The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories

This is a great book of various short stories some are amazing and oh so Hemingway, some are a little odd. But the book is sturdy and the stories short so you can move along quickly or go back to the one's that touch the heart.

Reread this Hemingway classic before a trip to Cuba. Just wanted to get a "feel" for the man before the emersion of his aura in Cuba. Although the language feels dated now, his style is captivating. I am not adequately capable of reviewing a Hemingway book. There is so much about the man that makes his writing a ghost-like reveal of his own life. You can feel his enormous presence in Cuba as if he were still alive.

The product shipped was not the product advertised by the DVD jacket shown. Instead it was a subfusc copy by some other vendor: dark, grainy, washed-out ... terrible. So much of the film depends on clear visual images of wildlife, dim cafes, night-time veldt or street scenes, that the poor quality of this copy severely diminishes the enjoyability of the film. The film is a 4+, but the dvd copy shipped to me was, generously, a 2- ... so I am returning it to the store.

When I finish writing a manuscript I always treat myself to the film classic, 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro.' It's a favorite of mine, and seeing how the main character (memorably played by Gregory Peck) is a writer I was naturally drawn to it. Ava Gardner was never better, nor could anyone touch her even by today's standards. I decided to buy the book because books are usually better than the film, and this film was clearly above average.

I was disappointed to find Hemingway wrote 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' as a short story. It was less than 20 pages! I believe it was based on his 1933 two-month safari with his wife. Why he chose to write this as a short story is anyone's guess. I would not be surprised if he did so because by the time he wrote the story he'd grown tired of writing, and didn't want to get drawn into a full-blown novel. Yes, writer's get tired of writing. It's fun, but still work, and takes a lot of you. Still, I wish he had made the story into a full length book. It would have been one of his best.

If you like Hemingway and want to read his books, then this is worth getting. I only liked this one, his short story 'The Killers,' and 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.' If you want or expect more, don't bother with this book. It probably only sold because Hemingway is an American favorite. He could have done a lot better. Still, I do like his descriptions, however short they are, about hunting and characters. I still say he should have finished the book instead of writing short stories. Anyone could have done that.

David Lucero, author

When I finish writing a manuscript I always treat myself to the film classic, 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro.' It's a favorite of mine, and seeing how the main character (memorably played by Gregory Peck) is a writer I was naturally drawn to it. Ava Gardner was never better, nor could anyone touch her even by today's standards. I decided to buy the book because books are usually better than the film, and this film was clearly above average.

I was disappointed to find Hemingway wrote 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' as a short story. It was less than 20 pages! I believe it was based on his 1933 two-month safari with his wife. Why he chose to write this as a short story is anyone's guess. I would not be surprised if he did so because by the time he wrote the story he'd grown tired of writing, and didn't want to get drawn into a full-blown novel. Yes, writer's get tired of writing. It's fun, but still work, and takes a lot of you. Still, I wish he had made the story into a full length book. It would have been one of his best.

If you like Hemingway and want to read his books, then this is worth getting. I only liked this one, his short story 'The Killers,' and 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.' If you want or expect more, don't bother with this book. It probably only sold because Hemingway is an American favorite. He could have done a lot better. Still, I do like his descriptions, however short they are, about hunting and characters. I still say he should have finished the book instead of writing short stories. Anyone could have done that.

David Lucero, author

To die pleasantly, in a dreamy state, such is the apparent delusion of this story. It is a sweet story, of a consciousness that vanishes in a delirium. However well written it is ignorant of the physiological facts, of the terrible pain, endless heaving of body fluids, the disintegration of mind and body that accompanies untreated gangrene. So, yes it is a lovely story, it is uplifting to human spirit, it is not, as Hemmingway would want you to believe, a reflection of his knowledge.

THREE STARS IF YOU DON'T KNOW HEMINGWAY(THEN AGAIN,WHO REALLY DOES?)AND FIVE IF YOU THINK YOU DO.IT'S A GREAT AUDIO.I'D DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THE AUDIO VERSION SIMPLY BECAUSE OF CHARLTON HESTONS PENTAMETER AND TONE.LIGHT THE FIRE.GRAB A NICE CIGAR,POUR A VINO AND LISTEN UP.IT'S A PERFECT 20 MINUTE BEDTIME STORY FOR THE BIG KIDS.

I bought this movie through an the store Marketplace supplier. I got the "Quality Classics" Version. It is unwatchable. The Cover has a close-up of Peck and Gardiner. It is a disaster and do not buy it. I am a huge fan of Ava Gardiner and Gregory Peck and I couldn't get through this.

