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A Moveable Feast
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February 2014- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Thanks Jennifer W.Published posthumously in 1964, and edited from his manuscripts and notes by his widow and fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, and then revised by his grandson Seán Hemingway, A Moveable Feast is a memoir by Ernest Hemingway about his years in Paris as part of a group of expatriate writers in the 1920s. The book includes references to, or meetings with, Gertrude Stein, Ford Madox Ford, Aleister Crowley, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Beach, James Joyce amongst others, and details of how his first marriage deteriorated.
I found it interesting to read through the previous BYT debate which Jennifer links to above and which pretty much sums up my own feelings. I was completely underwhelmed by this book.
What really baffles me about this book, and what I hope we might explore in this discussion, is what it is about this book that so many people like. It's got an average rating of 4.03 on GoodReads - 71% of GR readers gave it 4 stars or 5 stars. I've been alive long enough to know there's no accounting for taste however, in this instance, I am really interested to find out what it is people who do like this book actually like about it.
Seems to me that if you are interested in the names and locations of bars, cafés and hotels in Paris, and the locations where Ernest Hemingway's friends and acquaintances lived, along with plenty of inconsequential dialogue and tedious detail then you're in luck. You will probably find much to love in this book - and, as I state, plenty of readers appear to find this content very agreeable.
To me, it read like a rather boring diary of someone who got progressively more tedious and objectionable the more I read. Was Ernest Hemingway really a crashing bore? Was he generally mean spirited about people who seem to regard him as a friend? I don't really care, however this is the strong impression I came away with having read this memoir.
I have only read one other book by Ernest Hemingway - "For Whom the Bell Tolls". It was much better that this. Much better. That's not to say it was wonderful but it was interesting and compelling and well worth reading if you are interested in The Spanish Civil War.
I will also be reading A Farewell to Arms as part of our BYT WW1 challenge and, despite this book, am looking forward to reading it. I suspect Ernest Hemingway is better in a more action orientated context.
A Moveable Feast, is really just very dull, unless you happen to be interested in the minutiae of Ernest Hemingway's day-to-day life in Paris in the 1920s.
There's a fascinating book to be written about this era in Paris - this is not it. For hardcore fans only.
2/5
I look forward to reading what the rest of you think about this book. Here's to an interesting discussion.
I read this many years ago but the copy is not in the box with my other mass market Hemingway books. I think I must have decided that I was never going to read it again and gave it to a charity shop.The library has a copy and I have reserved it, so I will be reading it again, but I am looking forward to reading A Farewell to Arms for the third time more than I am this one.
Wow, I've read about a third of the book and must say I'm really loving this and lingering over it because I don't want it to end - the descriptions of 1920s Paris are so vivid and Hemingway's terse prose style has never been better. I keep remembering Woody Allen's film 'Midnight in Paris', and am now wondering if there is a documentary about Hemingway's Paris - it would be great to see some of the places he describes and how they have changed.I loved the two pieces so far about Gertrude Stein, which give a rounded picture of her with many contradictions and really bring her alive. I also like his memories of being a hungry young writer, and the eagerness to win at the racetrack - I've read a short story of his called 'My Old Man', which he mentions in here, which is set in this world and it was also filmed as 'Under My Skin', starring John Garfield.
It's interesting to read the book straight after 'A Farewell to Arms', because this all happened only a few years after Hemingway had been through the war. He says he was offended when Stein said he and the other veterans were a lost generation, feeling it was an easy generalisation, but he must of course have been carrying the damage, just like Robert Graves in 'Goodbye to All That' which I've also just read.
I'm reading the restored edition and found it interesting to read the introduction by Hemingway's grandson, Sean Hemingway, which tells how Hemingway came to write it in the late 1950s after collecting two small trunks that he had left stored in Paris for almost 30 years, and discovering his old papers and memorabilia in them. He was depressed and in poor health and you can see this at times, in the melancholy tone and contrasts between his "then" and "now" - for instance at the end of Chapter 8, 'Hunger was Good Discipline', where he writes: "All I must do now was stay sound and good in my head until morning when I would start to work again. In those days we never thought that any of that could be difficult." This is surely Hemingway thinking about his present, where he was ill and finding it increasingly difficult to write.
^ Thanks Judy. I enjoyed reading a more enthusiastic response to the book.I am looking forward to reading A Farewell to Arms sometime soon.
I also thought about Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris" when I read this book. A very enjoyable film and I thought the depiction of Hemingway was just how I imagined him.
Gertrude Stein does indeed come out of it as a figure who I'd like to find out more about - I don't really understand why he ditches her and assume he was repelled by her sexuality.
