Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD

Book Description

Nobel Prize-winning giant Ernest Hemingway is widely considered one of the greatest American authors of the Twentieth Century. Here, listeners can experience his riveting style both from his own voice and from one of America's most esteemed actors.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro: Performed by Charlton Heston, I this is a classic story of a hard-drinking, ruthless and womanizing world adventurer who comes face-to-face with the one antagonist he cannot conquer: his own ignoble and imminent death.

The Old Man and the Sea: Also performed by Heston and nominated for a Grammy, this recording of Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning story is a perfect example of his literary I precision.

Ernest Hemingway Reads: A rich sampling of Hemingway's brilliant, multifaceted writing which the Nation said "provides his readers the opportunity to listen for and appreciate the Hemingway wit. " Includes: The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech; Second Poem to Mary; In Harry's Bar in Venice; The Fifth Column; Work in Progress; Saturday Night at the Morehouse in Billings, Montana.

Read by Charlton Heston and Ernest Hemingway

Customer Reviews:

A Gem.......2006-08-12

I am compelled to add my thoughts because the average of the reviews that have come before suggest this is a mediocre recording. Nothing could be further from the truth. The story is a great work. The reading by Heston adds to the experience significantly. This recording is one of life's gems - to be treasured. I do not wish to seem conceited or trite, but perhaps the listner must be along to a certain point in life to recognize the symbolism, and appreciate this must have effort.

to complete your Hemingway journey this is essential.......2006-03-09

I have read everything Hemingway wrote and visited his home in Key West, the man is a legend on many levels. In order complete one's Hemingway collection this CD is required. Enjoy the readings and the brief glances at the man's voice

Heard Better.......2006-03-08

Heston's reading of the old man and the sea is so-so, he did a much better job on the snows.

Resonant and Revelatory.......2005-11-02

Of the Charleton Heston readings of The Old Man and Snows little need be said; they are professional in all respects and fine as they can be. It is good to hear Hemingway's deceptively simple prose read well, for it discloses the fundamental modern English architecture beneath it: decidedly tuned to the ear, with conscious attention to alliteration and repetition of sounds and words. The stories are two of the most carefully crafted in Hemingway's canon, and the resonant voice of Heston will gratify repeated listenings.

The addition of a rare disc of Hemingway's own voice will seem, in context, a throw-away or add-on. First of all, the listener will be startled by the high, occasionally hesitant pitch of the author's voice, simultaneously tentative and clipped, and heavily accented. It is no species of stereotyped tough guy one might have expected, neither Jimmy Cagney nor John Wayne. Nor is it one used to public performance. It is quite obviously private, and distinctly regional -- the timbre found in many great plains settlers, with a distinctly 19th century timbre that by now has all but vanished.

The occasion was Hemingway's pal A.E. Hotchner (author of Papa Hemingway) bringing a tape recorder down to Cuba in the 1950s. Set pieces of the public non-fiction voice were what the author obviously found most comfortable in this experiment: introductions to an obscure play and the collected stories, and finally a very moving performance of the short Nobel speech. There is also humor -- a self-parody of Across the River and Into the Trees harder on himself than any critic, and an outrageous improvised bawdy tale that sounds rather boozed. Yet there are two incredible, serious performances here: the wartime Second Poem to Mary, and the first chapter of book III of the then unreleased Islands in the Stream. In the world of audio literature, this is about as good as it gets. The poem eerily harks back to the horrors of the World War II Battle of Hurtgen Forest; it sounds as convincing as a battle report, and is an anguished, angry testament to bravery amidst death and monstrosity and the tactical errors of top brass, leaving fighting men in an impossible situation. The Islands reading describes Thomas Hudson amongst similar unspeakable things. If not for everyday or for cruising through town, this disc is certainly for sometimes, preferably late at night and perhaps aided by a shot of your favorite tonic to help you take the hit. In such a setting you will quickly understand how and why this unusual voice became a standard in the war-ravaged "American Century."

The thoughtful listener might aid appreciation by picking up Caedmon's Gertrude Stein Reading, and listening to it at the same sitting. Here is another classic, lost Midwestern voice -- and Hemingway's perhaps most important Paris teacher. The similarity of the diction between her Picasso and his Second Poem is a grand revelation, and the sort only possible through this aural dimension Stein thought so essential to her pioneering sandblast job honing our modern English tongue. Yeah kids, maybe you can do it now, perhaps even in your sleep. But only because they did it first.

