Garden of Eden
by Ernest Hemingwaypublished
September 6th 1995
(first published 1986)
by Scribner
edit
binding
Paperback, 256 pages
isbn
0684804522
(isbn13: 9780684804521)
description
A sensational bestseller when it appeared in 1986, The Garden of Eden is the last uncompleted novel of Ernest Hemingway, which he worked on int...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
discuss this book
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1730)
I think I was still in middle school when I first read this book, so I would have missed that this is probably Hemingway's most explicitly erotic book. Stylistically I would place it somewhere between /A Movable Feast/ and /True at First Light/, in the sense that by the latter book Hemingway had all but lost his writing discipline, had become addicted to the word "and", sounded chronically hungover, and tended toward sentimentality. Signs of the dissolution appear in the former book ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
Not my favorite Hemingway, though I understand why it was recommended to me: there is a lot of drinking in it. I think my problem with the book was that it kind of wanders around not really getting to the point, which is probably a result of the book being released posthumously. The book revolves around a newly wed couple vacationing in France/Spain in the late 1920's. The couple gets up every morning, goes for a swim, wanders the countryside, and drinks in the cafes. I did really enjoy the way ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
hemingway fans, anyone who wants an unconventional beach read
I picked this book up in my school library on my way out of town for Spring Break. My roommate and I were headed to the Oregon Coast for a quiet week of wine and reading, and I thought good old Ernest would be the perfect travelling companion. This was book was both edited and published posthumously, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised by the novel: it had all the glorious descriptions of food and drink that one would expect from Hemingway, along with of course the bru...more
I was pleasantly surprised by the novel: it had all the glorious descriptions of food and drink that one would expect from Hemingway, along with of course the bru...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
this is one of hemingway's most fascinating character studies, and like all his heroines in all of his books, i sort of fell in love with her. how i feel about this book is complicated and not for the faint of heart -- i love it, yes. but i almost feel a little invaded ... i had this idea in my head of this summer on the mediterranean when i was like, 14, and then to read this book ... well, it was wonderful and shocking in its truthfulness.
i still sometimes want to escape to live in this pa...more
i still sometimes want to escape to live in this pa...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
romantics
I was at a used bookstore the other day when I decided to text as many people as possible asking them what their favorite books were. One of the titles I got back was "The Garden of Eden" by Hemmingway. I had never read a Hemmingway novel, so it sounded very appealing to me.
The book is gorgeously written. Beautiful and wrenching is this story of two lovers. I enjoyed the development of the characters. I chuckled to myself as David would roll out of bed and make himself a drink....more
The book is gorgeously written. Beautiful and wrenching is this story of two lovers. I enjoyed the development of the characters. I chuckled to myself as David would roll out of bed and make himself a drink....more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I can understand why many readers, especially Hemingway fans, would find this book (as well as Islands in the Stream, for that matter) to be a pointless slog through the authors psyche. The story is kind of weird, there isn't any action to speak of, the girlfriend swap is Hemingway at his most mysoginistic, and the book is unfinished, but Hemingway's beautiful portrayals of the people and places are what make Garden of Eden my most favorite book. I know this is the cheeziest line of all time (...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
This novel was cobbled together from Hemingway's unfinished manuscript and published posthumously.
One rather gossipy biography on Hemingway describes other portions of the manuscript that Scribner & co. left out, as well as analyzes some of its kinkier aspects: H's purported interest in "twinning", the erotic symbolism of hair (length and color), and gender roles, among others. That's all interesting and all, but I find Garden of Eden fascinating as an example of the work-in...more
One rather gossipy biography on Hemingway describes other portions of the manuscript that Scribner & co. left out, as well as analyzes some of its kinkier aspects: H's purported interest in "twinning", the erotic symbolism of hair (length and color), and gender roles, among others. That's all interesting and all, but I find Garden of Eden fascinating as an example of the work-in...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2000
A mesmerizing fable on relationship, ambiguity, and truth, and on the celebration of the creative urge. Under the golden sun in the south of France, a young couple--a writer with some previous success who is trying to write a good book again, and his newly married wife--spends bohemian days. A stranger appears in their midst, thus culminating in the discovery and the acceptance of truth; ultimately the book is about what it takes to write truly. One of the most fascinating books on the idea a...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
Hemingway fans, F. Scott Fitzgerald fans, young adults that are getting to know themselves.
Hemingway knows women. Period. This story is delicate, lovely, intimate, daring, erotic, ridiculous, but all the more true. These characters are more true than any I've gotten to know in years. And you get to know them - know their motivations without having to be told in long winded narratives or speeches. Hemingway created a tale that was deep, tangible, and beautiful.
I don't recommend this to anyone that hasn't read Hemingway before. Read Sun Also Rises, Farewell to Arms, A Moveable Feast...more
I don't recommend this to anyone that hasn't read Hemingway before. Read Sun Also Rises, Farewell to Arms, A Moveable Feast...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
I started this book many years ago and couldn't get all the way through it. Picked it up again this winter and enjoyed it. I found it hard to like the characters but appreciated the tension in their relationships. Hemingway's sensuous descriptions of the land and especially the food and drink had me yearning to travel and my palate yearning to partake of the meals. (Maybe not of the absinthe, but the rest of it.)
