Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Aug 11, 2010

Conrad rated it:

The conventional wisdom is that Hemingway wrote short, choppy sentences and was fundamentally a bloodthirsty person, possibly as a consequence of insecurity about his masculinity. I don't think either is quite true.

As for the first point, I just don't find it to be anything but a stereotype perpetuated by people who haven't read him very carefully. Hemingway wrote a lot of sentences the length of which would have made Faulkner envious (though Faulkner was fond of the short, choppy se More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2010

Dave rated it:

What I've read so far (possible spoilers):

THE SHORT, HAPPY LIFE OF FRANCIS MACOMBER
A man has the good sense to run away from a charging lion, and because of that, his wife sleeps with another man who bears a physical resemblance to Hemingway.
CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
A waiter and dishwasher are fooling around, pretending to be a bull and matador, and the waiter ends up with a knife in his femoral artery. I wonder if Hemingway were alive he would be writing stirring stori More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2009

Matt rated it:

There is a story, probably apocryphal, that Hemingway once bet that he could write an entire short story in six words. He was taken up on that bet, and produced the following diminutive masterpiece: "For Sale: baby shoes. Never used."

I like to believe that story is true.

It's not possible to review the 49 stories in this book, which range in length from dozens of pages to a single paragraph. So I'll just throw out some scattered thoughts:

- The Snow More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2010

Jacob rated it:

I have only read Hemingway's short stories but I feel like I am content with that for now. Their length seems completely adequate for his writing style. I was introduced to him in my junior year of high school when the teacher asked us to read and discuss Hills Like White Elephants. It seemed to stretch on forever with cryptic, emotional dialogue between the two sole characters who are waiting at a train station, peppered with bits of internal narrative describing the opposing landscapes on eith More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 14, 2010

Tom rated it:

I have been reading his First Forty-Nine Stories on and off for a while now, a couple at a time. Hemingway is one of my favourite writers. His prose is unlike anyone else's. It is sparse, almost meagre. All the drama and emotion in the stories is to be inferred by the reader. These are stories where you get out what you put in.

A perfect example is 'A Simple Enquiry'. Hemingway sketches a scene for us. A snowbound cabin where a pair of army officers are doing very little. A servant is i More...

0 comments like

Jun 03, 2009

Christy rated it:

Hemingway's true element was the short story and the selection in this collection shows the development of his status as a master in that particular art form. Despite being technically astute, Hemmingway's writing style and stories are definitely an acquired taste.

I personally find it interesting that many people criticize Hemmingway for being unabashedly male and particularly of the classic 'macho' variety. This can be a turn-off for many readers, but I read it as refreshingly hon More...

0 comments like

May 31, 2009

Misha added it

"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" -- It's been at least 13 years since I'd read this story in a college American Lit survey, so it was pleasant to read it now and rediscover the beautiful simplicity of this brief tale about the inevitable loneliness of aging.

I was struck by the dichotomy between the waiter-with-a-wife and the older waiter/the old man. The waiter-with-a-wife has the narrow view of someone who is relatively fulfilled. He can't understand why the old man would des More...

0 comments like

Feb 07, 2009

Jen rated it:

I've only read selected stories, but I loved them all. This is a good book to read if you're trying to get into Hemingway. Many people are force fed The Old Man and the Sea in their youth. I know it was a bad experience, but put it behind you and move on to better things. Hemingway really gets broken down into small and manageable pieces in this collection. I really enjoyed A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Soldier's Home, and A Way You'll Never Be. Also, a great conversation can be had about h More...

0 comments like

Oct 20, 2010

Cory rated it:

I love Ernest Hemingway. Along with Cormac McCarthy he is probably my favorite author. I needed something I could read off and on for a few weeks as I was going to be busy in spurts and this was a great choice. Some stories are better than others, but they all bear the unmistakable Hemingway style. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Up in Michigan, Indian Camp, The Three Day Blow, Cat in the Rain, Cross-Country Snow, Big Two-Hearted River Parts 1 & 2, In Anot More...

0 comments like

Dec 05, 2011

Marlan rated it:

Reasonably solid short stories in a genre (early 20th century American literature) that I usually find easy-to-read and enjoyable. This was no different, and although most of them weren't particularly noteworthy, a few gems stood out as being phenomenal. Hemingway is a good writer.

I'd comment on more detail on the ones I especially liked (like the two stories set in East Africa), on his choice of subjects (American ex-pats in Europe around the turn-of-the-century, matadors in Spain, More...

0 comments like

Jun 29, 2009

Christina rated it:

When people talk about Hemingway, they talk about the "tough," "terse" prose style that characterized tales of manly fishing-outings and bullfights. There is no doubt about the fact that this man changed the face of the modern short story, exciting imitators and admirers alike. But what I find most interesting is that few people ever touch upon the subtle emotionality and vulnerability of Hemingway's prose. In my mind, this man is just as much of a painter as he is a writer, More...

0 comments like

Feb 11, 2009

Chadijah rated it:

God, this book is really disturbing, especially 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'. How he described what a dying writer was thinking on his deathbed--the lost love, the things left undone, the improbable quest for happiness, the pain, the death of emotions--was just so vivid it was so scary...

Hemingway must have been a very scary person to know, in the way that he could read you immediately and describe what was probably going on in your head. It was so sad for the humanity that he killed More...