I think Hemingway is quite unnecessary mean about Ford Madox Ford, and probably jealous of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Anyway good to know you like it so far. I wish I could have summoned up the same level of enthusiasm.
Not sure if I'll be rereading this (what I said last time, too) because I read it a couple of years ago and will be out of town much of the month.I think I gave it 3★. I found most of the writing enjoyable but had certain problems with him bad mouthing just about every body he knew. But the joy is in the writing. It is gossipy.
I just got on to the third piece about Gertrude Stein, which is an unpleasant contrast to the earlier two. I do have to wonder if he did actually ditch her here, or whether much later, after they had fallen out, he remembered it as a juicy anecdote. There's actually a whole book about Stein and Hemingway, though I don't intend to add that one to my list, and they were friends for more than 20 years, so that must have been long after this alleged incident! I've also now read the piece about Ford Madox Ford, which is unkind, as you say, Nigeyb, though the physical description does sound very like the way Ford portrays the character based on himself in 'Parade's End'. Anyway I'm still enjoying the book, but am now getting on to some of the more spiteful gossip - I'm reading fast despite my intentions not to!
I must just add, though, that the thoughts by Ford about who could be categorised as a 'gentleman' are fascinating after reading 'Parade's End', since that is such a major theme there.
Wait until you read the one about Fitzgerald. Hemingway seems to be working something out with these pieces but I don't have the qualifications to say what that is.
@ Jan C I share your distaste for the "bad mouthing".
"the joy is in the writing" - not for me. I found the writing bland and unexceptional. Almost like he was trying to be matter of fact & trying not to provide information on the sights, smells, and atmosphere of 20s Paris .
"It is gossipy" - yeees, but in a disparaging, slightly nasty way.
@JudyWould you recommend 'Parade's End'? How does it relate to Hemingway's observations about Ford Madox Ford?
I liked Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier a lot. I have not read all of Some Do Not ... & No More Parades yet, it is on my to-read list and kindle, although I did start it and then see some of the T.V. adaption.He is not a modernist writer, he is wordier than Hemingway or Fitzgerald. I think you could see him as a transition between the wordy nineteenth and early twentieth century writers and the more concise post WWl writers.
Nigeyb, yes, I'd recommend Parade's End. It's a demanding read, as it is an enormously long series of four novels and mainly told in stream of consciousness, often making it hard to follow, but I found it rewarding except for the last book, which I felt fell off a lot from the other three. The war sections are especially strong, as the confused narration here highlights the confusion of the conflict itself. It has a lot in common with The Sword of Honour Trilogy in the way it intertwines war with the hero's personal life and unhappy marriage. I did write a review if you are interested.Ford describes the hero, Christopher Tietjens, who is based on himself, as heavily overweight, wheezing and unfit, pretty much in line with Hemingway's observations, and he also seems obsessed with the question of who should be seen as a gentleman, as in the conversation with Hemingway in 'A Moveable Feast'.
In response to Val, I agree that The Good Soldier is a great novel - I also found it much easier to read than Parade's End. The two novels are very different and I do think he uses modernist techniques such as stream of consciousness in 'Parade's End'.
I've now read to the end of 'A Moveable Feast' and am back to thinking it's magnificent - but need to sort out my thoughts about it before writing a review. So glad that the group chose this for a read.
Thanks for the thoughts on Parade's End Val and Judy - that's very informative and very helpful.I look forward to your thoughts Judy on this book too.
Judy wrote: "Nigeyb, yes, I'd recommend Parade's End. It's a demanding read, as it is an enormously long series of four novels and mainly told in stream of consciousness, often making it hard to f..."I will get around to reading it eventually and your recommendation moves it up the priority list Judy. It needs a bit more time and attention devoted to it than I could manage at the time.
The end of his life was so sad, so sad. It makes me forgive him all his sins.
Shelley
http://dustbowlstory.wordpress.com
I gave this four stars, but don't remember enough to comment here. I think I might've commented in the original thread though. I'm rereading this though, so hopefully I can comment then.eta: I think I might read this tonight instead of Careless People (which I am really enjoying, but I'd like to be able to participate better here!).
I just got home to find this book finally arrived, hooray! I'm excited to get started and join the discussions, I like the various opinions so far and always feel that it makes for a better conversation with different views. I have to say that I have high hopes, so I'm now interested to see what I think of it.
I finished it today and I really enjoyed it. I liked the tone of it, it was as if I was being told these stories by a gossipy older relative. It has a wistful quality to it as well. I think Hemingway realised that it was probably the happiest time of his life.
