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Men Without Women
This influential 14-story collection includes some of the Nobel laureate’s most notable short fiction, including “Hills Like White Elephants” and “Fifty Grand,” which a Cosmopolitan editor praised as “one of the best short stories that ever came to my hands.” Read by an Earphones Award–winning narrator.
Originally published in October 1927, the second short-story collection published by Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway contains the following fourteen stories:
The Undefeated, In Another Country, Hills Like White Elephants, The Killers, Che Ti Dice La Patria?, Fifty Grand, A Simple Enquiry, Ten Indians, A Canary for One, An Alpine Idyll, A Pursuit Race, Today is Friday, Banal Story, Now I Lay Me. Themes and subject matter range from bullfighting, boxing, and prizefighting to divorce, infidelity, and death. Critics at the time praised Hemingway’s concise language and powerful prose.
Content Warning: As a part of the public domain, Men Without Women is a literary work that reflects the time in which it was published—both its good and its ill. The original text of Men Without Women contains slurs and depictions that represent prejudiced and harmful beliefs regarding race, ethnicity, and religion. To erase or bury this representation of inequity and prejudice would be akin to pretending it never existed, a denial that only perpetuates and extends the original harm done. Thus, in the interest of preserving and documenting both the faults and highlights of literary history—an instrumental, crucial function of works entering the public domain—this text is unedited and uncensored in this audiobook recording. Please proceed with discretion.
Originally published in October 1927, the second short-story collection published by Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway contains the following fourteen stories:
The Undefeated, In Another Country, Hills Like White Elephants, The Killers, Che Ti Dice La Patria?, Fifty Grand, A Simple Enquiry, Ten Indians, A Canary for One, An Alpine Idyll, A Pursuit Race, Today is Friday, Banal Story, Now I Lay Me. Themes and subject matter range from bullfighting, boxing, and prizefighting to divorce, infidelity, and death. Critics at the time praised Hemingway’s concise language and powerful prose.
Content Warning: As a part of the public domain, Men Without Women is a literary work that reflects the time in which it was published—both its good and its ill. The original text of Men Without Women contains slurs and depictions that represent prejudiced and harmful beliefs regarding race, ethnicity, and religion. To erase or bury this representation of inequity and prejudice would be akin to pretending it never existed, a denial that only perpetuates and extends the original harm done. Thus, in the interest of preserving and documenting both the faults and highlights of literary history—an instrumental, crucial function of works entering the public domain—this text is unedited and uncensored in this audiobook recording. Please proceed with discretion.
153 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1927
About the author
Ernest Hemingway
1,785 books30.3k followersErnest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, in mid-1961, he died of suicide.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, in mid-1961, he died of suicide.
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October 28, 2022
The above photo shows the mural composition of Stuart Davis called men without women installed in the Radio City Music Hall in 1932. It is said that the Rockefeller Center committee gave this mural the title based on the short story from this book. We can see the artist's depiction of male leisure and recreation in it.
One of the first books I read in the genre of literary fiction is the old man and the sea, gifted to me by my father. From that day onwards, Hemingway has been one of my favorite authors. Hemingway beautifully explores some apprehensive relationships between men and women in this collection of short stories. The author portrays men without women due to many reasons in this book. One person's wife died while the other person was betrayed by his girlfriend. We can also see how society looked at abortion in the 1920s. There are deeper meanings embedded in each story which makes you contemplate a lot after reading it. This is a book you should never miss if you loved books like, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway or Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami.
“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.”
September 21, 2015
There is this story from Hemingway called 'Hills like white elephants' and my English teacher gave it to me when I was 16. It is still one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read. I give it to my students as well, not to all of them, but to adults and those who can intellectually digest it. Every time I do it, I learn something new although I know this story by heart but Hemingway confuses readers with setting and symbolism and when you have something very confusing in front of you, you are prone to go deep with analysis. I forbid my students to use Google because I want them to be sick of thinking, which they always end up being. Literally they come to me and sigh in anguish: they don't understand it, they mostly hate Jig and her partner, they are fed up with the title and they can't tell me why atmosphere is so tense and under the boiling pressure, although all that these two do is wait for their train to get them to Madrid, drink and talk about nature, open spaces and heat.
And then after 70 minutes of discussion I ask them certain trigger questions and I always see that never ending effect of eyes widening and constant eyelashes fluttering when they finally understand and then they always say: oh my God, really?!
I love this story, sometimes I top-toe around it because you never know how people will react and I don’t want to push them overboard but I like it when I see groups of people in front of me, just contemplating and actually arguing about literature, forgetting that I’m in the classroom, eating candies or just writing down another theory in my Ernest Hemingway folder.
There are three other stories that make people equally nervious but I always get best thinking effects after we finish our sessions. Raymond Carver's short story 'So much water so close to home', Tim Burton's 'The melancholy death of Oyster boy' and Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid'' which isn't at all a nice fairy tail. Social casualties that follow these analysis are always strickening.
And then after 70 minutes of discussion I ask them certain trigger questions and I always see that never ending effect of eyes widening and constant eyelashes fluttering when they finally understand and then they always say: oh my God, really?!
I love this story, sometimes I top-toe around it because you never know how people will react and I don’t want to push them overboard but I like it when I see groups of people in front of me, just contemplating and actually arguing about literature, forgetting that I’m in the classroom, eating candies or just writing down another theory in my Ernest Hemingway folder.