The CD gets 2 stars because, like another reviewer, none of 4 CD players could read it. It arrived with defects. My advice: don't bother with it. From what other reviewers said, it's depressing anyhow.

No snow and no Killimanjaro. What a rediculous title.
The Other Stories were OK, I guess, but I could not get over "No Snow". I am 70 years of age and reading Hemmingway for the first time. "Sun Also Rises" was very good.

This Dvd was defective even though if was sold as new. I truly believe that this copy was a pirated copy as the graphics were different from that which was advertised. The sound track was bad, so I never had the chance to see it.

No snow and no Killimanjaro. What a rediculous title.
The Other Stories were OK, I guess, but I could not get over "No Snow". I am 70 years of age and reading Hemmingway for the first time. "Sun Also Rises" was very good.

This Dvd was defective even though if was sold as new. I truly believe that this copy was a pirated copy as the graphics were different from that which was advertised. The sound track was bad, so I never had the chance to see it.

Review of The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Hot Toasty Rag, August 8, 2017

Good heavens, this movie is boring! I don’t know what was wrong with screenwriter Casey Robinson, or the people who read his script and didn’t suggest a serious edit or rewrite, but if you can make it through this two hour film without nodding off, you deserve a medal. I couldn’t.

Gregory Peck is wounded, and the entire movie flashes back and forth between him being nursed by Susan Hayward and his reflections of his romance with Ava Gardner. Susan Hayward is one of my all-time favorite actresses, so if a movie of hers is terrible, there has to be a reason. I blame the screenplay, but you can blame Ernest Hemingway’s original story if you like. Greg is written to be a wishy-washy, selfish, and annoying. It’s tough to imagine Gregory Peck being unlikable, but believe me, he is in this movie. Even though he’s wounded and sometimes delirious, he’s just unlikable. I found myself wanting Susan Hayward to give up on him and let him fester.

I realize Ava Gardner was a sex symbol, and that both on and off screen, men couldn’t keep their hands off her, but I never understood why. I never found her appealing, so I didn’t know why Greg kept dreaming of her when he had Susan Hayward sitting right next to him!

If you want to see Greg and Ava, watch The Great Sinner instead. And if you want to see Greg and Susan, watch David and Bathsheba instead. There’s really no reason to watch this one, unless you misplaced your sleeping pills.

Ten short stories by Ernest Hemingway fill this book with intrigue and excitement:

1. The Snows of Kilimanjaro--A man's man faces his mortality at the foot of Africa's tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro. He's with his wife out hunting and drinking and loving. Unfortunately, he scratched his leg and didn't take care of it. Gangrene has set in and he pretty sure he will die before the plane gets back to take them to safety. The man has dreams or reminiscences of his past, especially of the more important lovers and events in his life. He's a writer and the memories would have made great stories, but is it too late to write them down? The story is the sort that needs to be read twice to get the most out of it, though it is fascinating enough with just one read.

2. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place--Two waiters get close to very profound issues as they wait up till the last bar patron finally leaves. A surprising amount about the characters' attitudes is conveyed in five pages.

3. A Day's Wait--A slight story of a sick child and his father. The ending reads more like a punch-line to a joke. The story is entertaining but not deep.

4. The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio--Mr. Frazer is a patient in an American northwest hospital. A Mexican gambler is brought in with several gunshot wounds and is not expected to live. A nun working at the hospital prays for him, just as much as she prays for the Notre Dame team to win their football games ("They are playing for Our Lady," she reasons). They all look for some transcendence or perfection in their lives but are unable to attain it. The story more poses the question why they can't than provides a pat answer, making it some intriguing food for thought.

5. Fathers and Sons--A father and son are on a car trip when the father remembers his strained relationship with his own father and significant times from his childhood. I didn't really care for this one.

6. In Another Country--A Milan hospital provides care for maimed soldiers with the latest equipment that will supposedly undo the damage of crippling injuries. Nick and a few other characters deal with their injuries and their future. The story is a tough look at hope and despair.

7. The Killers--Two assassins show up at a diner waiting for a certain customer to come in. They have the look and speech of noir criminals (e.g., black trench coats with hats and calling guys "pretty boy" in a derogatory way). Their mark never shows up; when the one customer goes to warn the mark, his reaction is surprising. This story is the sort of hard-edged noir that inspires someone like Quentin Tarantino.

8. A Way You'll Never Be--Nick is wandering around Italian battlefields (it's the same guy from #6, I think) and meets up with an Italian officer he's pals with. Nick tries to pass himself off as an American soldier sent to bolster the local troops with the hope of more Americans to come and turn the tide of the war. But how many screws are loose in Nick's head? This story is only sort-of intriguing to me, the ending wasn't as sharp or dramatic as I'd have liked.