CHARLES DOES IT AGAIN !.......2005-09-26

How could you not enjoy another endeavor of Hestons talents, he delivers time and time again. What a team, Heston and Hemmingway!!!!

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Hatred of adjectives
Frustration and confusion over contradictions
Hemingway's Last Best Work
One of the best!
A good present for someone going to Paris

A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743564391

Amazon.com

In the preface to A Moveable Feast, Hemingway remarks casually that "if the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction"--and, indeed, fact or fiction, it doesn't matter, for his slim memoir of Paris in the 1920s is as enchanting as anything made up and has become the stuff of legend. Paris in the '20s! Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, lived happily on $5 a day and still had money for drinks at the Closerie des Lilas, skiing in the Alps, and fishing trips to Spain. On every corner and at every café table, there were the most extraordinary people living wonderful lives and telling fantastic stories. Gertrude Stein invited Hemingway to come every afternoon and sip "fragrant, colorless alcohols" and chat admid her great pictures. He taught Ezra Pound how to box, gossiped with James Joyce, caroused with the fatally insecure Scott Fitzgerald (the acid portraits of him and his wife, Zelda, are notorious). Meanwhile, Hemingway invented a new way of writing based on this simple premise: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know."

Hemingway beautifully captures the fragile magic of a special time and place, and he manages to be nostalgic without hitting any false notes of sentimentality. "This is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy," he concludes. Originally published in 1964, three years after his suicide, A Moveable Feast was the first of his posthumous books and remains the best. --David Laskin

Book Description

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

-- E RNEST H EMINGWAY TO A FRIEND, 1950

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. It is a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer in the twentieth century, and for his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Ernest Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. As part of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris, the former journalist and World War I ambulance driver began a career that lead to international fame. Hemingway was an aficionado of bullfighting and big-game hunting, and his main protagonists were always men and women of courage and conviction, who suffered unseen scars, both physical and emotional. He covered the Spanish Civil War, portraying it in fiction in his brilliant novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and he subsequently covered World War II. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. He died in 1961.

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"You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil." Begun in the autumn of 1957 and published posthumously in 1964, Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast captures what it meant to be young and poor and writing in Paris during the 1920s. A correspondent for the Toronto Star, Hemingway arrived in Paris in 1921, three years after the trauma of the Great War and at the beginning of the transformation of Europe's cultural landscape: Braque and Picasso were experimenting with cubist forms; James Joyce, long living in self-imposed exile from his native Dublin, had just completed Ulysses; Gertude Stein held court at 27 rue de Fleurus, and deemed young Ernest a member of rue génération perdue; and T. S. Eliot was a bank clerk in London. It was during these years that the as-of-yet unpublished young writer gathered the material for his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, and the subsequent masterpieces that followed. Among these small, reflective sketches are unforgettable encounters with the members of Hemingway's slightly rag-tag circle of artists and writers, some also fated to achieve fame and glory, others to fall into obscurity. Here, too, is an evocation of the Paris that Hemingway knew as a young man - a map drawn in his distinct prose of the streets and cafés and bookshops that comprised the city in which he, as a young writer, sometimes struggling against the cold and hunger of near poverty, honed the skills of his craft. A Moveable Feast is at once an elegy to the remarkable group of expatriates that gathered in Paris during the twenties and a testament to the risks and rewards of the writerly life.

Customer Reviews:

Hatred of adjectives.......2007-08-08

What a poisonous, vituperatve, jealous, mean-spirtied man he must have been. Also self-righteous and condescending.
Does anybody read his tripe anymore?

Frustration and confusion over contradictions.......2007-08-07

That's all I felt as I picked up this book to read. Is it fact or fiction? To me, and others that I have spoken to, it makes a world of difference as to how I approach a book, it's characters, location, and events that take place. This book is supposed to be Hemingway's memoirs. I have no idea who is on the cover.

There is a disclaimer by the publishing company that this is a work of fiction.

Not to mention Hemingway's own explanation that does not make a bit of sense. "If the reader prefers, this book may be regarded as fiction. But there is always the chance that such a book of fiction may throw some light on what was written as fact."