There are three other stories that make people equally nervious but I always get best thinking effects after we finish our sessions. Raymond Carver's short story 'So much water so close to home', Tim Burton's 'The melancholy death of Oyster boy' and Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid'' which isn't at all a nice fairy tail. Social casualties that follow these analysis are always strickening.
June 11, 2021
Men Without Women, Ernest Hemingway
The volume consists of 14 stories, 10 of which had been previously published in magazines. It was published in October 1927.
Stories:
The Undefeated,
In Another Country,
Hills Like White Elephants,
The Killers,
Che Ti Dice La Patria?,
Fifty Grand,
A Simple Enquiry,
Ten Indians,
A Canary for One,
An Alpine Idyll,
A Pursuit Race,
Today is Friday,
Banal Story,
and Now I Lay Me.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «مردان بی زن»؛ «مردان بدون زنان»؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش سال 1965میلادی
عنوان: مردان بی زن: شامل پانزده داستان کوتاه؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم: محمد عباسی؛ تهران، طهوری، اشرفی، چاپ دوم 1343؛ در180ص؛ موضوع داستانهای کوتاه از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان: مردان بی زن؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ محسن عباسی ولدی؛ تهران، نگارش الکترونیک؛ 1394؛ در117ص؛ شابک 9786008075639؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ مولف ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم ناهید غریب؛ شیراز: شیراز، 1381؛ در 194ص؛ شابک 9647432216؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم: اسدالله امرایی؛ تهران، نشر آهنگ، 1373؛ در 194ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، افق، 1388؛ در 222ص؛ شابک 9789643695774؛ چاپ دوم 1389؛ چاپ سوم 1391؛ چاپ چهارم 1393؛ چاپ پنجم 1395؛ چاپ ششم 1397؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم شهرزاد بیاتموحد؛ تهران، ناژ؛ 1393؛ در 183ص؛ شابک 9786006110097؛
عنوان: مردان بیزن؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم سهیلا عظیمی؛ قم، نظاره، 1397؛ در 218ص؛ شابک 9786226283427؛
عنوان: مردان بیزن؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم لیلا باقری؛ قم، آراسته، 1398؛ در 224ص؛ شابک 9786007543566؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ نویسنده ارنست همينگوی؛ مترجمان حميدرضا رهنما، گلناز رضاييان؛ شیراز: فرهنگستان ادب، 1399؛ در 130ص؛ شابک 9786227618013؛
مردان بدون زنان نام چهارده داستان کوتاه از «ارنست همینگوی»، نویسندهٔ ی «ایالات متحده آمریکا» است، که نخستین بار در سال 1927میلادی منتشر شده است، از چهارده داستان کوتاه کتاب، ده داستان آن پیش از انتشار این کتاب در مجلات گوناگون به چاپ رسیده بودند؛ موضوعات مطرح شده در این کتاب «طلاق»، «خیانت»، «مرگ و گاوبازی» هستند؛ داستانهای «آدمکشها»، «تپههایی مثل فیل سفید» و «در کشوری دیگر»، از آثار برجسته و بهترین آثار «همینگوی»، در این کتاب هستند؛ «مردان بدون زنان» دومین مجموعه داستان کوتاهی است که توسط «ارنست همینگوی» چاپ شده است؛ در ایران جناب «محمد عباسی»؛ و سپس جناب «اسدالله امرایی» و ...؛ این کتاب را به فارسی برگردانده اند
داستانها: 1 - «کله شق»، 2 - «وطن به تو چه میگوید»، 3 - «تپه هایی مثل فیل سفید»، 4 - «آدمکش ها»، 5 - «مسابقه ی پنجاه هزار دلاری»، 6 - «در کشوری دیگر»، 7 - «حکایتی از آلپ»، 8 - «مسابقه ی سرعت»، 9 -«ده نفر سرخ پوست»، 10 - «امروز آدینه است»، 11 - «بازجویی ساده»، 12 - «حالا دراز میکشم»، 13 - «قناری سوغاتی» و 14 - «قصه ای پیش پا افتاده»؛
نقل از متن: («مانوئل گارسیامرا»، گاوباز معروف، روی تخت، در اتاق خود در «ترییانا» دراز کشیده بود؛ به علت ذاتالریه در هر ریه اش لوله ای فرو کرده بودند؛ او رو به موت بود؛ همه ی روزنامه های «آندولس»، شماره ی مخصوص را آماده داشتند، که بلافاصله به بازار بریزند؛ مرگ او در چند روز آینده، محتمل بود؛ پیر و جوان، عکسهای رنگی بزرگ او را، برای یادگاری خریده بودند؛ گاوبازها با مردن او نفس راحتی کشیدند، زیرا در میدان کارهایی میکرد، که آنها از دستشان برنمیآمد؛ همه شان زیر باران، در مراسم تشییع شرکت کردند؛ یکصد و چهل و هفت گاوباز، او را تا گورستان بدرقه کردند، و در کنار آرامگاه «خوسه لیتو» به خاک سپردند؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The volume consists of 14 stories, 10 of which had been previously published in magazines. It was published in October 1927.