9. Fifty Grand--An aging boxer goes for one last fight. Can he make some money, keep his dignity, and not get beat to a pulp? The story's plot is practically a genre unto itself. The main character has enough heart and grit to make this a compelling story.

10. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber--Francis is on safari with his wife. They have a comfortable tolerance of each other that's shattered when things go poorly during a lion hunt. The situation just about destroys Francis. The twists and turns in the story are interesting and kept me riveted.

Overall, the book provides some interesting ideas to chew on. Hemingway's straightforward style is sparse on interpretation, so readers are left to draw their own conclusions.

This collection, published by Scribner represents ten of Hemingway’s supposedly ‘finest’ short stories (according to the publisher). While The Snows of Kilimanjaro is an absolutely fine one, the other nine are not as commendable, save for maybe three or four.
Hemingway’s brilliance is in full display in the first story, ‘..Kilimanjaro’. His absolute command on prose and his ability to succinctly describe places, people, situations, relationships and emotions and everything else is amazing. Actually the story itself is quite simple and straightforward.Tragedy befalls Henry and his wife, Helen vacationing in an African safari with the man developing gangrene as the result of an injury. The gangrene slowly but steadily creeps up in his body and he is resigned to his fate of certain death as there are no hopes of medical help arriving any time soon. Henry gets irritable and treats Helen badly (and later apologizes) although she tends to him very well. But it is not just this.Henry is also musing over his entire life with deep regret and remorse, his failure to put on paper all that he wanted to at various stages in life. Interspersed with the Safari story, in italicized text are whole episodes of his life that are presented with great brevity and beauty and make some excellent reading. Hemingway’s capacity for the written word stands out with every word.
Most of the other ‘stories’, if one can call them so do not make a lasting impression on the reader's mind. However, the last story, ‘The Short Happy Life’ which incidentally is also in a safari setting and also ends in tragedy, is another great piece in the collection. The protagonist’s self doubt, suspicion, helplessness, fear, anger are all captured extremely well.

Nice to read, either on the beach or in an airport!

This book collects ten pieces of short fiction penned by Hemingway. Each of them is a stand-alone short story; though there’s indication that they all take place in the same universe. Notably, the character Nick Adams recurs in four of the stories (“Fathers and Sons,” “In Another Country,” “The Killers,” and “A Way You’ll Never Be.”)

The first and last stories present intriguing similarities that make them interesting bookends to the collection. The first, and eponymous, story—“The Snows of Kilimanjaro”—follows the last hours of a man who is dying of gangrene from an infected wound he sustained on Mount Kilimanjaro. The dialogue pits a wife in denial against the man who seems resigned to the inevitability of his death. The last story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” is also set in Africa and features a man and wife whose adventure goes awry. In this case the story begins with the man having been emasculated when he bolted in the face of a charging lion, and all in front of his harpy-esque wife. Francis Macomber manages to redeem himself only in the last seconds of his life.

Besides the aforementioned bookending stories, among the most substantial and well-developed stories in the book include: “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio,” “The Killers,” and “Fifty Grand.” The first of these is about a gambler put in the hospital by a disgruntled competitor and the happenings in the hospital while he is on the ward. “The Killers” is about two hitmen who venture into a small town diner looking for a boxer who apparently owes someone money or decided not to take a dive. “Fifty Grand” is about an aging boxer who bets against himself (and will probably soon be in the same boat as the boxer in “The Killers.”)

There are a couple stories that feel fragmentary, including: “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and “A Day’s Wait.”

This collection features the usual elements of Hemingway fiction, e.g. punchy and spare prose, artfully constructed dialogue, tales of manliness and inadequacy. It’s a short readable book of only about 150 pages.

The stories included are:
1.) The Snows of Kilimanjaro
2.) A Clean, Well-lighted Place
3.) A Day’s Weight
4.) The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio
5.) Fathers and Sons
6.) In Another Country
7.) The Killers
8.) A Way You’ll Never Be
9.) Fifty Grand
10.) The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

I’d recommend this for readers of short fiction who haven’t gotten around to it yet.

When Minneapolis dentist and recreational big-game hunter Walter Palmer killed Cecil the lion on a hunt in Zimbabwe during June-July of 2015, he triggered a storm of protest for killing a beloved animal. NBC Dateline broadcast a balanced story on the incident. During the broadcast, the reporter asked an expert why the hunters left the lion alone overnight after shooting it. Readers of “The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories” already knew the answer, because of the explanation in “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”

Most people remember the bookend stories out of a total of ten short stories by Ernest Hemingway covered in the short (154 pg) collection entitled “The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.” Both stories occur in Africa, and in total they comprise about 40% of the book.