Now that I've been devoting myself to this it's going fast. I'm halfway already (when I posted the other day I'd only read the first two bits). I do still love this. I agree that it's wistful feeling. I love how he writes; it seems so effortless, which means, I'm sure, that it probably wasn't. It's just so simple yet evocative. All the place names and cafe names don't bother me. I just kind of skim over them as I've never been to Paris and they mean nothing to me, much like I'm sure my telling a story about Kaya Cafe or The Grand would mean nothing to most people since they wouldn't be familiar with places I've lived.
This book is more about the feeling of a particular place and time rather than a true memoir or anything. I think much of the dialogue is probably half remembered and otherwise made up based on who the person is. It's the feeling of it all, and I love it. It's also more interesting to me this time around since I have recently finished the book on Hadley.
Bronwyn wrote: "Now that I've been devoting myself to this it's going fast. I'm halfway already (when I posted the other day I'd only read the first two bits). I do still love this. I agree that it's wistful feeli..."Was that The Paris Wife or Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway's First Wife by Gioia Diliberto? I've been reading the first one but think I might actually find more interest in the second.
Finished this today. I found it overall to be a disjointed and quite boring read. There were some interesting stories, but many that I questioned why he'd included. Even the gossipy parts were quite a let down, other than saying that Fitzgerald liked a drink and mad Zelda was his downfall, which is nothing I haven't heard before. I had high hopes, but for me this just doesn't compare to other books of a similar them, such as Down and Out in Paris and London by Orwell. Also I really disliked the last chapter about skiing and then how he mentioned his regret of turning from his first wife to have an affair with their female companion. Can't say I'm particularly looking forward to attempting A Farewell to Arms now!
^ I have to say that pretty much sums up my response to this book too Pink. And, as I said in my original post (message 2 above), I am still baffled what it is that the readers who love this book actually love about it. I guess it is quite hard to analyse the reasons for a positive response to a book - far more so that a negative response.
I sincerely hope that A Farewell to Arms will be an improvement - I think it will.
I agree, I think it's very hard to say exactly why we fall in love with certain books. I enjoy books for a variety of reasons and can analyse different things about them, but never quite put my finger on why they touch me in a certain way. I always like seeing what other people think about books I haven't enjoyed, which can lead me to having a greater appreciation of them. It doesn't make me like them any more, but it's good to differ, or else it would be a boring world!
Jan, it was Paris Without End. I hope to get to The Paris Wife soon. I do find this a bit disjointed, but I can't say I terribly mind. It almost reminds me of the vignette type books of L. M. Montgomery's. Not the writing, but that it's just a collection of stories. I don't mind that. I don't really like memoirs overall, and so having a book like this is nice.
I am looking forward to reading A Farewell to Arms now (if we do have it, I still haven't checked...). I believe it was in Paris Without End that said that A Moveable Feast got back to his original writing style, that some of the in between books lacked. That makes me look forward to it.
I'm reading Green Hills of Africa and I have to tell you that the writing in MF is much more like his earlier work than at least GHA.Because I certainly remember enjoying MF. I thought it was kind of catty and yet good.
I've now checked and we don't have A Farewell to Arms. We have The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, and a book of short stories. I may try to get to some of these others soon, but I think I'd like to pick up AFtA at some point this year for the challenge.
Bronwyn wrote: "I'd like to pick up A Farewell to Arms for the challenge. "Great news. It's currently the discussion with the most posts and most views of everything that we're reading for the BYT 2014 WWI Reading Challenge. Come and get involved. I look forward to seeing you and the other participants posting there soon.
^An endorsement, of sorts, from Val too...
Val wrote: "I am looking forward to reading A Farewell to Arms for the third time more than I am this one."
I picked this up from the library today.It starts well, with a nice description of a couple of cafes, but then it gets more rambling. I think I thought much the same last time I read it.
I can also remember a lot of unnecessary bitching about other writers, stuff he could not say when he was a young struggling writer and wanted them to help him, but could and should not when he was a famous one who did not need them any more.
^ That sums up my response too Val. Are you carrying on with it?
Just finished this. Super quick read. I was surprised. Not my favorite Hemingway, but it was much better than The Paris Wife which I did not enjoy, and is about the same time period. I knew Hemingway wasn't the most likable guy... but he really bashes almost everyone he mentions! But I did enjoy the set up with the chapters being vignettes rather than a structured novel- it made it more fun/faster for me to read.I thought the scene where Hemingway and Fitzgerald were talking about sex was interesting because one of Zelda's hysteria's centered on the idea that the pair had a relationship.
Amanda wrote: "I thought the scene where Hemingway and Fitzgerald were talking about sex was interesting because one of Zelda's hysteria's centered on the idea that the pair had a relationship."I think Hemingway was interested in Scott's writing not his body, although he does describe him in some detail. I'm not sure whether Zelda really thought they were having a relationship, even at her most deranged, or whether accusing Hemingway of being gay was just the most insulting thing she could think of to say to him; he was very homophobic.