Stories:
The Undefeated,
In Another Country,
Hills Like White Elephants,
The Killers,
Che Ti Dice La Patria?,
Fifty Grand,
A Simple Enquiry,
Ten Indians,
A Canary for One,
An Alpine Idyll,
A Pursuit Race,
Today is Friday,
Banal Story,
and Now I Lay Me.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «مردان بی زن»؛ «مردان بدون زنان»؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش سال 1965میلادی
عنوان: مردان بی زن: شامل پانزده داستان کوتاه؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم: محمد عباسی؛ تهران، طهوری، اشرفی، چاپ دوم 1343؛ در180ص؛ موضوع داستانهای کوتاه از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان: مردان بی زن؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ محسن عباسی ولدی؛ تهران، نگارش الکترونیک؛ 1394؛ در117ص؛ شابک 9786008075639؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ مولف ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم ناهید غریب؛ شیراز: شیراز، 1381؛ در 194ص؛ شابک 9647432216؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ نویسنده: ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم: اسدالله امرایی؛ تهران، نشر آهنگ، 1373؛ در 194ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، افق، 1388؛ در 222ص؛ شابک 9789643695774؛ چاپ دوم 1389؛ چاپ سوم 1391؛ چاپ چهارم 1393؛ چاپ پنجم 1395؛ چاپ ششم 1397؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم شهرزاد بیاتموحد؛ تهران، ناژ؛ 1393؛ در 183ص؛ شابک 9786006110097؛
عنوان: مردان بیزن؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم سهیلا عظیمی؛ قم، نظاره، 1397؛ در 218ص؛ شابک 9786226283427؛
عنوان: مردان بیزن؛ ارنست همینگوی؛ مترجم لیلا باقری؛ قم، آراسته، 1398؛ در 224ص؛ شابک 9786007543566؛
عنوان: مردان بدون زنان؛ نویسنده ارنست همينگوی؛ مترجمان حميدرضا رهنما، گلناز رضاييان؛ شیراز: فرهنگستان ادب، 1399؛ در 130ص؛ شابک 9786227618013؛
مردان بدون زنان نام چهارده داستان کوتاه از «ارنست همینگوی»، نویسندهٔ ی «ایالات متحده آمریکا» است، که نخستین بار در سال 1927میلادی منتشر شده است، از چهارده داستان کوتاه کتاب، ده داستان آن پیش از انتشار این کتاب در مجلات گوناگون به چاپ رسیده بودند؛ موضوعات مطرح شده در این کتاب «طلاق»، «خیانت»، «مرگ و گاوبازی» هستند؛ داستانهای «آدمکشها»، «تپههایی مثل فیل سفید» و «در کشوری دیگر»، از آثار برجسته و بهترین آثار «همینگوی»، در این کتاب هستند؛ «مردان بدون زنان» دومین مجموعه داستان کوتاهی است که توسط «ارنست همینگوی» چاپ شده است؛ در ایران جناب «محمد عباسی»؛ و سپس جناب «اسدالله امرایی» و ...؛ این کتاب را به فارسی برگردانده اند
داستانها: 1 - «کله شق»، 2 - «وطن به تو چه میگوید»، 3 - «تپه هایی مثل فیل سفید»، 4 - «آدمکش ها»، 5 - «مسابقه ی پنجاه هزار دلاری»، 6 - «در کشوری دیگر»، 7 - «حکایتی از آلپ»، 8 - «مسابقه ی سرعت»، 9 -«ده نفر سرخ پوست»، 10 - «امروز آدینه است»، 11 - «بازجویی ساده»، 12 - «حالا دراز میکشم»، 13 - «قناری سوغاتی» و 14 - «قصه ای پیش پا افتاده»؛
نقل از متن: («مانوئل گارسیامرا»، گاوباز معروف، روی تخت، در اتاق خود در «ترییانا» دراز کشیده بود؛ به علت ذاتالریه در هر ریه اش لوله ای فرو کرده بودند؛ او رو به موت بود؛ همه ی روزنامه های «آندولس»، شماره ی مخصوص را آماده داشتند، که بلافاصله به بازار بریزند؛ مرگ او در چند روز آینده، محتمل بود؛ پیر و جوان، عکسهای رنگی بزرگ او را، برای یادگاری خریده بودند؛ گاوبازها با مردن او نفس راحتی کشیدند، زیرا در میدان کارهایی میکرد، که آنها از دستشان برنمیآمد؛ همه شان زیر باران، در مراسم تشییع شرکت کردند؛ یکصد و چهل و هفت گاوباز، او را تا گورستان بدرقه کردند، و در کنار آرامگاه «خوسه لیتو» به خاک سپردند؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
April 16, 2024
“So it’s a town full of bright boys” –The Killers
Joseph Wood Krutch called the stories in Men Without Women "sordid little catastrophes" involving "very vulgar people,” an assessment I find ungenerous and vulgar in its own way, to miss the subtlety and elegance of the prose, to miss the humanity and vulnerability underneath the bravado and bullfighting and boxing. I know Hemingway is out of fashion at the moment as supposed misogynist and drunk, and there's evidence for that, but I think it's somewhat too narrow to dismiss him altogether. However, it is probably true that he unfortunately captures some of the worst aspects of male culture at times, including things he was known for:
“Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”—is a line from one of the few women who actually speak in this book (though, hey, you were warned by the title!), appropriately telling off a blowhard (male) soon-to-be-ex.
The best of these stories are among the finest in the English language: “Hills Like White Elephants,” “The Killers,” “In Another Country,” “Fifty Grand,” “Now I Lay Me,” though I want to make a pitch, too, for the story of the aging bullfighter in “The Undefeated,” which has amazing passages of description, as painful as it is now for most people (including me) to see the cruelty of the slow killing of the bull. But the twin portraits of the older bullfighter and bull are powerful, in spite of that. Both are undefeated, in the way of The Old Man in the Sea.