On a personal note, I borrowed this book from a friend many years ago and o...more
On a personal note, I borrowed this book from a friend many years ago and o...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in August, 2008
I didn't finish reading this book. I didn't like it...I expected something completely different. I had never read hemmingway before and wanted to give it a try. The book is choppy and hard to follow. I could never figure out the story line or point it was boring and after months and months of forcing myself to read one page at a time I gave up. I am embarrased to say. I gave up.. i disagreed with a lot of the principles he wrote about in the book. And although i realize it is important to...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
I'm not sure if this is related, but the night I finished this book, I had an extremely vivid, cinematic, intense action-thriller dream about a woman on the run from her ex-boyfriend that is trying to kill her. There was violence, empathy (from a detective working the case trying to find her/save her), and sadness (flashbacks to when the relationship first began - simple, sincere, happy). It was amazing!
I'm not sure how a book about a couple and their sexual indiscretion factor in, but I th...more
I'm not sure how a book about a couple and their sexual indiscretion factor in, but I th...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2006
Ever summer, for most of the past 20 years since I first read this book, I pick it up again.
I love most of what Hemingway wrote. I recognize that he was brutal, in fiction and possibly, in life, to most of the women in his life. But I'm drawn to the style of his writing, and the lifestyle of which he often describes.
So anyways, the story of this tragic threesome. Spending their days in the sun of Spain and France. Eating simple and delicious food. Thinking nothing of drinking at every m...more
I love most of what Hemingway wrote. I recognize that he was brutal, in fiction and possibly, in life, to most of the women in his life. But I'm drawn to the style of his writing, and the lifestyle of which he often describes.
So anyways, the story of this tragic threesome. Spending their days in the sun of Spain and France. Eating simple and delicious food. Thinking nothing of drinking at every m...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
people(mostly women) who don't think they like hemingway
I was always put off by papa hemingway's machismo, though I've always admired his spare style.
this book finally gave me something to love about him.....he writes about very complex gender identity issues in a way that is both deeply moving and sort of shockingly offhand.
The food and drink writing is sensuous as always, and the character development is brilliant, despite the fact that the novel is "unfinished". One of my favorite books ever, for the story and writing, but as much f...more
this book finally gave me something to love about him.....he writes about very complex gender identity issues in a way that is both deeply moving and sort of shockingly offhand.
The food and drink writing is sensuous as always, and the character development is brilliant, despite the fact that the novel is "unfinished". One of my favorite books ever, for the story and writing, but as much f...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2004
recommends it for:
people interested in relationships
I love this book. I know a lot of people tend to bash it because it was released posthumously, in edited form, but I think it's brilliant as-is. The beginning of the book in particular, I like. Hemingway's simple description of eating eggs for breakfast makes me feel as if I'm at the table as well. It really paints a picture for me. To me, it seems that Hemingway probably never released this book more because of the subject matter than because of any writing flaws. In short, a tale of innocence ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I'm guessing that I came at Hemingway in a completely different way from most readers in that this posthumously published book was one of the first things that I ever read by him. And it was sort of an "a-ha" moment; so *this* is what they mean by the clean and lean Hemingway style... I fell into this book effortlessly, read it quickly, and was very affected (and impressed)by it. I know it's considered one of his inferior works, but who cares. I loved it.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
Published posthumously in the 1980s by his daughter, Hemingway worked on it intermittently for the last 20 years of his life. But one can see why Ernest decided not to publish it in his lifetime - it is a fantasy book about a Hemingway-like writer who spends a few hours in the morning writing, then spends the rest of the day drinking well, eating well, swimming in the Mediterranean and sleeping with two beautiful but troubled women. Perhaps I’m simple, but I just didn’t glean any meaning fro...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
The best of Hemingway's posthumous writings. Compared to Islands In The Stream this is a very polished work. An engaging story and a must for Hemingway fans who are also writers. The protagonist is a writer and towards the end of the novel the reader get to follow him into his office and watch him write a short story over his shoulder and when he's finished we get to hear what he wants to improve about what he's written and what details he intends to add and where. Its like a writing course ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
I have to admit that it took me quite awhile to really get into it. I've never really been much of a Hemingway fan but after awhile, this book, just totally sucked me in.
His blatant clueless-ness about the female psyche is ever present and rather interesting to read as he delves into both sides of a relationship in a manner that is so truly his style.
I found that once I sat down and really gave some time to myself to read, it was a rather quick read, it just takes some time to get into i...more
His blatant clueless-ness about the female psyche is ever present and rather interesting to read as he delves into both sides of a relationship in a manner that is so truly his style.
I found that once I sat down and really gave some time to myself to read, it was a rather quick read, it just takes some time to get into i...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
fascinating story and also story of its publication, comparing the arc of this to his finished novels. it's tragic though because you can tell from how they've pieced together the second half that he was still very much working towards the meat of the story and figuring out the characters, that he was circling it and they just chopped up that extended circling to make a false finish. i loved it, i'd read anything he wrote, but it does feel wrong to read this unfinished and not as he intended.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.82 (1371 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.79 (1363 ratings) number of reviews: 138
popular shelves
other editions
quote
"He felt as though he were hailing a ship."
more quotes »