Following that, there is a note written by M.H. that states that this book covers the years 1921-1926 in Paris.

Lastly, there are nine black and white photographs of people and places that supposedly do not even exist.

I became so frustrated with all of these contradictions that I did not even bother to read the book.

Hemingway's Last Best Work.......2007-06-11

Published posthumously, this memoir is a series of sketches recounting episodes from Hemingway's life in Paris in the early 1920s. It is probably the best thing Hemingway wrote in his late years. This is the period when Hemingway perfected his laconic style and produced several of the short stories that form his most durable work. Many of the sketches display the economy of style and eye for telling detail found in Hemingway's best short stories. Much of the book is devoted to describing his life as a young writer trying to perfect his style. It contains interesting, though not necessarily objective, portraits of Hemingway's friends Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The presiding spirit of this book is Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson Hemingway.
This book has a more than wistful quality because of the circumstances under which it was written. Hemingway produced it in the late 1950s when he was struggling with his alcoholism, bouts of depression, and not very successful attempts to produce major novels. The contrast with the vigor, productivity, and happiness of this Parisian period must have been painful for Hemingway though only at the very end of book does a note of self-pity creep in.

One of the best!.......2007-06-01

So many good things have been said of this book and I can add nothing more. Anybody wanting to understand Hemingway and disciplined writing should read or reread this book.

A good present for someone going to Paris.......2007-03-08

This book by Hem was published after his death. You can of see this, Hem would never have published some of these stories if he was alive and kicking - at least he would have edited them heavily. Still it is an amazing book filled with beautiful memories of a fantastic city when it was both good and affordable. Today Paris is still a good city, but it's hardly affordable. Anyway, if you intend to travel to Paris by yourself or if some of your close friends will visit Paris, they will be most happy to get this as a present. Afterwards they will keep thanking you every time you meet them - yes, it's just that good...

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my least favorite hemmingway book.
Hemingway's writing
He shoots everything including the Bull
lacks luster
A must read for any hunter

Green Hills of Africa
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743564448

Book Description

The rugged beauty of Africa as experienced through the eyes of Hemingway

His second major venture into nonfiction (after Death in the Afternoon, 1932), Green Hills of Africa is Ernest Hemingway's lyrical journal of a month on safari in the great game country of East Africa, where he and his wife Pauline journeyed in December of 1933. Hemingway's well-known interest in -- and fascination with -- big-game hunting is magnificently captured in this evocative account of his trip. In examining the poetic grace of the chase, and the ferocity of the kill, Hemingway also looks inward, seeking to explain the lure of the hunt and the primal undercurrent that comes alive on the plains of Africa. Yet Green Hills of Africa is also an impassioned portrait of the glory of the African landscape, and of the beauty of a wilderness that was, even then, being threatened by the incursions of man.

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"There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave." - ERNEST HEMINGWAY In the winter of 1933, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline set out on a two-month safari in the big-game country of East Africa, camping out on the great Serengeti Plain at the foot of magnificent Mount Kilimanjaro. "I had quite a trip," the author told his friend Philip Percival, with characteristic understatement. Green Hills of Africa is Hemingway's account of that expedition, of what it taught him about Africa and himself. Richly evocative of the region's natural beauty, tremendously alive to its character, culture, and customs, and pregnant with a hard-won wisdom gained from the extraordinary situations it describes, it is widely held to be one of the twentieth century's classic travelogues.

Customer Reviews:

my least favorite hemmingway book........2007-06-22

this book is annoying. hemmingway's ego is out of control as he tries to make a big man of himself by shooting his way through an array of animals that of course mean him no harm at all. though i love much of his early work, this book makes him seem a truly horrible person. no wonder he had a long string of failed relationships and ultimatley killed himself. who could live with a jackass like this. in the end, he couldn't even stand to live with himself. this is an almost worthless book.

Hemingway's writing.......2007-05-12

I found this writing less interesting than Rossevelt or Rourk work purchased at the same time. Perhaps the critics opinions are not always the best way to judge a work.