0 comments like

Nov 20, 2011

Renee rated it:

On the rating I waffled between a 3 and 4. It was different reading Hemmingway as a 45-year-old than it was as a teenager. When I first ready this collection of stories I was considering a career as a writier, possibly as a journalist, and I was exploring as much of the literary canon as possible. In some ways, I was much more open to different things than I am now, especially works of critical acclaim. Nowadays I read mostly for pleasure in my leisure hours and have fallen into a bit of a r More...

0 comments like

Nov 17, 2009

John rated it:

This is one book, the only other is Jesus' Son, that I keep going back to again and again. I am never bored by these stories, just like I'm never bored of Jesus' Son. I think The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, where a wife murders her cuckold husband while on safari, is one of my favorite stories ever. Also, Indian Camp, where a young boy watches his father perform a c-section with no anesthetic, I've read that probably twenty times. I am continuously reading this book and will probably n More...

0 comments like

Sep 08, 2009

daniel rated it:

There are a few stories here, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "The Capital of the World," that, all by themselves, would earn Hemingway a place in the canon. There are others, though, which are stupid, macho, self-destructive and infuriatingly awful. For the awful misuse of the amazing title "Hills Like White Elephants" alone, Hemingway should have been punched in the face. Judging from some of these stories, he would have liked it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 18, 2010

Hugger rated it:

I read five or six of the short stories in this book and like them all. Hemingway must have spent some time in Africa because several of them take place in what I believe is Kenya. I read and enjoyed:

- The Way You'll Never Be (One if his best known, good message)
- The Snows of Kilamanjaro
- The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
- The Capital of the World (My favorite of the bunch)

0 comments like

Sep 07, 2009

Ruthie rated it:

From this collection I have read the following: The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Indian Camp, The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife, The End of Something, The Three-Day Blow, Soldier's Home, Big Two-Hearted River: Part I, Big Two-Hearted River: Part II, and a Clean Well-Lighted Place

0 comments like

Jan 12, 2009

Peter rated it:

I really enjoy this collection - and as with most stories, my opinions tend to change on them depending on where Im at when I (re)read them, some get better, some were best the first time around, and very few lose my respect.

0 comments like

Jan 18, 2012

Adrian rated it:

I took a long time reading through this one, studying Hemingway's style. Not only did I learn a great deal about POV, the heart of a story, and methods of characterization, but the collection also inspired me with the great possibilities a short story has to offer.

I've been indoctrinated into the classic New Yorker short story to such a degree that it was unsettling (in a good way) to read new ways of conceiving the form. Those formal potentialities coupled with the depth of emot More...

0 comments like

Jul 27, 2011

Richard added it

I absolutely loved a few of the stories, and was very impressed with the others. I didn't finish the book because it was a bit too much Hemmingway short stories to read at once for me. May pick it up again later...

0 comments like

Nov 27, 2010

Sidra rated it:

As I had read his short story ‘A clean well lighted place’, and ‘Ten Indians’ in my introduction to literature class, and enjoyed them, I was interested to read more of his work. I was delighted to find a compilation of his short stories in the library. I was disappointed however than I did not found the interest to finish the book, in fact I only read the first short story. His sentences are short and abrupt. I find the narrative does not flow smoothly and just couldn’t read on.

0 comments like

Jan 27, 2012

Karen rated it:

The first 5 or 6 stories had gory, gruesome deaths by murder, accident, gangrene, etc., and I decided to give up when I got to the rape in "Up in Michigan", so I didn't finish them all. So sad to read that these are the "best" of Hemingway. Apparently, he's not my style.

0 comments like

Sep 23, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Beautiful. I think I loved this collection even more than some of the novels which are considered his master works. You can see the development of his writing style as the book progresses. The stories are ALL engaging, cleanly & crisply written, & evocative of different times & places. I checked this out of the library, but I'm sure it'll find a place of pride & love on my home library's shelves as well.

0 comments like

Aug 11, 2011

Vanessa rated it:

The succinct prose saturated with meaning that Hemingway is known for in easy-to-digest, short-story form. The mini-vignettes between each story offer special insight into his views on and emotions surrounding war.

0 comments like

Jul 07, 2009

david rated it:

Hemingway's first 49 stories collected into one edition. Some of these stories are just absolute masterpieces, such as "A Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro."

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2010

Shane rated it:

I'm reading the iBooks version. There are many instances where words do not have spacesbetween them, which is prettyannoying. The stories so far are good. Hemingway has an interesting voice.

There are several gems in here, and the Nick Adams series provides some continuity.

Some stories don't feel fleshed out, and end rather blandly. But the gems make it worth reading to find their treasures.

2 comments like

Apr 09, 2009

Joe added it

A good book of his short stories for anyone interested in picking up one of his many fine novels. The Nick Adams stories are some of the best featured.

0 comments like

May 18, 2011

lexo rated it:

I have not read all of Hemingway's shorts, but they are, in my opinion, his best work. I've yet to read dialogue so authentic elsewhere.

0 comments like

Aug 07, 2009

Ali rated it:

I really liked this compilation. I had read a few of them in college writing classes and liked them there too. I really liked Natural History of the Dead . And having the stories about Nick just put in there was really cool. I felt I was following his life, I really liked that it kept going back to him. Hemingway is an amazing writer and I recommend him to anyone.

0 comments like

Jan 03, 2011

Caitlin rated it:

Prefer his novels, in general. Never a huge short story fan. Like the Nick Adams ones, though, which have more of a story arc.

0 comments like

reviews