I love Hemingway’s writing style, as bold and fancy free as it is. This is a classic example of the genre. It probably helped that I read this novel after completing Dickens (Our Mutual Friend) so the style could not have been more different. Both are, of course, classic approaches to writing and it is wonderful to experience the differences.
Many of Hemingway’s passions are on display here, especially his abiding love of bull fighting. Many years ago I was enthralled (and appalled to be honest) with his non-fiction account of this sport in “Death in the Afternoon” and much of the same is on display here as this coterie of lovers/friends/rivals makes their way to the Pamplona festival in Spain.
The writing is, of course, matter of fact but nevertheless when dealing with the love/unrequited love/jealousy themes there is much depth here. In may ways the feelings and emotions are merely hinted at, leaving it to the reader to imagine how those must be played out. This is particularly true of Cohn who seems to suffer the most from the dalliances of Lady Brett, even more so than her intended husband Michael, who seems to be long suffering indeed. There is no doubt that the friendship (more than friendship) of Brett and Jake is central to this story, and again, the reader is certainly encouraged to imagine how this will play out finally.
I think it would have been fascinating to have met Hemingway, either in his Parisian years or later, although I think I would have found him incredibly boorish, sexist, homophobic and probably anti-semitic. He does, however, live large still, and his shadow in literature is long indeed. His writing reveals his passionate life and he is very unafraid to surprise the reader and generally take us on a journey with him.
This has been described as the quintessential novel of a lost generation, meaning those for whom WW1 was uppermost in their formative or early adult lives. I understand that. However the war, as in several of his novels, forms the background, or even the foundation to what follows rather than being front and center. That certainly seems to be the case here. Jakes wound is never discussed in detail, and it is easy to miss in the narrative itself although it shapes his entire relationship with Brett. It is rather melancholic in times I feel – there is a lot of drinking, partying, arguing, lovers flings, depression etc. Again, these all seem to reflect the character of the man and his life. He is perhaps one of the best equipped authors to explain these things to us through prose. There is clearly a lot of his personal experience here, a roman a clef indeed.
There are may themes of interest here but some things are troubling to me. There seems to be a streak of implied or actual anti-semitism in much of the canon of world literature. Those of the jewish faith often seem to be depicted in a distinctly unflattering like (Shylock, Fagin) herein represented by Cohn who is very much an outsider and subjected to anti-semitic taunting. This is unsettling to me as is Hemingway’s overtly masculine approach to seemingly everything.
Still, this is book I much enjoyed. This type of dialogue-heavy, minimalist writing that nevertheless has a lot of depth beneath the surface is very well worth reading. It’s a book that keeps you thinking throughout, and post-reading.