Inside the bookend stories are eight other stories about various topics associated with Hemingway. Fifty Grand is a short story of a boxer in training near the end of his career. The narrator, Jack Doyle, believes the boxer, Jack Bennett, is not ready for the fight. His promoter visits near the end of training and talks Bennett into throwing the match. “It ain't crooked. How can I beat him?” asks Bennett. Another short story of the ten, ‘The Killers,’ is about a pair of men who come into a diner to kill a boxer named Andreson. We don’t know why the killers are coming after Andreson, but anyone who read “Fifty Grand” or watched the movie “Pulp Fiction” will come way with one idea.

Such is the style of Hemingway’s stories - his sparse writing style and minimalism technique leave much to the imagination. Readers have to figure out the untold story on their own.

One of the characters in the diner of “The Killers” is Nick Adams, who is featured in many of Hemingway’s short stories. Adams is a character in “A Way You’ll Never Be” and “Fathers and Sons,” two selections included in this book. The main character of “In Another Country” is unnamed, but could very well be Nick Adams. These stories tell of situations personally experienced by Hemingway: the death of his father by suicide, and war experiences. Hemingway was an ambulance driver in World War I and also fought in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s.

The old man in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” was rumored -- by the two waiters -- to have tried to kill himself the week before. He was also deaf from noise during his service in the Great War. Hemingway committed suicide in 1960 in Montana. His daughter, the model and actress Margeaux Hemingway, also committed suicide in the 1996.

Not only is suicide a theme in some of Hemingway’s stories, but so is death in general. It is the theme of “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and also “A Day’s Wait,” where a nine-year old boy named Schatz overhears something that implies, to him, that he is on his death bed. His personality is entirely different when the boy believes he is dying, as compared to when he does not.

Another notable scene in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is the old waiter’s parody of ‘Our Father.’ Not only Hemingway but his fellow Lost Generation writers were existentialists, who rejected religion and believed that there was no afterlife.

Hemingway also mocks religion as an opiate of the people in “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio.” This story was the funniest of the ten short stories in this collection. One character was a translator who made it up as he went along. Another character was a nun who prayed for Notre Dame to win a football game -- but she didn’t watch the game -- and for the Cardinals to win the World Series. The Gas House Gang did win the Fall Classic in 1931, by beating the Philadelphia Athletics. The Athletics had beaten the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series in 1930 and the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 fall classic.

This book covers a variety of themes, yet the most memorable short stories are the two about Africa. Many scholars rank “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” as Hemingway’s top short story, but I liked “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber” even more. Hemingway’s short stories are a breeze to read, but his sparse style leaves much to the imagination. Such a style would seem tailor-made for book discussions, but it didn’t work that well with us. There were so many areas for open-ended discussion that everyone seemed to focus on a different one.

This is a collection of 10 short stories by Ernest Hemmingway. The two worthy ones are the first and last one, both set in Africa, on the hunting grounds of the Serengeti plain, which, after the First World War was part of British East Africa, and is now Tanzania. The first story lends its title to this collection, and has achieved iconic and now somewhat ironic status in that so much of the snow has melted. This was my second reading of these stories; the first was some 30 years ago, and at the time it was a "mandatory" read in that I too was lured to find that frozen carcass of the leopard on the top of Kilimanjaro, which Hemingway cites in an epigraph to this story. (I did make it to the top, didn't find the carcass, and, of course, wonder if it was just a wonderful "folk tale.") And there is the irony of the story... in real life, all too true. A soldier survives the perils of the First World War, only to be done in by a common-place and seemingly minor injury in Africa. Hemingway tells much of the story well through flashbacks, as his protagonist deals with - or not - his oncoming death. Sure, a harsher critic than myself might consider the ending a bit "sappy," a fair enough comment, however there are few sights more awe-inspiring than the (still) snow-topped Kilimanjaro rising majestically and quite solo, above the Serengeti. And wouldn't that be a wonderful final resting place, up there with what is most likely a metaphorical leopard.

There was nothing "sappy" about the final story entitled "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Two Americans, a husband and wife, on a big-game hunting expedition, being conducted by a British guide, with the "attending natives in tow." It is a very scathing account of all too many who "get their kicks" by killing the big game of Africa. The British guide is not only an excellent hunter; where he truly earns his money is being a psychiatrist for the couple, and well... er... ah... providing some additional services as well. It is a finely wrought tale, of high dramatic tension, and very well-written. As for the insights it provides into the "poverty of human existence," when I was there in 1984, with some extra time before my leopard carcass pursuit, we hired a Hungarian guide to conduct, what was for him, his first "photo safari." He confirmed all too much of the truth in Hemingway's tale, saying that some of the Europeans that he led on the safaris did not even know the names of the animals they were killing... the chief criteria was their size.

