After watching Ken Burns's wonderful PBS documentary Hemingway, I decided to give the infamous author a try. I was astonished -- the man lived such anAfter watching Ken Burns's wonderful PBS documentary Hemingway, I decided to give the infamous author a try. I was astonished -- the man lived such an amazing and daring life only for it to come to a miserable and tragic end. I read in class a couple of years ago his short work A Clean, Well-Lighted Place and I must admit I was not blown away. His writing didn't capture me. I didn't appreciate the simplicity. So after watching the film I drove over to the library. And I'm glad I did.
The book is a short collection of vignettes that follow the life of a man named Nick. We meet him as a young boy when he witnesses death for the first time and then follow as he becomes a veteran of WW1. Most of the stories are snapshots of a moment in time, where almost nothing significant occurs. It's Hemingway's straightforwardness that brings these moments to life, without the need for flowery prose. He paints the scene on the canvas of the minds eye wonderfully; the flowing rivers, the leaves blowing in the wind, the creaking of old wooden floors. Its these moments that bring the vignettes to life.
I plan on reading his other works chronologically. If his other books are like this then he will have gained a new fan....more
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