“Fifty Grand” resembles a story Hem published in his high school literary magazine, Tabula,“A Matter of Colour,” when he attended Oak Park High School (which I, name dropper, mention because it is near my house, and where they have a small shrine to the local hero outside the school). The story is one of a fight fix gone badly, an old switcheroo, and is really wonderful.
"Hills Like White Elephantts" is the very demonstration of Hem's "iceberg" theory of fiction, which attests that most of what matters in any story is what is left out, unsaid. The focus in the story is a conversation between a man and a woman where the central, crucial topic is unnamed. Anguishing. A classic.
I love "The Killers" a noir story Hem also drafted in high school, as much as any story he ever wrote, for the dialogue alone, the story (again) of a washed-up boxer pursued by two mobsters. A teenager watches it all and learns something sad about life through his participating in the events of the story.
What we see in these stories, some of them very short, just anecdotes, are men whose actions help Hem establish a kind of code of honor, gentlemen who exhibit the courage of “grace under pressure,” men who (in spite of the quote above) actually are typically tight-lipped, not too sentimental, nor pretentious. Lean, rich stories. It was a pleasure to reread them.
Joseph Wood Krutch called the stories in Men Without Women "sordid little catastrophes" involving "very vulgar people,” an assessment I find ungenerous and vulgar in its own way, to miss the subtlety and elegance of the prose, to miss the humanity and vulnerability underneath the bravado and bullfighting and boxing. I know Hemingway is out of fashion at the moment as supposed misogynist and drunk, and there's evidence for that, but I think it's somewhat too narrow to dismiss him altogether. However, it is probably true that he unfortunately captures some of the worst aspects of male culture at times, including things he was known for:
“Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”—is a line from one of the few women who actually speak in this book (though, hey, you were warned by the title!), appropriately telling off a blowhard (male) soon-to-be-ex.
The best of these stories are among the finest in the English language: “Hills Like White Elephants,” “The Killers,” “In Another Country,” “Fifty Grand,” “Now I Lay Me,” though I want to make a pitch, too, for the story of the aging bullfighter in “The Undefeated,” which has amazing passages of description, as painful as it is now for most people (including me) to see the cruelty of the slow killing of the bull. But the twin portraits of the older bullfighter and bull are powerful, in spite of that. Both are undefeated, in the way of The Old Man in the Sea.
“Fifty Grand” resembles a story Hem published in his high school literary magazine, Tabula,“A Matter of Colour,” when he attended Oak Park High School (which I, name dropper, mention because it is near my house, and where they have a small shrine to the local hero outside the school). The story is one of a fight fix gone badly, an old switcheroo, and is really wonderful.
"Hills Like White Elephantts" is the very demonstration of Hem's "iceberg" theory of fiction, which attests that most of what matters in any story is what is left out, unsaid. The focus in the story is a conversation between a man and a woman where the central, crucial topic is unnamed. Anguishing. A classic.
I love "The Killers" a noir story Hem also drafted in high school, as much as any story he ever wrote, for the dialogue alone, the story (again) of a washed-up boxer pursued by two mobsters. A teenager watches it all and learns something sad about life through his participating in the events of the story.
What we see in these stories, some of them very short, just anecdotes, are men whose actions help Hem establish a kind of code of honor, gentlemen who exhibit the courage of “grace under pressure,” men who (in spite of the quote above) actually are typically tight-lipped, not too sentimental, nor pretentious. Lean, rich stories. It was a pleasure to reread them.
February 11, 2024
a subtle but emotionally stirring collection of short stories by hemingway.
i’m not sure how he does what he does, but he’s able to get these stories into your subconscious so they feel like a memory you once had. and you often return to them in your casual thoughts, despite the fact that no real murder or epic drama ever happens, nor does hemingway use all the other usual plot devices. he just writes honestly, and your brain accepts it as something that must have happened. then it mulls over the meaning in the background of your daily thoughts.
very few authors can do this. it’s pretty badass to observe what he’s done to you when weeks later you’re still contemplating the intention of one of his stories.
they’re not all of the same calibre. the stories all hit differently, yet remain of a whole. a collection of little truths told through fiction. i also find maile meloy (a wonderful contemporary writer) does something very similar with her short stories. she can bypass your critical radar because it feels like something that really did occur, in credit to the subtly of it all.
it’s like watching a skilled magician pull a casual card trick and all you can think is:
“wow — how’d he do that?!”
i’m not sure how he does what he does, but he’s able to get these stories into your subconscious so they feel like a memory you once had. and you often return to them in your casual thoughts, despite the fact that no real murder or epic drama ever happens, nor does hemingway use all the other usual plot devices. he just writes honestly, and your brain accepts it as something that must have happened. then it mulls over the meaning in the background of your daily thoughts.
very few authors can do this. it’s pretty badass to observe what he’s done to you when weeks later you’re still contemplating the intention of one of his stories.
they’re not all of the same calibre. the stories all hit differently, yet remain of a whole. a collection of little truths told through fiction. i also find maile meloy (a wonderful contemporary writer) does something very similar with her short stories. she can bypass your critical radar because it feels like something that really did occur, in credit to the subtly of it all.
it’s like watching a skilled magician pull a casual card trick and all you can think is:
“wow — how’d he do that?!”
