorul ăsta e viu și fascinant. Îmi dau seama, citindu-l, cât de mult îi datorează prozatorii (scurți) din zilele noastre. Și cât de greu este - și acum - de întrecut!

În fiecare scriitor bun de astăzi e câte puțin din Hemingway. Iar cei în care Hemingway e de negăsit sunt doar slabi sau, cel mult, pasabili.

[Claudia Șerbănescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lumea povestirilor lui Ernest Hemingway este dominată de cruzime, violență, atrocități, tragic, război, sânge, pesimism, iar unele povestiri sunt de-a dreptul macabre (“O istorie naturală a morților”, pe care nu o recomand celor sensibili). Tematicile abordate anunță marile romane ulterioare, dar “explică” întru-câtva viața și, nu m-am putut împiedică să o gândesc, moartea auto-impusă a autorului.

Repet recomandarea unui prieten drag: “Scurta viață fericită a lui Francis Macomber”, “Zapezile de pe Kilimanjaro”, “O pisică în ploaie”, “Un loc curat și bine luminat”.