The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: Volume I

There is little that I could say about Hemingway's short stories that hasn't been said before. But while Ernest Hemingway had magic with the written word, his old recordings of reading his own stories on tape are not good. Instead of sounding like how I would expect the story to be told (out loud), the author's voice is shrill and, in places, sounds more like an impression of Mark Twain. Stacy Keach is hands down the ideal voice of Hemingway's short stories (although I give four stars to Charleton Heston). His readings are straightforward, he employs accents where applicable, and minimizes the "he said" and "she said" words, making them place holders rather than part of the story itself. Based on the three volumes of Hemingway short stories, I am sufficiently enamored of Keach's readings to make me delve into other works of fiction that Keach has recorded on CD.

Ernest Hemingway was one of the first celebrity writers. In fact, his life was so interesting that, for a time, it looked like he was more interesting than what he wrote. While I read A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises relatively early in life, I remember really getting into Carlos Baker's biography of the "larger than life" author. At first, I steered clear of Hemingway's short stories; on the whole, I am not a big fan of short stories. They're over too fast, for one thing, and add to this a professor I had along the way who likened every short story to the archetypical story of Adam and Eve, and my interest in the short story form evaporated like yesterday's rainwater. Then in the 70's I saw a Hollywood adaptation of Hemingway's Nick Adams stories (and especially after seeing Paul Newman play the washed up boxer in "The Battler"), I dusted off my copy of EH's short stories, and read them all over the course of a couple of days and was blown away by them. Later, when I taught "Big Two-Hearted River" and "My Old Man" to the American Authors class in a local high school, I had some of the most soul-searching discussions with the students. Often, I would read one of the stories aloud to them and then we'd talk about it. What was there about these stories that brought the class alive and so open to discussion? One reason might be that they are written so simply and, yet, pack such an emotional punch the reader hardly sees it coming. In "Big Two-Hearted River", for example, he's not just telling about a fishing expedition, catching and cleaning fish, packing them up for the trip home; he's got that bit about the ants on the burning log which transfers quite nicely as an allegory for human existence. In his laconic, yet sophisticated style--unparalleled by any author before or since, Hemingway creates a visceral reaction in the reader; the reader, without a lot of fancy footwork, EXPERIENCES what the first breakup feels like ( "The End of Something"), or how it feels to get drunk for the first time ("The Three Day Blow"). The plight of the returning soldier ("A Soldier's Home"), and the desperation of the dispossessed (Old Man on a Bridge) are unearthed in the reader as though he is returning home or sitting alone at the bridge during wartime. We all know, that in life Hemingway was all for grace under pressure and possessed an almost manic push to experience everything. In his short stories, especially, we can truly experience what it really feels like to be alive and never have to leave our recliner. Heartfelt thanks for that, Ernest.

This collection of short stories defines what great short fiction is. Hemmingway constructs each story with total percision the way a genious archetect builds a perfect house, that is, with utter flawlessness. With a style of writing unique to only him, the great parisian pilgram, avid fisherman and chronicler of bullfighting gives us a timeless collection of literary gems.

I read this book in two weeks, and many of the stories I read over and over, such as "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and the Nick Adams stories. Hemingway's writing is sparse on adverbs and adjectives; his is straight forward English. This allows the reader to read through each story without having to reread a paragraph for clarity. The images and emotions that Hemingway evokes through his prose are clear and sharp. At times I felt as though I were right there with Nick Adams throwing my line into the fast-moving stream; as though I were in the bull-fighting arena watching Manuel Garcia perform his veronicas; as though I were holding Frances Macomber's gun as the buffalo was charging at him. Some of the stories I didn't particularly like (On the Quai at Smyrna, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott) but the strong stories made up for them. No wonder Hemingway won the Nobel Prize. Certainly the judges for that award looked back at his stories in deciding. Buy the book and enjoy it!

If you like short story collections, you cannot do better than this (unless, perhaps, you buy Hemingway's Finca Vigia edition, which contains all of these and several more). There is so much packed into the short, terse sentences that make up these stories that you will get new things out of them each time, and no matter how many times, you read them. For my money, these stories and "A Moveable Feast," his memoir of Paris, represent Hemingway's most heartfelt and intimate writing.