Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
More I came to know him, the more I'm in love with his words and simplicity. He wasn't a Philosopher, just a pretty good writer which he loved to do all his lifetime. The four Precious interviews gave me an ample amount of his personal life and his feelings. He was such a nice guy. I wish he were alive now.
One Interview and Three Interruptions
Review of the Melville House paperback edition (2015) collecting 4 interviews and conversations previously published in The Paris Review (1958), the Atlantic Monthly (1965), the Toronto Star Weekly magazine (1958), and Esquire Magazine (1962).
This book has only one actual "interview" with Ernest Hemingway. He finally agreed to provide answers to questions from The Paris Review in 1958, even though he felt he was just repeating his earlier statements about his writing methods. The other three "interviews" are articles resulting from the reporters simply dropping in on Hemingway at his Finca Vigia home in Cuba without invitation. Two of those apparently didn't even merit publication at the time, but became posthumous memorials after Hemingway's death in 1961. Although Hemingway was still suffering the after-effects of his African plane crash from 1954 and resented the interruptions, he receives the reporters politely for an afternoon or a day before sending them on their way.
Ernest Hemingway at his standup writing desk in his home, the Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm), near Havana, Cuba, from the late 1950s. The original photographer and exact date is unknown, but I sourced this photo from an article about Eight Famous People Who Used a Standing Desk.
Hemingway was likely working on parts of the so-called "land, sea and air" book (of which only [b:Islands in the Stream|1166260|Islands in the Stream|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1181574669l/1166260._SX50_.jpg|1153954] has appeared posthumously in 1970) or the sexually adventurous [b:The Garden of Eden|305143|The Garden of Eden|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384035025l/305143._SX50_.jpg|476408] (also published posthumously in 1986). The work on the Paris memoir [b:A Moveable Feast|4195137|A Moveable Feast|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358028546l/4195137._SX50_.jpg|2459084] (posthumously published in 1964) was likely done after the move back to the States and to Ketchum, Idaho after 1960.
Overall there wasn't much new to learn here about Hemingway, but it was good to know that he did enjoy some years of peace in his later life before the final mental and physical health issues led to his 1961 suicide.
The opening pages of the article Life in the Afternoon, reproduced in this book as The Last Interview. Image sourced from Esquire Magazine, see link below.
Trivia and Links
I was able to locate 3 of the 4 interviews/articles online, all except the one for Toronto Star Weekly.
You can read Ernest Hemingway, The Art of Fiction No. 21 here, by George Plimpton, The Paris Review, Spring, 1958.
You can read Hemingway in Cuba here, by Robert Manning, Atlantic Monthly, August 1965. Robert Manning, the executive editor of The Atlantic, looks back on his 1954 visit with the Nobel Prize–winning author.
You can read Life in the Afternoon here, by Robert Emmett Ginna, Esquire Magazine, February 1, 1962. Ernest Hemingway: some quiet conversations regarding fishing, writing, war, bars, wine, hunting, and so on.
Review of the Melville House paperback edition (2015) collecting 4 interviews and conversations previously published in The Paris Review (1958), the Atlantic Monthly (1965), the Toronto Star Weekly magazine (1958), and Esquire Magazine (1962).
”You’ve come to my house without permission,” he said quietly. “It’s not right.”
I said I was from The Star Weekly, the paper he once worked for, and that I tried to telephone.
“It’s not right,” he repeated, “I’m working on a book and I don’t give interviews. I want that understood. But c’mon in.” - excerpt from Dropping In On Hemingway, Interview by Lloyd Lockhart, The Star Weekly Magazine, April 1958.
This book has only one actual "interview" with Ernest Hemingway. He finally agreed to provide answers to questions from The Paris Review in 1958, even though he felt he was just repeating his earlier statements about his writing methods. The other three "interviews" are articles resulting from the reporters simply dropping in on Hemingway at his Finca Vigia home in Cuba without invitation. Two of those apparently didn't even merit publication at the time, but became posthumous memorials after Hemingway's death in 1961. Although Hemingway was still suffering the after-effects of his African plane crash from 1954 and resented the interruptions, he receives the reporters politely for an afternoon or a day before sending them on their way.
Ernest Hemingway at his standup writing desk in his home, the Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm), near Havana, Cuba, from the late 1950s. The original photographer and exact date is unknown, but I sourced this photo from an article about Eight Famous People Who Used a Standing Desk.
Hemingway was likely working on parts of the so-called "land, sea and air" book (of which only [b:Islands in the Stream|1166260|Islands in the Stream|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1181574669l/1166260._SX50_.jpg|1153954] has appeared posthumously in 1970) or the sexually adventurous [b:The Garden of Eden|305143|The Garden of Eden|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384035025l/305143._SX50_.jpg|476408] (also published posthumously in 1986). The work on the Paris memoir [b:A Moveable Feast|4195137|A Moveable Feast|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358028546l/4195137._SX50_.jpg|2459084] (posthumously published in 1964) was likely done after the move back to the States and to Ketchum, Idaho after 1960.
Overall there wasn't much new to learn here about Hemingway, but it was good to know that he did enjoy some years of peace in his later life before the final mental and physical health issues led to his 1961 suicide.
The opening pages of the article Life in the Afternoon, reproduced in this book as The Last Interview. Image sourced from Esquire Magazine, see link below.
Trivia and Links
I was able to locate 3 of the 4 interviews/articles online, all except the one for Toronto Star Weekly.
