Well-written review, David; simple, honest, relevant and powerful -- much like Hemingway's most enjoyable book. Not to mix medium (media?), but I recently had the same impression watching Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" as I did reading this book; albeit a visual "moveable feast." Your thoughts?

I appreciated your review, but feel compelled to say that the sight of the word "noble" (whether your adjective or Hemingway's) before "Ezra Pound" was jarring.

Shaun wrote: "Well-written review, David; simple, honest, relevant and powerful -- much like Hemingway's most enjoyable book. Not to mix medium (media?), but I recently had the same impression watching Woody Al..."

Dear Shaun,
Thank you for your kind note.
I enjoyed "Midnight in Paris" very much but wish they had gone a bit further in the dialogue with the writers of the day. Many of the references in the movie were simply name-drops. I would have loved to see a deeper dialogue with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, Pound, Proust, et al.
To be fair it would be a daunting task, even for an experienced screenwriter like Woody Allen, to take on a deeper script. But it's what I yearned for and came away feeling a little bit cheated.
Nevertheless, I was pleased with what I saw in the film and wish we had more like it.
Cordially,
David

Reese wrote: "I appreciated your review, but feel compelled to say that the sight of the word "noble" (whether your adjective or Hemingway's) before "Ezra Pound" was jarring."

Dear Reese,

Thank you for your note and comment.
My views upon the subject of Ezra Pound's nobility have been shaped in part by a book that I read and reviewed on Goodreads entitled Secrets of the Federal Reserve":
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67...
If you take just a moment to read this review, it explains why I respect Ezra Pound who was incarcerated in an insane asylum, without due process, for years for protesting the war. The same book discusses how the Federal Reserve was created as a private institution by wealthy individuals in New York to capitalize upon US Government public policy. This is a frightening read because it claims that the Fed was and is run by insiders with zero, unaudited transparency or accountability to the US Treasury Dept. Hence, the "End the Fed" position of Ron Paul. This book of which publication Ezra Pound played a role is a highly scholarly rendition of how the Fed created war and depression, boom and bust, repeatedly to enrich its private shareholders. You may be well aware of this book but, if not, I would urge you to take a closer look at this little known work. It is one of the most alarming documents ever written about American democracy. When I finished this book, I almost packed my bags and moved to Canada. I may well do it yet.
Hence, my comment on Ezra pound who resembles a heroic poet in my satirical novel and stage play, "AmericA, Inc."
I hope these rambling comments makes some sense.
Please stay in touch, Reese.
Cordially,
David

David,

Thank you for taking the time to write an informative response to my comment. What you wrote made sense, and it certainly clarified why you consider "noble" a fitting way to describe Pound. Despite all of the reasons that one may admire and sympathize with Pound, I cannot -- because I cannot ignore his anti-Semitism.

Regards,
Reese

Reese wrote: "David,

Thank you for taking the time to write an informative response to my comment. What you wrote made sense, and it certainly clarified why you consider "noble" a fitting way to describe Poun..."

Dear Reese,

I was unaware of this character flaw in him and it vastly diminishes him in my eyes.

I want to learn more and will look into it more deeply.

Thanks for the heads-up.

I'll edit the noble out of the review.

Cordially,

David

David, if your research leads you to credible material that refutes what I've read, I hope that you'll point me toward your source(s).
Thanks,
Reese

Love your review. Moving this one further up my to read list. By any chance have you seen Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? Sounds like it may have been influenced by this book...

Wonderful review and thread.

I was quite annoyed with the voice and bearing of the actor who played Hemingway in the film.

I never quite worked out whether it was authentic, or whether it was intended as a parody.

It diminished my enjoyment of the film.

There is an example of Hemingway's voice on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoI9Og...

I don't find anything weird about his voice in this recording.

Just a note on the identity of the reader (because someone questions it in the thread on YouTube):

Hemingway did not attend the Nobel Prize Banquet and his speech was read by the US Ambassador to Sweden.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prize...

As pointed out on the following page on the Nobel Prize site, Hemingway recorded part of his speech subsequently:

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer...

The recordings on the Nobel Prize site and YouTube are more or less the same.

Did anybody else have similar feelings about the portrayal of Hemingway in the film?

Kristen wrote: "Love your review. Moving this one further up my to read list. By any chance have you seen Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? Sounds like it may have been influenced by this book..."

Dear Kristen,
It's good to hear from you: thanks for your note. Yes, I did see the film and am intrigued to think that Woody Allen may well have connected it directly to "Moveable Feast." It's a logical genesis of the concept for the film. So as not to be redundant, my comments on the film are a little further up on this thread and others may want to add to this dialogue. Thanks, again, for your kind note.
Cordially,
David

Ian wrote: "Wonderful review and thread.

I was quite annoyed with the voice and bearing of the actor who played Hemingway in the film.

I never quite worked out whether it was authentic, or whether it was int..."

Dear Ian,

I love this posting and thank you for sharing it.

Hemingway's post-acceptance speech reading, like his writing, was an exercise in moving minimalism -- a kind of moveable feast of its own.

Clearly, he seems a bit out of his milieu, and the relatively crude recording and broadcast technology of his day probably had a bearing on the production quality and rendering of his speech.

Woody Allen may have been seeking a portrayal that captured his perception of Hemingway's machismo in a bit of a glorified or heroic way but I personally didn't perceive it as parody. With Woody Allen sometimes it's a challenge to differentiate when he's into parody and when not.

My sense of the film is that the Owen Wilson figure of the writer was simply connecting with the great writers who came before him, in a way that most serious writers inevitably do, as a kind of Muse. Allen himself may have felt this connection, too, in writing this screenplay.

Again, it was an inspiration to revisit Hemingway's Nobel acceptance speech, which is truly moving and pertinent as it comes from a writer whom I so much admire.

I genuinely appreciate your insight, Ian.

Please stay in touch.

Cordially,
David

Thank you for your most informative review. I have just ordered the book, and so have not read it yet. I am really looking forward to it.