Random Thoughts on Ernest Hemingway (culled from my journal)

I believe that Hemingway, like Tolstoy, believed that even if one lived badly, redemption was possible for him if he had a good death.

As for his writing style, I am particularly interested in Hemingway’s sparse sentences—sentences that leave much to the reader’s interpretation—and the concreteness that is evident in his writing. For instance, his descriptions of places include the names of streets and pubs, rivers, and mountains and local customs. He describes the color of buildings and their rooftops. It is this solidity that makes them come alive on the page.

Another similarity I notice between Tolstoy and Hemingway is the belief that a man should be authentic. We see this in Tolstoy’s short story “The Death of Ivan Ilych.” Similarly, Hemingway believed that a man should live with gusto, incur risk, and suffer the consequences. Remember, there is a price to be paid (see page 152 The Sun Also Rises). Joy and suffering make us feel alive and so does passion.

There is strong evidence of psychological depression in Hemingway’s work. We see this in all of the main characters in The Sun Also Rises, which explains some of their behaviors, including excessive drinking, and an affinity for boxing and bull fighting as substitutes for war. I think that in The Sun Also Rises, bullfighting serves as a metaphor for World War I.  

Hemingway obviously suffered from depression. I think that all highly consciousness and creative people do to some degree. Hemingway willingly descended into the depths and darkness of his psyche and embraced his depression as material for literature. That requires courage and fortitude, and perhaps large quantities of alcohol and morphine.  It can also get you into trouble that you cannot escape.  

At the age of 61—my current age—Hemingway loaded two shells into a double barrel shotgun, put both barrels into his mouth and blew his brains out. He was living in Montana at the time.

Like Jake in The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway was a heavy drinker. We know that he feared the darkness. We will recall that in The Sun Also Rises Jake slept fitfully and kept an electric light on. Suicide would seem to unite Hemingway with another great writer—Sylvia Plath.

Help wanted. “Caffeine puts a man on her horse and a woman in his grave” (120). Does anyone know what Hemingway meant by this peculiar line? Is this an oblique reference to gender reversal?