Dear M,
I don't understand Hemingway. I hate to confess it (well, who wouldn't?), and I hate myself for not understanding him, but there it is.
I have read The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea and also a few of his short stories. Of course I understand the story, the writing. And I like it. But knowing Hemingway, I know there is more beyond the writing - and that is what I cannot completely decode. When I read other writers, I can perceive the underlying foundation of the story, and afterwards I am able to analyse it and try to study the writing style.
I have tried for long to understand Hemingway. Apart from the fact that he used a writing style that he called the Iceberg Theory, I do not know anything else. It's one thing to understand the theory (it's described quite well in the Wikipedia link I have shared), it is quite another to implement it, or even see how he has implemented it. I really should attend some literature classes just to learn Hemingway.
And yet I have this strange relationship with him that I cannot let him be. If I don't like an author, I usually skip his/her books, or quit thinking about them. But I cannot, in this case. I dislike his writing so much that I want to understand it and find peace once and for all. I like it so much that I want to read more of it. And I am so hungry for knowledge that I want to dissect it and pull it apart and if possible read some of the notes he made so that I know what exactly he is doing. And I am frustrated that I cannot make headway into deciphering him.
Pretty much like that old crush who refuses to leave my thoughts.
Love.
I don't understand Hemingway. I hate to confess it (well, who wouldn't?), and I hate myself for not understanding him, but there it is.
I have read The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea and also a few of his short stories. Of course I understand the story, the writing. And I like it. But knowing Hemingway, I know there is more beyond the writing - and that is what I cannot completely decode. When I read other writers, I can perceive the underlying foundation of the story, and afterwards I am able to analyse it and try to study the writing style.
I have tried for long to understand Hemingway. Apart from the fact that he used a writing style that he called the Iceberg Theory, I do not know anything else. It's one thing to understand the theory (it's described quite well in the Wikipedia link I have shared), it is quite another to implement it, or even see how he has implemented it. I really should attend some literature classes just to learn Hemingway.
And yet I have this strange relationship with him that I cannot let him be. If I don't like an author, I usually skip his/her books, or quit thinking about them. But I cannot, in this case. I dislike his writing so much that I want to understand it and find peace once and for all. I like it so much that I want to read more of it. And I am so hungry for knowledge that I want to dissect it and pull it apart and if possible read some of the notes he made so that I know what exactly he is doing. And I am frustrated that I cannot make headway into deciphering him.
Pretty much like that old crush who refuses to leave my thoughts.
Love.
Have you read his "A Farewell to Arms"?? It's an amazing novel. His writings are superb and that is why I want to read his books again and again.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I read "A Farewell to Arms" a long long time ago - before the writing ghosts began to haunt me day and night. I should try reading it again. It would probably add to my frustration... or not, let's see. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI find what you write really interesting. I haven't read Hemingway (sacrilege, no?) but I should try soon. But I just can't stop grinning when you pore your thoughts out in your posts.
ReplyDeleteSacrilege, indeed! Read, by all means, but don't tell me you didn't find him indecipherable at all... ;-)
DeleteGrinning is good... and thanks for reading my posts.
Where are you headed, next?
I believe Hemingway himself was an enigma-a tortured soul.
ReplyDeleteSo I have heard. I am not surprised. **evil grin**
DeleteThanks for the comment.
You have company in that case ;) ;) I too am not a very big fan of his work..
ReplyDeleteI haven't quite decided if I am a fan or not... as I said, a strange relationship.
Delete