He shoots everything including the Bull .......2007-01-29

Hemingway once said that a writer needs a built-in- B.S. detector. He forgot to take it along on this safari, though he is willing to stand corrected occasionally by his then- wife Pauline for errors of 'diarrhea of the mouth'. In any case the old Hem style is truly at work here, and it supplies us with some truly beautiful and moving passages. It also supplies us with a capsule survey of American Literature as provided by the great Hem in which he finds Emerson, Thoreau and Whittier all mind and no body, Melville all rhetoric and and an imagined mystery not really there, and only Crane, Twain and James worth keeping. His most famous riff is of course the one in which he says all American Literature derives from a book called Huckleberry Finn which he then says is great to a certain point only. Old Hem in a wonderfully snobbish way tells us that America really has no literature and that we need someone with the discipline of Flaubert and the something else of Stendhal if we are to have one. No doubt he is the one who intends to supply the product.
With all the posturing and the big - game hunting shtantz and the bull which accompanies it( And with it too the morally objectionable chest- beating at cutting down unarmed rhinos, lions, kudu etc. Hemingway is at times here at the top of his game. He was young and strong and relatively happy and had already made it as a writer though perhaps not in the way he ultimately wanted to.
The dialogue between him and the other hunters is to my mind over-mannered stylized pretentious crap.
But there are passages in the book which remind you that this is one of the truly great American writers, and one of , in my judgment, the best short story writers of them all.
I want to cite a passage just to give the feeling of how good old Hem could be when he was good.

" What I had to do was work. I did not care, particularly , how it all came out. I did not take my own life seriously anymore, any one else's life , yes, but not mine. They all wanted something that I did not want and I would get it without wanting it, if I worked. To work was the only thing , it was the one thing that always made you feel good , and in the meantime it was my own damned life and I would lead it where and how I pleased. And where I led it now pleased me very much. This was a better sky than Italy. The hell, it was. The best sky was in Italy and Spain and Northern Michigan and in the fall in the Gulf off Cuba. You could beat this sky; but not the country."

lacks luster.......2007-01-17

Hemingway would have been better served by including more narratives than the ramblings of his characters. He seems to believe that it is important to capture what they actually said since they are real characters and not imaginary, but how realistic is that? Obviously, he couldn't write while hunting so undoubtedly he paraphrased their conversations when he was able to write - possibly days or weeks later. So if he's going to paraphrase then he should polish up the dialogue. And, perhaps exclude much of the pointless dribble. Some of which might not have been pointless if he had done a better job of developing the characters.

I do not recommend this book. Instead, I would rather point a potential reader of African safari stories to the works of Peter Capstick.

A must read for any hunter.......2006-10-08

In this rare non-fiction work from Ernest Hemingway he brings to life a month long hunting expedition that he spent with his wife Pauline in Africa in nineteen-thirty-three, but he writes it in the true Hemingway tradition. Rather than having it read like a documentary he writes it in the form of a novel.

Both entertaining and exciting it makes the reader hungry for the hunt. At times there is a bit of embellishment, such as making a clean kill on a Rhino at three-hundred yards with a Springfield rifle, (probably with open sights) in chapter four. Such probable exaggerations can be overlooked when we read his descriptions of the land and of the Masai and feel the remorse in his heart after wounding and losing a magnificent Sable Antelope to the jackals.

It's my opinion that Green Hills of Africa is one of the finest hunting stories that has ever been written. Not for the sheer content of the story itself, but for the style, for Hemingway's style, ... and for the way that he recounts a true life adventure in the style of prose that has always proven so riveting in his fiction.

The Short Stories Volume I (Short Stories (Simon & Schuster Audio))

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Experience is Everything...
HEMINGWAY HONES HIS CRAFT
Fast delivery. Expectations met.
A suggestion to Amazon
Timeless piece

The Short Stories Volume I (Short Stories (Simon & Schuster Audio))
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743526325

Book Description

Before he gained wide fame as a novelist, Ernest Hemingway established his literary reputation with his short stories. Set in the varied landscapes of Spain, Africa, and the American Midwest, this definitive audio collection traces the development and maturation of Hemingway's distinct and revolutionary storytelling style -- from the plain bald language of his first story to his mastery of seamless prose that contained a spare, eloquent pathos, as well as a sense of expansive solitude. These stories showcase the singular talent of a master, the most important American writer of the twentieth century.