January 8, 2012
Hemingway was born into a period when men were still fully expected to indulge in manly sports such as fishing and fighting and watching animals getting massacred in entertaining ways (all of which were presumably improved if there was a handy cerveza or scotch to hand). A time when men approached the acts of love and the acts of war with the same head on determination because life is brief and you never know when your number might be up (or your tackle might get blown off by either a Communist or a Facist depending on which border you happened to be facing).
The stories he relays in this short collection touch on bullfighting (The Undefeated), war wounds (In another country), unwanted parental responsibility (Hills Like White Elephants), a hired hit (The Killers) and have a masculine sensibility which reads like a boys own adventure story but one in which all the boys have had to grow up.
Now imagine how different Hemingway's writing would have been if he'd been born today in the age of X-Box, Nuts Magazine and alcopops...
"Fifty Grand" could easily have been a thirty-odd page description of an interactive XBox live face-off via Fight Night live instead of a masterpiece short story of pounded flesh and adrenaline.
Cheerfully this was not the case and Ernest existed, sometimes belligerently one suspects, in a time when the only required eau de toilette pour homme was testosterone. The stories in this book reflect this, with each character reduced to the raw brutal essence of what it means to be a man; in the bullring, at the end of a gun, in war at the wheel of a car or in the arms of a woman.
Whether you think he was a misogynist dinosaur or man's man, Hemingway grabbed life by the balls and fought his way through wars, personal tragedy, four marriages and the development of a debilitating illness to die on his own terms and in his own way. If I was a man I think I'd like to be Hemingway.
The stories he relays in this short collection touch on bullfighting (The Undefeated), war wounds (In another country), unwanted parental responsibility (Hills Like White Elephants), a hired hit (The Killers) and have a masculine sensibility which reads like a boys own adventure story but one in which all the boys have had to grow up.
Now imagine how different Hemingway's writing would have been if he'd been born today in the age of X-Box, Nuts Magazine and alcopops...
"Fifty Grand" could easily have been a thirty-odd page description of an interactive XBox live face-off via Fight Night live instead of a masterpiece short story of pounded flesh and adrenaline.
Cheerfully this was not the case and Ernest existed, sometimes belligerently one suspects, in a time when the only required eau de toilette pour homme was testosterone. The stories in this book reflect this, with each character reduced to the raw brutal essence of what it means to be a man; in the bullring, at the end of a gun, in war at the wheel of a car or in the arms of a woman.
Whether you think he was a misogynist dinosaur or man's man, Hemingway grabbed life by the balls and fought his way through wars, personal tragedy, four marriages and the development of a debilitating illness to die on his own terms and in his own way. If I was a man I think I'd like to be Hemingway.
April 15, 2016
I'm not especially keen on short stories: if they're good, I can't read too many in quick succession because it's disorienting, and if they're not good... I don't really want to read them.
It may be blasphemous to many, but this collection was in the latter camp, hence it took me a long time to read a very short book. I just couldn't engage with the characters, plots (I hate bullfighting and boxing, which set me against a couple of them) or writing style, the latter being mostly such short sentences that it was almost like reading a child's book. In other hands, such sentences might be pleasingly spare, but here, they just annoyed me.
I get that there was lots of symbolism and big themes in these little nuggets, but for me, there are more enjoyable ways to consider them.
I was going to write a bit about each story, but I don't really feel inspired to do so.
On the plus side, my second-hand copy smelled slightly of smoke, which seemed appropriate.
Hemingway Update
What a difference four years make. I'm a different reader now.
I really enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea, reviewed HERE.
It's still quite a masculine story, but not in the macho way that some of these are.
It may be blasphemous to many, but this collection was in the latter camp, hence it took me a long time to read a very short book. I just couldn't engage with the characters, plots (I hate bullfighting and boxing, which set me against a couple of them) or writing style, the latter being mostly such short sentences that it was almost like reading a child's book. In other hands, such sentences might be pleasingly spare, but here, they just annoyed me.
I get that there was lots of symbolism and big themes in these little nuggets, but for me, there are more enjoyable ways to consider them.
I was going to write a bit about each story, but I don't really feel inspired to do so.
On the plus side, my second-hand copy smelled slightly of smoke, which seemed appropriate.
Hemingway Update
What a difference four years make. I'm a different reader now.
I really enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea, reviewed HERE.
It's still quite a masculine story, but not in the macho way that some of these are.
August 10, 2023
- استمعت لهذه القصة عبر الإذاعة المصرية. قصة لابأس بها على الطريقة الأمريكية: موت-انتقام- نهاية سعيدة، الى حد ما. همنغواي كالعادة يركز على التفاصيل خصوصاً في وصف مصارعة الثيران(الدخول الى الحلبة، الترتيب، مشاهد المباراة،...).
March 22, 2013
I'm not really sure I see Hemingway's brilliance just yet. An idea or a quote will flit through when you least expect it and then the spark just goes out.
I love how he strips his stories of everything but the bare fundamentals, and sets it so that you never know what the story actually is. It quietly lurks behind the lines and pages, waiting for those who want to find it, and then bloody runs away when you think you've caught it. You just cannot win. It took me three reads to understand Hills Like White Elephants. And who knows if I've actually understood it. And I had to wiki A Simple Enquiry.
I can see that he's a fantastic writer, but I don't think he's a very good story-teller. Not yet, anyway.
