The First Forty-Nine Stories and the play The Fifth Column

I rarely read novels and less short stories, so I did not know what to expect. I have not finished reading this book and may not. Please don't misunderstand me, Hemmingway is a world famous writer and that is not by chance or sheer luck. He was skillful and dedicated to his craft. Who am I to criticize. I still appreciate his incredible work to produce this book. I still want to read The Old Man and the Sea, since it is one of his most famous works.

I have a mixed response to this book. The manuscript materials are interesting--we can get insight from them into Hem's process of composition. But it is somewhat unwieldy, awkward--because the story and the manuscript materials are presented consecutively. OK, this is perhaps inevitable. But it is hard to move back and forth, back and forth from the story to (in a number of cases) three or four other other separate sections, where the various manuscript materials are presented. Again, OK, I understand. But in an ideal world, the volume would have been prepared with at least some examples of the story on one page, and the manuscript version on the facing page. Then, you could do some much easier comparison.

Something else--Buyer Beware! I bought this book thinking that it would be an update of the so-called Finca Vigia collection of Hem's stories. But it is NOT a complete collection. In fact, I would say that the title is misleading. Deliberately misleading?

The book should be titled "The SELECTED Short Stories...." It does not include the full text of In Our Time, for example--so that none of the inter-chapters from that important book (1925) can be found here. Such great stories as "The End of Something" and "The Battler"--these are absent as well. "The End of Something" is not only a terrific story, but from other reading I have done, I know that the manuscript materials are very interesting. It should be in the book.

All of this is troubling indeed. In effect the Hem Estate and the publisher are implying that here in this book are "the short stories" of Hem. But they are not all here. If you want all of the stories, you have to buy the Finca Vigia edition. And that volume itself is flawed--it needs to be redone.

This is a great collection and the Kindle version is well-formatted. Hemingway fans, students of writing, and working writers would do well to study how he did it--such strong and effective writing with such apparent ease.

It's Hemingway, after all. The volume is complimented by stories that had not yet been published. Some of the unpublished work was in keeping the with author's overall excellent work. A few others, not so much.

Coming from Michigan I particularly enjoyed the stories about northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, Walloon Lake, and the stories about trout fishing, the Indians. Also excellent: the stories about the Spanish Civil War, and the shorts on WWI and WWII fighting. Cuba stories are brilliant as well, especially the swordfish story. The one thing that I don't like about Hemingway is the senseless violence in so many of his writings, the violent deaths, the constant theme of death and violence that is so pervasive in his stories. So many sad endings, take for example the odd little story about the Spanish kids playing in a restaurant kitchen: one of them plays bull fighter and the other plays the bull: but he attaches two long, razor sharp knives to the feet of a chair to be horns! Of course in typical Hemingway fashion the 'bull' rams his knives into the stomach of the other kid, and he dies right away in a pool of blood: but why? To what end? What is the message for the reader in this senselessly tragic short story. Another story that kind of sucked: the elephant hunt: a father and son go with a guide stalking a long tusked elephant. The boy tips off where the elephant is, then feels bad when the father and guide blow the elephant's brains out at point blank range. The boy vows to himself to never tip off hunters again. The machismo mentality in Hemingway wears away at you. Elephants getting their brains blown out, lions getting their face shot off at point blank range, with all the gory details spelled out to you. Kill, kill, KILL!---this is the essence of Hemingway's stories. I guess it's just not for me. It's too dated. Sadly and with all due respects, with so much death and violence in his stories it is not surprising Mr. Hemingway took his own life with a gun blast to the head in Idaho.

With a collection this large, a reader is bound to find a favorite (or two). I started reading these stories on my lunch break and realized I was late for work. When my boss asked why I was late I said, "Hemingway".

Revisiting The Snows of Kilamanjaro, Big Two Hearted River, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and others in this collection was as revealing as it was gratifying. How long ago it was that these stories were written! But how incisive they remain; timeless in their relevance, transparent in their simple mastery.

These are short stories in the true Hemingway style with wonderful dialogue and intriguing plots which keep you turning the pages. This is a good read for anytime - early morning, relaxing afternoon, or before-bed.

i wanted to see how hemingway 'grows and develops' through his short stories.

at times, i was tempted to miss a story as some were 'long winded' and seemed to me to be rewrites of earlier stories. at times, i felt he was sloppy. his best stories certainly seemed to me to be his earliest. there were flashes of brilliance in later stories but some seemed scrappy to me as if now he had fame he didn't need to bother. towards the end of the book, his bits from unpublished works were quite good.

on the whole, i'm glad i persevered to the end and read every word. it was a v interesting experience.

Excellent reading.Hemmingway described situations and places so succinctley that he draws the reader right into the story.I first read the author,it must be forty years ago,and his style has not dated one iota.He is still tops in my books.

i wanted to see how hemingway 'grows and develops' through his short stories.

at times, i was tempted to miss a story as some were 'long winded' and seemed to me to be rewrites of earlier stories. at times, i felt he was sloppy. his best stories certainly seemed to me to be his earliest. there were flashes of brilliance in later stories but some seemed scrappy to me as if now he had fame he didn't need to bother. towards the end of the book, his bits from unpublished works were quite good.

on the whole, i'm glad i persevered to the end and read every word. it was a v interesting experience.

Excellent reading.Hemmingway described situations and places so succinctley that he draws the reader right into the story.I first read the author,it must be forty years ago,and his style has not dated one iota.He is still tops in my books.

I bought the Hemingway book because I wanted to read "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." I do love Hemingway's writing, and this short story was a reminder of his excellent writing. I have just returned from a trip to Tanzania, so I loved the setting of the story.

Any fan of Ernest Hemingway's writing would enjoy this. Some of us enjoy reading about his life as much as his stories, and its interesting to see how much of his own experiences he translates into his stories.

Come on! Hemingway - all the short stories. It just doesn't get any better. Read these concurrently with his published letters and you will see an incredible arc of talent and hard work running parallel to an incredible life with a very nearly preordained ending.

Who am I to critique Hemingway's collection of short stories? Some have said the subject matter can be too harsh for our modern sensibilities -maybe, but that was his world and times. That makes it both great reading and an historical document. Just recommended it to my son. How many books will you get the opportunity to read that are written by a Pulitzer and Nobel prize winner?