The Short Stories Volume I features Stacy Keach reading such favorites as: The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomben The Capital of the Work- The Snows of Kilimanjaro; Old Man at the Briage; Up in Michigan; On the Quai at Smyrna; Indian Camp; The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife, The End of Something; The Three-Day Blow, The Battler; A Very Short Story, Soldier's Home, The Revolutionist; Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, Cat in the Rain; Out of Season; and Cross-Country Snow.

Customer Reviews:

Experience is Everything..........2007-08-15

Ernest Hemingway was one of the first celebrity writers. In fact, his life was so interesting that, for a time, it looked like he was more interesting than what he wrote. While I read A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises relatively early in life, I remember really getting into Carlos Baker's biography of the "larger than life" author. At first, I steered clear of Hemingway's short stories; on the whole, I am not a big fan of short stories. They're over too fast, for one thing, and add to this a professor I had along the way who likened every short story to the archetypical story of Adam and Eve, and my interest in the short story form evaporated like yesterday's rainwater. Then in the 70's I saw a Hollywood adaptation of Hemingway's Nick Adams stories (and especially after seeing Paul Newman play the washed up boxer in "The Battler"), I dusted off my copy of EH's short stories, and read them all over the course of a couple of days and was blown away by them. Later, when I taught "Big Two-Hearted River" and "My Old Man" to the American Authors class in a local high school, I had some of the most soul-searching discussions with the students. Often, I would read one of the stories aloud to them and then we'd talk about it. What was there about these stories that brought the class alive and so open to discussion? One reason might be that they are written so simply and, yet, pack such an emotional punch the reader hardly sees it coming. In "Big Two-Hearted River", for example, he's not just telling about a fishing expedition, catching and cleaning fish, packing them up for the trip home; he's got that bit about the ants on the burning log which transfers quite nicely as an allegory for human existence. In his laconic, yet sophisticated style--unparalleled by any author before or since, Hemingway creates a visceral reaction in the reader; the reader, without a lot of fancy footwork, EXPERIENCES what the first breakup feels like ( "The End of Something"), or how it feels to get drunk for the first time ("The Three Day Blow"). The plight of the returning soldier ("A Soldier's Home"), and the desperation of the dispossessed (Old Man on a Bridge) are unearthed in the reader as though he is returning home or sitting alone at the bridge during wartime. We all know, that in life Hemingway was all for grace under pressure and possessed an almost manic push to experience everything. In his short stories, especially, we can truly experience what it really feels like to be alive and never have to leave our recliner. Heartfelt thanks for that, Ernest.

HEMINGWAY HONES HIS CRAFT .......2007-08-03

I recently reviewed this same compilation of short stories in an edition that included the short play The Fifth Column that I was interested in discussing concerning the problem of spies and infiltrators from the Franco-led Nationalist side-and what to do about them- in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. This edition does not contain that play and therefore I can discuss the short stories on their own terms. Although Hemingway wrote many novels, most of which I have read at one time or another, I believe that his style and sparseness of language was more suitable to the short story. This compilation of his first forty-nine although somewhat uneven in quality, as is always the case with any writer, I think makes my point. In any case they contain not only some of his most famous short stories but also some of the best.

The range of subjects that interested Hemingway is reflected here, especially those that defined masculinity in his era. Included here are classics such as The Snows of Kilimanjaro about the big game hunt, The Killers- a short and pungent gangster tale that was made into a much longer movie, many of the youthful Nick Adams stories tracing his adventures from puberty to his time of service in World War I, stories on bullfighting- probably more than you will ever want to know about that subject but reflecting an aficiado's appreciation of the art form, a few on the never-ending problems of love and its heartbreaks including a metaphorical one, reflecting the censorious nature of the times, on the impact of abortion on a couple's relationship, and some sketches that were included in A Farewell to Arms. Well worth your time. As always Hemingway masterly wields his sparse and functional language to make his points. Again, as always read this man. This is part of our literary heritage.

Fast delivery. Expectations met........2007-05-29

Love Hemmingway so the book was great. I expected it to be in fair condition and it was, no complaints.

A suggestion to Amazon.......2007-05-20

I have bought and enjoyed the first volume of the CD set of Hemingway's stories and am thinking of buying another volume, but it would be very useful if you posted a list of all the stories on the CDs so I know exactly what I am getting.