Also if his stories are anything to go by, he's too much of a chauvinist for me to like. His men are too masculine, too worldly, too sure of themselves. This is not what a man is. This is sexist.
I am willing to look beyond it, of course, some of these stories are too good to just dismiss, but it still annoys me.
I love how he strips his stories of everything but the bare fundamentals, and sets it so that you never know what the story actually is. It quietly lurks behind the lines and pages, waiting for those who want to find it, and then bloody runs away when you think you've caught it. You just cannot win. It took me three reads to understand Hills Like White Elephants. And who knows if I've actually understood it. And I had to wiki A Simple Enquiry.
I can see that he's a fantastic writer, but I don't think he's a very good story-teller. Not yet, anyway.
Also if his stories are anything to go by, he's too much of a chauvinist for me to like. His men are too masculine, too worldly, too sure of themselves. This is not what a man is. This is sexist.
I am willing to look beyond it, of course, some of these stories are too good to just dismiss, but it still annoys me.
June 30, 2020
رجال بلا نساء
ارنست همنجواي
كاتب وروائي أمريكي ومراسل عسكري من مواليد 1899بولاية إلينوي وانتحر سنة 1961 ببندقيته الخاصة بإطلاق النار على نفسه، أبوه من قبله وأخواته الثنتين وحفيدته ماتوا انتحار، في ناس بحكوا إنه في مرض وراثي بزيد نسبة الحديد بالدم بأدي للإكتئاب أو عدم الإستقرار في المخ...
أشهر أعماله بالنسبة إلنا العرب الشيخ والبحر، لمن تقرع الأجراس، وداعاً للسلاح... وطبعاً الشمس تشرق أيضاً...
رح أحكي بتوسع عن هاي المجموعة القصصية لإنها بتختصر أسلوبه وطريقته بالكتابة واللي بتتركز حول ثلاث نقاط 1-المكان
2-مصارعة الثيران
3-الحوار
همنجواي مهووس بوصف الأماكن وبالحوارات... من أكثر الكتاب اللي بعتمدوا على قراءهم بالتحليل، بحب يغلف قصصه بالغموض والسرد البسيط والعبارات المقتضبة، وبترك الباقي للقارئ... طبعاً بعد ما يوصف المكان بدقة ما بضل عليك إلا إنك تكمل رسم الشخصية عن طريق الحوار والتعابير اللي بتطلع من الأبطال... كل هذا الكلام ملخص بنظرية الجبل الجليدي العائم اللي هو أسسها وصاروا الكتاب من بعده يتبعوها...
الأمر الثاني هو مصارعة الثيران وعمله كمراسل حربي،الأولى كان مولع فيها وكتب ودرس وحلل عنها بكتابه موت بعد الظهر، أما عمله كمراسل حربي فصبغ كتاباته الأولى بالسوداوية والكآبة..
المجموعة هاي بتركز على فكرة الصراع بين الرجل والمرأة وعدم قدرة المرأة على التخفيف من خشونة الرجل... أشهر قصة فيهم قصة تلال كالفيلة البيضاء وبتحكي عن زوجين بقطار بدور بينهم حوار عبقري بحاول الرجل يقنع فيه الزوجة تقوم بعملية إجهاض... القصة مذهلة بكمية الرمزية اللي فيها وبتتطلب تركيز عالي زي كل قصص همنجواي مشان تستفيد من الأفكار أو التقنيات...
ارنست همنجواي
كاتب وروائي أمريكي ومراسل عسكري من مواليد 1899بولاية إلينوي وانتحر سنة 1961 ببندقيته الخاصة بإطلاق النار على نفسه، أبوه من قبله وأخواته الثنتين وحفيدته ماتوا انتحار، في ناس بحكوا إنه في مرض وراثي بزيد نسبة الحديد بالدم بأدي للإكتئاب أو عدم الإستقرار في المخ...
أشهر أعماله بالنسبة إلنا العرب الشيخ والبحر، لمن تقرع الأجراس، وداعاً للسلاح... وطبعاً الشمس تشرق أيضاً...
رح أحكي بتوسع عن هاي المجموعة القصصية لإنها بتختصر أسلوبه وطريقته بالكتابة واللي بتتركز حول ثلاث نقاط 1-المكان
2-مصارعة الثيران
3-الحوار
همنجواي مهووس بوصف الأماكن وبالحوارات... من أكثر الكتاب اللي بعتمدوا على قراءهم بالتحليل، بحب يغلف قصصه بالغموض والسرد البسيط والعبارات المقتضبة، وبترك الباقي للقارئ... طبعاً بعد ما يوصف المكان بدقة ما بضل عليك إلا إنك تكمل رسم الشخصية عن طريق الحوار والتعابير اللي بتطلع من الأبطال... كل هذا الكلام ملخص بنظرية الجبل الجليدي العائم اللي هو أسسها وصاروا الكتاب من بعده يتبعوها...
الأمر الثاني هو مصارعة الثيران وعمله كمراسل حربي،الأولى كان مولع فيها وكتب ودرس وحلل عنها بكتابه موت بعد الظهر، أما عمله كمراسل حربي فصبغ كتاباته الأولى بالسوداوية والكآبة..
المجموعة هاي بتركز على فكرة الصراع بين الرجل والمرأة وعدم قدرة المرأة على التخفيف من خشونة الرجل... أشهر قصة فيهم قصة تلال كالفيلة البيضاء وبتحكي عن زوجين بقطار بدور بينهم حوار عبقري بحاول الرجل يقنع فيه الزوجة تقوم بعملية إجهاض... القصة مذهلة بكمية الرمزية اللي فيها وبتتطلب تركيز عالي زي كل قصص همنجواي مشان تستفيد من الأفكار أو التقنيات...
