Join us in February [ Edited ]

[fanuzzir]

Welcome, everyone.

Ernest Hemingway’s short stories have all the grandeur and the deep feeling of his novels. Some of them, like “The Big Two-Hearted River,” “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” are classics in their own right. We’re lucky to have these, plus gems like “The Killers” (made into two movies!), “In Another Country,” and “Hills like White Elephants,” in a remarkable collection, the Finca Vigia edition.

Please join us in a discussion that will explore Hemingway’s special brand of heroism and his fascination with the world beyond America. We'll begin on February 5th -- you'll find some further material and topics for discussion posted in the coming days.

See you then!

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The discussion begins February 5th, so there's still time to get your book and start reading. In the meantime, feel free to introduce yourself, and give your early thoughts. But remember ... we'll start our formal discussion on February 5th.

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Message Edited by LitEditor on 01-27-2007 09:30 AM

[Everyman]

Will there be a list of the specific stories we will be discussing and the suggested order of reading so we can get a head start on the reading? There are a lot of great books coming up all at once, so getting a head start on some of the reading will be helpful, particularly to those of us with limited reading time.

[fanuzzir]

We'll probably be starting with "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." I'm thinking of a few separate short story threads, a separate thread for unifying themes, maybe another one for gender relations and one for ideals of masculinity, such big parts of all of Hemingway's work.

[Everyman]

And don't forget the thread on the joy and glory of bullfighting!

[Choisya]

Hi Fanuzzir - I am looking forward to these discussions as I haven't read Hemingway for a long, long time. It is good to be in this clean well-lighted place for such a discussion. I couldn't afford the 'complete works' edition you are all reading so will use my Penguin copy of the Snows of Kilimanjaro and hope that most of the stories are in there?

(Will you also be setting up Community Room and Introduction threads?)

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fanuzzir wrote:
We'll probably be starting with "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." I'm thinking of a few separate short story threads, a separate thread for unifying themes, maybe another one for gender relations and one for ideals of masculinity, such big parts of all of Hemingway's work.

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[Abati001]

HI...this is my first book club and I have never read Hemmingway...I am going to buy the book tonight and start reading the first story you stated we will be starting with...is there anything else I should be doing or should know about? Thanks!

[Choisya]

Hi there and welcome! If you would also like to read some biographical details this website might prove useful:-

http://www.ernest.hemingway.com/

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Abati001 wrote:
HI...this is my first book club and I have never read Hemmingway...I am going to buy the book tonight and start reading the first story you stated we will be starting with...is there anything else I should be doing or should know about? Thanks!

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[metcalfwsc]

This is great. I just finished The Sun Also Rises and I have ordered the short story book. Welcome everyone. I hope this will be a wonderful journey.

[Abati001]

Thank you!

[bryan87613]

February is looking better. . .

[bryan87613]

Hey Choisya--how do you do the thing with the lines to quote what you are responding to? Thanks.

[Choisya]

Hi Bryan: You click on Quote Post on the top right of the Message Body and it comes up Bryan. You can then either leave it in its entirety or you can cut and paste the bit you want and delete the rest.

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bryan87613 wrote:
Hey Choisya--how do you do the thing with the lines to quote what you are responding to? Thanks.

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[prince_alfie]

I used to like Hemingway but I find him overrated in many ways. His sparse style has been usurped by guys like Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie, etc.

I prefer the maximalist style in fact. Perhaps the only thing I really care at all for Hemingway are his topics and his use of surrealism particularly in Death in the Afternoon.

[Margaux]

I'm another newbie. I love Hemingway, and I can't wait to read the short stories again and discuss. Thanks.

[bryan87613]

Ah, thanks, Choisya. I can see now that html codes can also be used.


THANKS!

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Choisya wrote:
Hi Bryan: You click on Quote Post on the top right of the Message Body and it comes up Bryan. You can then either leave it in its entirety or you can cut and paste the bit you want and delete the rest.

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bryan87613 wrote:
Hey Choisya--how do you do the thing with the lines to quote what you are responding to? Thanks.

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[chadadanielleKR]

I have just discovered that the short story "A clean, Well-Lighted Place" is included in my French Book entitled "An introduction to American literature". It must be famous indeed! The book includes also the following picture: http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/hopper/p22-hawks.html
The caption says that this painting was probably inspired by the "Killers", one of Hemmingway's short story which Hopper greatly admired. But the tension and the feeling of solitude the painting conveys also evoke "A clean, Well-lighted Place"

[emma_lee_]

Hello everyone,

I'm glad to see that a book club is reading Hemingway. I have read The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell To Arms, and a few of his short stories. I am looking forward to reading and discussing more of his work.

[bryan87613]

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fanuzzir wrote:
Some of them, like “The Big Two-Hearted River,” “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” are classics in their own right. We’re lucky to have these, plus gems like “The Killers” (made into two movies!), “In Another Country,” and “Hills like White Elephants,” in a remarkable collection, the Finca Vigia edition

I just read A Clean Well-Lighted Place and The Killers in the Finca Vigia edition. I am glad that we are starting with some (very) short stories because I have always had trouble getting into Hemingway. I have only read The Sun Also Rises and most of The Movable Feast.

[Laurel]

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bryan87613 wrote:

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I just read A Clean Well-Lighted Place and The Killers in the Finca Vigia edition. I am glad that we are starting with some (very) short stories because I have always had trouble getting into Hemingway. I have only read The Sun Also Rises and most of The Movable Feast.

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Very interesting profile, Bryan! Thanks for sharing it.

[Choisya]

Thanks Danielle - this reminds me that I went to see an exhibition of Hopper's work at the Tate Modern a couple of years ago and liked his painting very much, especially the New York street scenes. He was very good at portraying loneliness and the painting you link to was a good example of that - three people in a bar yet all seem isolated.