Timeless piece .......2005-10-23

I am rediscovering the roots of American classic writers and it has been a wonderful start with Hemingway's short stories. Among the many remarkable points to make about Hemingway's prose is his simple language that illustrates the vividness of his imagery. It is simple and yet very poignant-making his work standout from the rest.

I bought this book used and want to especially thank the seller for shipping it so quickly. You were not kidding when you said that you ship fast!

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BULLFIGHTING 101
Happiness Is A Dead Bull
Excellent journalism
Yes = the Fine Art of Bullfighting
Reminiscence of Spain and Bullfighting

Death in the Afternoon
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743564456

Book Description

A fascinating look at the history and grandeur of bullfighting

Death in the Afternoon is an impassioned look at bullfighting by one of its true aficionados. It reflects Hemingway's conviction that bullfighting was more than mere sport and reveals a rich source of inspiration for his art. The unrivaled drama of bullfighting, with its rigorous combination of athleticism and artistry, and its requisite display of grace under pressure, ignited Hemingway's imagination. Seen through his eyes, bullfighting becomes a richly choreographed ballet, with performers who range from awkward amateurs to masters of great elegance and cunning. Death in the Afternoon is also a deeper contemplation of the nature of cowardice and bravery, sport and tragedy, and is enlivened throughout by Hemingway's sharp commentary on life and literature.

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Still considered one of the best books ever written about bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon is an impassioned look at the sport by one of its true aficionados. It reflects Hemingway's conviction that bullfighting was more than mere sport and reveals a rich source of inspiration for his art. The unrivaled drama of bullfighting, with its rigorous combination of athleticism and artistry, and its requisite display of grace under pressure, ignited Hemingway's imagination. Here he describes and explains the technical aspects of this dangerous ritual and "the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure classic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and a piece of scarlet serge draped on a stick." Seen through his eyes, bullfighting becomes a richly choreographed ballet, with performers who range from awkward amateurs to masters of great elegance and cunning. A fascinating look at the history and grandeur of bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon is also a deeper contemplation of the nature of cowardice and bravery, sport and tragedy, and is enlivened throughout by Hemingway's sharp commentary on life and literature.

Customer Reviews:

BULLFIGHTING 101.......2007-05-22

At the time that Hemingway wrote this book the rather exotic art of bullfighting was fairly unknown to English audiences. Hemingway almost single-handedly drove many expatriate Americans and Europeans of the `lost generation' to the corrida. Some of his novels and short stories also have the bullring as a backdrop. This book is an interesting combination of Hemingway's literary flair and a how to book on the art of bullfighting. The bullfight experience (watching, that is) became a mandatory exercise for later, mainly American, male writers and formed a rite of passage for manly writing. One thinks immediately of Norman Mailer but there were others.

Having watched a bullfight in Mexico I find it hard to see the interest that Hemingway and the others had in the sport. I do not care for prizefighting either. I will admit to having spent many a fruitless hour watching the 'bullpen' of the beloved home town Red Sox at Fenway Park blow a lead that would make any bull see red. On its own terms, Hemingway surely had more than an amateur interest in describing the ritual of the fight and grading the performances of man and beast. That part, in essence, the literary part is what held my interest. If one suspends a certain disbelief about the obvious surface brutality of the event and rather delves into the `man against nature' and `dancing with death' aspects that is where you will find Hemingway. Ole

Happiness Is A Dead Bull.......2007-05-10

For Ernest Hemingway, a fiesta wasn't a fiesta until someone got killed, preferably a 1,400-pound male bovine, horns dripping with horse blood, legs up in front of thousands of cheering Spaniards. That was the world of the bullfight, a world Hemingway discovered by accident while on a break from mingling with the Lost Generation in Paris, and made his own with the help of this book.

First published in 1932, "Death In The Afternoon" may be what separates Papa's truest fans from mere admirers like myself. Most people who value writing understand that Hemingway wrote very well, but many like me would go on to say we wish he spent less time on attitude and posturing and developed a surer sense of focus, in line with "The Sun Also Rises" and "In Our Time." But for those who drink and fish and grow white beards in emulation of their hero, "Death In The Afternoon" is THE book precisely because it so messily captures Hemingway's self-image of the macho artist.