October 7, 2018
شاید بعدا راجع بهش نوشتم اما الان میگم مثل بقیه داستان های همینگوی دوستش داشتم:)
June 23, 2023
This volume contains what is arguably Hemingway’s most famous story, Hills Like White Elephants. Compared to the other stories here, I would say it’s probably the best one. There are lots of stories about manly guys being dudes. Bullfighting, boxing, war. All the good stuff. But nothing matches the peak of emotion in the unspoken conversation between the couple in Hills Like White Elephants.
April 14, 2009
An Alpine Idyll -- The most striking image from any story in Hemingway's Men Without Women is that of the peasant man chopping and gathering wood in the lantern light, with the lantern dangling from the open mouth of his dead and frozen wife.
It is such a fitting image, considering the title of Hemingway's book, but I have never been bothered by the image, nor the action, as so many seem to be.
The peasant and his wife lived a hard life. We know that. And he was an ex-soldier who'd likely witnessed some terrible things. Both of these experiences would have altered death for the man and necessarily pushed the pragmatic over the spiritual for him.
Yet the innkeeper and the sexton call the man "a beast" (his entire class, in fact) and laugh callously over his loss and the story that they say is "unbelievable" but gleefully recount as believable monetheless.
It is this behaviour, the behaviour of these men sitting in judgment over another man, that bothers me. It is their words, recounting the story for the narrator and his friend, who are drinking their beers at the end of a long skiing season, that make me shudder. To pass judgment as they do is hurtful to a living man. It drives him from the inn. It makes him skulk off to the Löwen for another drink, lonely and bereft, but he is "the beast" who doesn't care for another human being enough to suit these soft men in their soft inn.
Hardness isn't inherently bad, it often just is. At the very least we should try to understand it rather than pass judgment from the safety of our own prejudices.
I'm always amazed by how much Hemingway can make me think with only four pages. And this really is only the tip of the iceberg.
It is such a fitting image, considering the title of Hemingway's book, but I have never been bothered by the image, nor the action, as so many seem to be.
The peasant and his wife lived a hard life. We know that. And he was an ex-soldier who'd likely witnessed some terrible things. Both of these experiences would have altered death for the man and necessarily pushed the pragmatic over the spiritual for him.
Yet the innkeeper and the sexton call the man "a beast" (his entire class, in fact) and laugh callously over his loss and the story that they say is "unbelievable" but gleefully recount as believable monetheless.
It is this behaviour, the behaviour of these men sitting in judgment over another man, that bothers me. It is their words, recounting the story for the narrator and his friend, who are drinking their beers at the end of a long skiing season, that make me shudder. To pass judgment as they do is hurtful to a living man. It drives him from the inn. It makes him skulk off to the Löwen for another drink, lonely and bereft, but he is "the beast" who doesn't care for another human being enough to suit these soft men in their soft inn.
Hardness isn't inherently bad, it often just is. At the very least we should try to understand it rather than pass judgment from the safety of our own prejudices.
I'm always amazed by how much Hemingway can make me think with only four pages. And this really is only the tip of the iceberg.
April 15, 2023
20/55.
The Old Man and The Sea is one of my favourite books ever written, yet ashamedly I haven't explored much else of Hemingway other than The Sun Also Rises (which is also an incredible read).
Men Without Women is raw and bullish. It confronts male pride, brutality, ego, chauvinism and fragility. The males who reside in these stories are bullfighters (Manuel Garcia in 'The Undefeated'), boxers (Jack Brennan in 'Fifty Grand', gangsters (Max in 'The Killers') and hard drinkers (William Campbell in 'A Pursuit Race').
Hemingway is known for his objective and terse prose, significantly succinct and precise. This is no better exemplified from the following passage from the story 'A Simple Enquiry':
'He took a paper-covered book out of the pocket of his coat and opened it; then laid it down on the table and lit his pipe. He leaned forward on the table to read and puffed at his pipe. Then he closed the book and put it back in his pocket. He had too much paper-work to get through. He could not enjoy reading until it was done'.
Dialogue forms large chunks of each story, so that when accompanied with stripped back description, scenes are recreated with absolute truth. There is something extremely moreish about Hemingway's style. It is alluring, and along with Raymond Carver and Cormac McCarthy, formed with a precision unrivalled.
Recommend: Hills Like White Elephants, Fifty Grand, The Killers.
The Old Man and The Sea is one of my favourite books ever written, yet ashamedly I haven't explored much else of Hemingway other than The Sun Also Rises (which is also an incredible read).
Men Without Women is raw and bullish. It confronts male pride, brutality, ego, chauvinism and fragility. The males who reside in these stories are bullfighters (Manuel Garcia in 'The Undefeated'), boxers (Jack Brennan in 'Fifty Grand', gangsters (Max in 'The Killers') and hard drinkers (William Campbell in 'A Pursuit Race').
Hemingway is known for his objective and terse prose, significantly succinct and precise. This is no better exemplified from the following passage from the story 'A Simple Enquiry':
'He took a paper-covered book out of the pocket of his coat and opened it; then laid it down on the table and lit his pipe. He leaned forward on the table to read and puffed at his pipe. Then he closed the book and put it back in his pocket. He had too much paper-work to get through. He could not enjoy reading until it was done'.
