Brad’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2008)

Brad’s comments from the The Importance of Reading Ernest group.

Gio wrote: "...she clearly shifts between wanting and not wanting this baby, but i always think that it is in the doubting that you realize that she does want this baby...."

Me too. And like you say, they are doomed. His time alone in the bar is what really convinces me of that, although it is definitely there in their feelings about the unborn baby.

Gio said: ..."there's very little reference to time (but always place), so as a reader, you can put whatever time you want within his stories."

So let's talk about that.

whichever you like.

See...I told you I'd add a topic for this.

Hills Like White Elephants is one of Hemingway's most discussed short stories, and much of the discussion centers around what the man and the girl are talking about.

None of that here.

Try to keep your first impressions away from that bit. I'm going to go and make a topic just for that right now. Hope you all like this month's choice.

You mentioned that these were suppressed? Who did the suppressing? Was it Hemingway himself? Scribners? Max Perkins?

They're a bit like Bierce's Devil's Dictionary.

Cool. I am going to have to find it. Keep the poems coming.

I hope that people eventually realize that being gay doesn't preclude being "macho".

Queer theory actually, redefining his "ubermasculinity" as overcompensation for bisexuality or homosexuality.

Just one of his quotes, but one that has had serious impact on Hemingway criticism since the publication of The Garden of Eden and the birth of Gender studies.

I actually wrote a companion short story to A Rose for Emily.

Brad wrote: "Absolutely. It is amazing what Hemingway can do with so little space. Setting, character, dialogue, action, it's all there and it all creates a perfect mood with nothing wasted at all. And you're b..."

No...I meant that he was being deliberate. I was just making it unclear with a poorly placed fragment.

Gary wrote: "yeah, he got margot in the sack,and now she's basically fucked because she has no husband, and now with the competition gone, wilson is not interested in her either. is that what you're getting at?..." Exactly. I've always wondered if this was Hemingway imagining a fantasy outcome for Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, with himself as Wilson.

Exactly

This isn't for real, is it? It feels like some Key West hoaxster.

Don't they mention wanting to get in a fight with Hemingway in Fight Club somewhere? He'd be my pick for sure. And Shatner.

I think the story supports every one of those options. Kill Dick. Kill his wife. Kill himself. The beauty is we can't know.

Capote did say that Hemingway was "the greatest old closet queen ever to come down the pike."

please