"Death In The Afternoon" starts out with a rambling chapter that deals with American attitudes about bullfighting rather than the thing itself. It finishes with a self-indulgent one where he outlines all the things he left out as if giving a long-winded Oscar speech. In between is much to admire, for bullfighting aficionados and vegetarians alike, including some of the most arresting passages in American letters.

"Someone with English blood has written: 'Life is real; life is earnest, and the grave is not its goal,'" Hemingway writes. "And where did they bury him? and what became of the reality and the earnestness?"

Hemingway's theme, here and throughout the book, seems to be that death and suffering are the things of life, its essence and only ultimate truths. Only art lends them meaning. Of all art, Hemingway finds bullfighting the truest and most inspiring because of how close it is to the bone of the matter, to death, and how transitorily it is experienced. All art, even the most lasting, ultimately fades, but only in bullfighting is that impermanence accepted and understood.

Hard words, hard philosophy. But Hemingway works hard too at entertaining the reader, often quite successfully. He tells of one matador's farewell performance where he dedicates the killing of his last bull before the fact to first one, than another, and then a third person, so caught up is he in the moment and his own eloquence. There is an ongoing discussion with an old lady frankly curious about the sex habits of both bull and bull-killer. He extols Faulkner, has at Huxley, and fesses up to how he must come off: "The fellow is no philosopher, no savant, an incompetent zoologist, he drinks too much and cannot punctuate readily...He is bull crazy."

The book comes with a generous number of photographs with Hemingway-written captions that are works of art in miniature. Under a photo of a dead matador surrounded by people, he notes: "Only two in the crowd are thinking about Granero. The others are all intent on how they will look in the photograph."

I didn't really buy Hemingway's take on some things, especially the issue of the horses. He opposes padding their undersides to protect them from bull horns as it violates the aesthetic of the performance. Then he writes of how the picadors riding the horse will use the horse's horning as a way of artificially tiring the bull to give the matador an easier time. Doesn't padding then produce a better bullfight?

Hemingway also loses his train of thought, in ways that impair rather than enrich the reading experience. One moment he's talking about the handling of the muleta or the politics of the cuadrilla, the next he is talking about a pair of homosexuals or how langostinos are best enjoyed.

It's really about a man discovering a country he loves, and in that sense, the Spanish backdrop is the best thing about "Death In The Afternoon." It's a love letter with more than a touch of sadness; the Spain Hemingway knew was about to be lost, to civil war and Franco, for the rest of his lifetime. But nothing was forever to Hemingway. In the world of the bullring, he found the closest thing to perfection he could believe in. Believe it or not, you have to admire the result.

Excellent journalism.......2006-08-07

An epic tome on the art and grandeur of Spanish bullfighting from one of America's greatest aficionados, Ernest Hemingway, who explicates the craft and spiritual intensity of this ancient European ritual through terse, journalistic, prose and rigorous scholarship. Not surprisingly, Hemingway is not terribly perturbed by the grotesque barbarity of the violence of bullfighting; Hemingway was an enthusiast of hunting and had little to no moral qualms about killing animals (and sometimes people). Yet he is not totally insensitive, warning the reader that most spectators of bullfighting are normally disgusted by the killing of the horses more than anything else.

For Hemingway, the bullfight is not meant to be understood as an equal battle between man and beast. Rather, it is a tragedy, and the tragedy is for the bull who ought to be killed. He writes, "The best of all fighting bulls have a quality, called nobility by the Spanish, which is the most extraordinary part of the whole business" (113), yet Hemingway does not provide any comment on the utter absurdity of the whole business. Hemingway was a writer obsessed with, and in search of true courage in the face of natural danger and fate, and he found it most explicitly in war and in bullfighting.

However, some readers will be surprised to find that `Death in the Afternoon,' is not simply about bullfighting. Hemingway also expounds quite at length about his views on art and the craft of writing. He says: "When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature" (191). Unfortunately, Hem was never fully successful at creating a living woman, but every writer has a weakness. "A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl" (192).

Also included in this altogether excellent volume is a collection of stunning photographs depicting various stages of the bullfight and various matadors of fame; there are also fascinating portraits of the running of the bulls in Pamplona (echoing those fabulous sequences in `The Sun also Rises'). Additionally, Hemingway has provided the reader with a detailed glossary of important bullfighting terms for true aficionados. Originally published through Scribner in 1932.