As for the other 8 stories, figure they should have been left on the "cutting room floor." The next two after "Kilimanjaro" are really just fragments of a story, with perhaps one banal point, like the confusion there can be between the metric and English systems of measure. "Fifty Grand" concerns boxing, and once again, although it might be "cinema vérité" (to continue with my film analogy), but the utterly inane, insipid dialogue, for which Hemingway is cited as a pioneer, can be more annoying that that proverbial screech of the chalk dragged across the blackboard. (I found this particularly true in his novel, The Sun Also Rises). "The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio" concerns a Mexican who is shot in Montana, and is in the hospital. I just found the entire story "out-of-focus," with no real meaning. "A Way You'll Never Be" is a fragment also, drawn upon Hemingway's real-life experience on the Italian front during World War I. Once again, I was left wondering what the point was. And "The Killers" was the worst story of the collection. Enough said.

Great beginning and ending stories. Particularly the last one I'd give 5-stars to, but overall, the collection merits 3-stars.

Wonderfully remastered classic film by DigicomTV. Really great sound and picture quality.

The story centers on the memories of disillusioned writer Harry Street (Gregory Peck) who is on safari in Africa. He has a severely infected wound from a thorn prick, and lies outside his tent awaiting a slow death. The loss of mobility brings self-reflection. He remembers past years and how little he has accomplished in his writing. He realizes that although he has seen and experienced wonderful and astonishing things during his life, he had never made a record of the events. His status as a writer is undermined by his reluctance to actually write. He also quarrels with the woman with him, blaming her for his living decadently and forgetting his failure to write of what really matters to him: his experiences among poor and "interesting" people, rather than the smart Europeans with whom he has been lately.

He lives to see morning come. He watches vultures gather in a tree as he lies in the evening. He recapitulates his life and talks to his current girl-friend Helen (Susan Hayward). He tells her about his past experiences; then arguing, then coming to realization about his attitude, and finally reaching a sort of peace, even love, with her.

A really, really insightful and reflective movie. An absolute must see! A Hemingway classic at its best with outstanding performances by Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward!

Gregory Peck plays Harry Street, a famous American writer, who lies dangerously ill in a hunting camp at the foot of the highest peak in Africa, Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro... His lovely companion Susan Hayward, who had arranged this hunting trip in the hopes of winning his love, takes care of him faithfully and prays for his recover... Peck, surrounded by vultures in the trees, is semi delirious and fears that he's going to die from an infected wound...

His feverish mind goes back to his youth... He recalls his uncle Bill (Leo G. Carrell), who guided his life in those early years, Connie (Helene Stanley), the first girl he was interested in, and his travels around the world in search for something he never seemed to discover...

We see him entering a charming bistro in Montparnasse, Paris, where he first meets the beautiful (Cynthia) Ava Gardner... Inspired by her love, he writes his first novel, making her the central character without conscious planning...

'Snows of Kilimanjaro' is Hayward's third movie with director Henry King, and her second with Peck after "David and Bathsheba." Hayward and Peck's scenes at the foot of Kilimanjaro are constantly interrupted by flashbacks and this, plus the fact that most of their sequences in France were left on the cutting room floor, made Hayward's part sort of 'evaporate' from everybody's mind... However, she does have strong dramatic scenes at the end of the movie... Ava Gardner appeared as the ideal Hemingway heroine...

The film celebrated the mastery of Benny Carter--one of the most important and influential musician in the history of jazz, and got two Oscar nominations for Art Direction/Set Decoration and Cinematography...

Until I came across George Orwell, I thought that Ernest Hemingway most efficient writer in the English language. With Hemingway, you often start in medias res. Unlike Dickens, there are no superfluous words.

Valid criticisms of Hemingway are that most of his female characters are set up as foils for men (they are deceitful, petty, cheating and materialistic). His male characters are often overly-macho, with a focus on drinking, fighting, shooting and generally proving themselves.

This is a very strong collection of stories, and it is anchored by the final tale in this collection: "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Francis Macomber and his wife are on safari in Africa and are lead by a guide named Robert Wilson. Major themes are marital discord, cowardice, and eventual courage. It's probably the most quintessential Hemingway short story, and also probably the most discussed and dissected.