I now remember why I did not think I would ever want to read this again.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/847762991
^ Great review Val.
Thank you Nigey.I don't often bother to write reviews of books I find disappointing on the principle that I have already wasted enough time reading them. There are some bits of this one which I liked and I decided to make an exception in this case as I am a fan of Hemingway's writing (although rather less of Hemingway himself).
I'm very glad you did take time to get your thoughts down in a review. think you make some excellent points.I think you're probably right when you say..
I don't think he (Ernest Hemingway) would have thought this ready for publication.
...and also with this conclusion...
There is a good book to be written about Hemingway's early writing career and his first marriage and Paris. It is a pity that Hemingway never got to write it.
"There is a good book to be written about Hemingway's early writing career and his first marriage and Paris. It is a pity that Hemingway never got to write it."I agree this is a great point you make in your review Val and something that I hadn't really considered. It certainly goes a long way to explaining why it felt so disjointed and some parts more worthy of inclusion than others. I understand there is a newer more restored version with different entries recently available, so i suppose other people had the same thoughts that this wasn't quite the finished work it should have been.
I've now written a long review trying to explain why I loved this book so much, even though I take your point about it feeling unfinished, Val. I kept nearly losing this because of my computer seizing up, so I hope it makes sense! www.goodreads.com/review/show/832507044
Great review Judy. Thanks.I wish I had felt half as enthusiastic as you. I feel like we've read two separate books. Still that's part of what makes these discussions so interesting and enjoyable.
Nice review, Judy. I may need to reread the book when I get home. Not sure if I remember the vignette on Ford.I think I gave a lower rating because he ended with the bits on Fitzgerald. That left more of a sour note for me.
Years ago I read A. E. Hotchner's Papa Hemingway. I think he became a little too close to his subject. A little too friendly. Most of my knowledge of Hemingway came from this and other books where authors wrote memoirs and mentioned stories about their relationships with EH. Getting ready to read Martha Gellhorn's Travels with Myself and Another.
Good review Judy.Part of the reason I was more disappointed with this book is not that we have read different books, but that I wanted to read a different book - the one he might have written.
Hemingway did drink quite a lot, but he also worked on his writing, so to him this meant his drinking was under control. Fitzgerald was not working, or not writing as he could do. Both Hemingway and Fitzgerald himself felt that way. I don't know what share of the blame for this it was fair to give Zelda or was due to alcohol and Scott's lack of self-discipline or confidence. (It has been debated with some acrimony over the years.)
I'm always the last one to catch on, but in case I made it first this timehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/boo...
Thanks, Portia, what a great article - it's intriguing to learn that Hemingway hoarded so much material. Thanks also to Nigeyb, Jan C and Val for reading my long review and being nice about it. I think the title 'Papa Hemingway' puts me off Hotchner's book a bit - it sounds "too friendly", as you say the book itself is, Jan! I'm not sure if I'd prefer to read a book about him or one about the whole group in Paris at that time... decisions, decisions. I have read a novel by Martha Gellhorn, A Stricken Field but it was a long time ago and I don't really remember it, just that I thought it was powerfully written.
I'm currently reading our March non-fiction choice "Everybody Was So Young" and it follows on beautifully from this book. Hemingway regularly appears (as does F Scott Fitzgerald) and it puts a lot of events in perspective.
^ Just to add to that, the Murphys were heartbroken when they read what Hemingway wrote about them in A Moveable Feast. Although he doesn't name them, it is obvious he is referring to them. They were incredibly supportive giving him lots of money, time, free holidays etc. He blamed them (the rich people) for corrupting him and for most of the bad things that happened to him (divorces etc.).
Like many great artists he was a poor human being. As I was reading about their upset I was reminded about the unkind words he wrote about Ford Maddox Ford and Gertrude Stein.
There is a very good documentary by Stephen Fry about living with being bipolar or manic depressive.http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stephe...
Hoarding evidence that there are times when he could deal with everyday life may have been a strategy to help him cope with those times when he could not.
^ Thanks Val. I hadn't realised he was depressed. It would explain a lot.
He was diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder.I do not know if that is the reason he hoarded, it is a theory, but I do know people who want that kind of reassurance and it also follows from Stephen Fry's investigations.
Bright Young Things
Books mentioned in this topic
Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy: A Lost Generation Love Story (other topics)The Love-charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War (other topics)
Mrs. Hemingway (other topics)
The Paris Wife (other topics)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Naomi Wood (other topics)Lara Feigel (other topics)
Ernest Hemingway (other topics)
A.E. Hotchner (other topics)
Ernest Hemingway (other topics)
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If you want to reference our previous read of this book, you can go here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Enjoy!