Yes = the Fine Art of Bullfighting.......2005-10-12

One thing that Hemingway clears up is that bullfighting is not a contest between man and beast. It is a tragedy; no matter if the bull succeeds in killing the matador, and all the picadors and bandierros for that matter, he will still be executed after the fight. This is pure art, and nothing more. I can't explain why to you, but Hemingway says that it is very Spanish, and to understand it you must understand the Spaniards.

This is just a general overview of bullfighting. The book is very descriptive and very much more worth your time. You will find that there is something of the bullfight and the muleta in all of us.

The three steps of the bullfight are clear and showcase the bull. (It is worth mentioning that these are not just any bulls: they are finely bred fighting bulls that are too agressive to be good for anything else.)

One: the bull shows his strength and bravery in the killing of the horses in the first stage with the picador. The picador pierced the muscle on his shoulder, therefore showing the bravery of the bull if he continues through the pain to gore the horse. After this stage, the dead horses are covered and the bandierros enter the ring.

Two: The bandierros use small spears with hooks on them so they stay in the bull's hide. They are 'set' in pairs in the large hump of agrivated muscle over the withers. These are used to raise the neck of the bull and therefore weakening it so the matador can do his work. In this stage the bull is confused: he cannot (if the man knows his work and is not unlucky) catch the man as he did in the last stage. His courage is useless.

Three: The matador enters the arena (or barrera, I believe...it's been a while) to finish the bull. At this stage, the bull is tired and his head is beginning to droop. His shoulders are covered in blood but he stands there arrogant. The matador cannot rise over the horns of the bull to kill in his origional condition; therefore, he must tire him over the course of the three stages. The matador does his part with the muleta (cape) and then kills the bull by stabbing him with a sword to his heart. It is here, Hemingway will tell you, that the bull is either said to be killed or assasinated. If the matador is competent, his body will come over the top of the horn. If the bull lifts his head, the matador is gored. Thus, in a proper kill, the bull in the end had a chance to kill again. If the matador pulls back at the last second and just stabs the animal without the threat, he is said to "assasinate."

This is excellent. Your friends might look at you a little funny for reading about "killing bulls" and not understand that it is...well, an ART. This is just plain wonderful. Hemingway again does a terriffic job, showing more of his journalistic side than in For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Excellent read, but not for everyone. Get it from the library and read the first few chapters. If you still feel sorry for the bulls after that, you're on your own.

Reminiscence of Spain and Bullfighting.......2005-08-13

I'm glad to see a reissue of this classic in hardcover.

If you are interested in bullfighting, Hemingway or Spain you should find this book interesting, enjoyable reading.

It is a playful introduction into bullfighting and at the same time a reminiscence of Spain and bullfighting.

The book deals with the art of bullfighting as it existed in the twenties.

That said, most of the passes, techniques, tricks, foibles he describes still exist in bullfighting as it is practiced today. And while not extremely deep on the technical side of the subject, this is the most readable of any book on the technical aspects of bullfighting I've come across. If you want to understand the basics of bullfighting, this would be an excellent place to start.

Hemingway profiles a handful of matadors. They are all from impoverished backgrounds, basic peasant stock, that despite the fame and money they never can quite leave behind this past. It was a much more dangerous profession then, before the advent of antibiotics when death from a septic wound was a risk from even a minor goring.

Hemingway is unrestrained in his love of Spain and this shines through the book.

Por Quien Doblan Los Campanas / for Whom the Bell Tolls

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Por quien doblan las campanas.

Por Quien Doblan Los Campanas / for Whom the Bell Tolls
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Yoyo Music USA Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 9588161398

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Por quien doblan las campanas........2006-11-05

This book is a jewl and I congratulate Amazon for having it among their books. People should learn about wars, dictatorships, and horrors that occurred in other countries that dismembered a number of generations; people that had to leave their home land and create new ones in strange lands. The courrage of these people and their influence in other countries, such as mine: the Dominican Republic, and our family that comes from one of those silent heroes that believed in a better way of life for alls, without the wrongly used label of being "reds".

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Adios a Las Armas / a Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway
Manufacturer: Yoyo Music USA Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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