You can read Ernest Hemingway, The Art of Fiction No. 21 here, by George Plimpton, The Paris Review, Spring, 1958.
You can read Hemingway in Cuba here, by Robert Manning, Atlantic Monthly, August 1965. Robert Manning, the executive editor of The Atlantic, looks back on his 1954 visit with the Nobel Prize–winning author.
You can read Life in the Afternoon here, by Robert Emmett Ginna, Esquire Magazine, February 1, 1962. Ernest Hemingway: some quiet conversations regarding fishing, writing, war, bars, wine, hunting, and so on.
an honest, swell guy. probably should have saved this until after I read more of his books.
Fun Fact: He writes standing up! :)
Fun Fact: He writes standing up! :)
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Not a great read but not bad either. (It made me create a new Goodread shelf - 'creditable'). One may be belied by the title that the book might provide profound insights on how the featured author perceived life and his work. The book is a short compilation of sporadic conversations and their interpretations by the respective interviewers.
The 'not-so-bad' part of the book is that it introduced the eminent author as a human being (who is flawed) and not as a paragon in his profession. Thus, making these conversations both comforting and inspiring - giving the aspiring writers a hope that there is a way to become a better version of ourselves. If Hemingway's persona has to be expounded in one line, it has to be this - "All I ask from life is to write, hunt, fish, and be obscure."
Few takeaways from the book for the aspiring writers from the life of Hemingway as a writer are given below. Most of the tips are commonly observed in the lives of all great artists, this list might serve as a positive reinforcement.
1) Discipline over Inspiration: Hemingway was a man of habit. He used to log his progress (i.e number of words) every day in a big chart on the wall in his writing area. He believed writing as an exercise and thus, will help one's skillset become stronger (or better) when practiced regularly. He didn't wait for the inspiration in abstract to write, instead, he had specific hours designated each day for writing.
2) He believed that "writing is a private lonely occupation with no need for witnesses until the final work is done". He thus suggested that critics should focus on dead writers, from whom the living writers learn the most. This was also one of the reasons why he didn't have a strong liking for interviews.
3) Review. Edit. Rewrite. Repeat. - elements of excellence. Hemingway was very meticulous while drafting his final output. Some examples highlighting his patience and persistence to write good include - rewriting the last page of Farewell to Arms, thirty-nine times, making a list of potential titles for a finished book (the list may include as many as hundred titles), no interruption from outsiders when he is focused on finishing a draft, etc.
4) Good writers are good and dedicated readers. "I am always reading books - as many as there are. I ration myself on them so that I will always be in supply."
5) "Trying to write something of permanent value is a full-time job even though only a few hours a day are spent on the actual writing."
6) "A writer, if he is any good, doesn't describe. He invents or makes out of knowledge personal and impersonal and sometimes he seems to have unexplained knowledge .."
7) "The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector. That is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it. If you are going to write, you have to find out what's bad for you. Part of that you learn fast, and then you learn what's good for you."
8) "The body and mind are closely coordinated. Fattening of the body can lead to fattening of the mind."
9) Talk less, listen more.
10) "Never look for excitement - let excitement come to you" - the formula suggested by him in response to 'how to get the most out of life?'
The 'not-so-bad' part of the book is that it introduced the eminent author as a human being (who is flawed) and not as a paragon in his profession. Thus, making these conversations both comforting and inspiring - giving the aspiring writers a hope that there is a way to become a better version of ourselves. If Hemingway's persona has to be expounded in one line, it has to be this - "All I ask from life is to write, hunt, fish, and be obscure."
Few takeaways from the book for the aspiring writers from the life of Hemingway as a writer are given below. Most of the tips are commonly observed in the lives of all great artists, this list might serve as a positive reinforcement.
1) Discipline over Inspiration: Hemingway was a man of habit. He used to log his progress (i.e number of words) every day in a big chart on the wall in his writing area. He believed writing as an exercise and thus, will help one's skillset become stronger (or better) when practiced regularly. He didn't wait for the inspiration in abstract to write, instead, he had specific hours designated each day for writing.
2) He believed that "writing is a private lonely occupation with no need for witnesses until the final work is done". He thus suggested that critics should focus on dead writers, from whom the living writers learn the most. This was also one of the reasons why he didn't have a strong liking for interviews.
3) Review. Edit. Rewrite. Repeat. - elements of excellence. Hemingway was very meticulous while drafting his final output. Some examples highlighting his patience and persistence to write good include - rewriting the last page of Farewell to Arms, thirty-nine times, making a list of potential titles for a finished book (the list may include as many as hundred titles), no interruption from outsiders when he is focused on finishing a draft, etc.
4) Good writers are good and dedicated readers. "I am always reading books - as many as there are. I ration myself on them so that I will always be in supply."
5) "Trying to write something of permanent value is a full-time job even though only a few hours a day are spent on the actual writing."
6) "A writer, if he is any good, doesn't describe. He invents or makes out of knowledge personal and impersonal and sometimes he seems to have unexplained knowledge .."
7) "The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector. That is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it. If you are going to write, you have to find out what's bad for you. Part of that you learn fast, and then you learn what's good for you."
8) "The body and mind are closely coordinated. Fattening of the body can lead to fattening of the mind."
9) Talk less, listen more.
10) "Never look for excitement - let excitement come to you" - the formula suggested by him in response to 'how to get the most out of life?'
These interviews were so interesting! I loved reading about Hemingway's attitude and surroundings during his final years, and the way Mary mother henned him.