Dialogue forms large chunks of each story, so that when accompanied with stripped back description, scenes are recreated with absolute truth. There is something extremely moreish about Hemingway's style. It is alluring, and along with Raymond Carver and Cormac McCarthy, formed with a precision unrivalled.
Recommend: Hills Like White Elephants, Fifty Grand, The Killers.
September 18, 2024
Although not all the stories in this early Hemingway effort clicked with me, as is the case with most short story collections, it was a solid read. I remembered several from The Nick Adams Stories, a favorite of my youth. The terse style and the subject matter of war, sports, aging, honor, and women were familiar, but I was surprised at how masterfully he used dialog. I enjoyed the free LibriVox audiobook working out at the gym.
July 29, 2015
Published in 1927, this is Hemingway's 2nd group of short stories. This collection contains 14 stories and these were quite good. Of course there is a story about bullfighting and one about boxing, as you would expect. But they've got that Hemingway flair or style that is unique and very recognizable. Another story that was very poignant about a girl on the train, on the way to get an abortion, and her discussion with her lover, although they don't directly say that's what they are doing. All in all, much better than I was expecting.
November 23, 2019
اگر داستان کوتاه باز باشید این کتاب را باید بخوانید.
طرز روایت و استراتژی بسط داستان همینگوی خاص و بی نظیره. توانایی بیان حالات روحی شخصیت از روی رفتار عینی و گفتار غیر مستقیمش در نویسنده ی دیگه ای یافت نمیشه. از دیگر مشخصات داستان کوتاه های همینگوی این است که به ندرت با دیالوگ مصنوعی یا رفتارهای مصنوعی روبرو میشوید.
بهترین داستان مجموعه هم تپههایی چون فیلهای سفیده که نویسنده بدون اینکه مستقیما به موضوع سقط جنین اشاره کنه شخصیت و تصمیم یک زوج رو به تماشا میزاره. در این داستان خیلی راحت میشه دنیای ذهنی که پشت هر دیالوگ شخصیت در حال موج زدن هست را لمس کنید.
بهترین داستانهاش:
در کشوری دیگر (اینم خیلی خوب بود)
شکست ناپذیر
آدمکشها
قناري سوغاتي
مسابقه پنجاه هزار دلاري
قصهای از آلپ
طرز روایت و استراتژی بسط داستان همینگوی خاص و بی نظیره. توانایی بیان حالات روحی شخصیت از روی رفتار عینی و گفتار غیر مستقیمش در نویسنده ی دیگه ای یافت نمیشه. از دیگر مشخصات داستان کوتاه های همینگوی این است که به ندرت با دیالوگ مصنوعی یا رفتارهای مصنوعی روبرو میشوید.
بهترین داستان مجموعه هم تپههایی چون فیلهای سفیده که نویسنده بدون اینکه مستقیما به موضوع سقط جنین اشاره کنه شخصیت و تصمیم یک زوج رو به تماشا میزاره. در این داستان خیلی راحت میشه دنیای ذهنی که پشت هر دیالوگ شخصیت در حال موج زدن هست را لمس کنید.
بهترین داستانهاش:
در کشوری دیگر (اینم خیلی خوب بود)
شکست ناپذیر
آدمکشها
قناري سوغاتي
مسابقه پنجاه هزار دلاري
قصهای از آلپ
November 15, 2016
بع�� از «پیرمرد و دریا» و «وداع با اسلحه» این سومین کتابی بود که از همینگوی میخواندم. هر چند سبک داستان نویسی او در این مجموعه جالب است و با دقت تمام به جزئیات میپردازد و اولین داستان با عنوان «کله شق» به آسانی میتواند تبدیل به فیلمنامه شود، اما داستانها جذابیت خاصی ندارند. داستان کوتاه «مسابقهی پنجاه هزار دلاری» بدک نبود
طرح فوقالعاده جالب روی جلد کتاب در نسخهای که من مطالعه کردم (چاپ چهارم نشر افق) کار کیانوش غریبپور است. طرحی بسیار ساده که با چند حرکت قلم مو آفریده شده و مرد تنهایی را به تصویر کشیده است
طرح فوقالعاده جالب روی جلد کتاب در نسخهای که من مطالعه کردم (چاپ چهارم نشر افق) کار کیانوش غریبپور است. طرحی بسیار ساده که با چند حرکت قلم مو آفریده شده و مرد تنهایی را به تصویر کشیده است
March 17, 2015
I think Hemingway's short stories are underestimated. Most of them are as good as his novels and some of them are even better.
April 19, 2021
I really enjoyed this! I don't know what new I can say about Hemingway's writing that already hasn't been said, but let me try. The writing of this book was immaculate! It was elegant, easy, and it felt as if each word used in the prose had a purpose, which was soo satisfying to me. I did not want to read this book fast. I wanted to devour every word that I was presented.
The book is a collection of a number of short stories, each one mainly focusing on men going through certain stages of life. Some were men old in their profession and yet hanging on, some soldiers or military men around World War 1. The stories weren't necessarily connected, but each story made me think about the characters, their feelings, all the words that were left to interpretation and weren't told by the author. I really liked that. The book demanded my utmost attention and yet made it enjoyable. It was more than entertainment.
My favorite stories were "Fifty Grand", "Ten Indians", and "A Canary for One". And the most shocking one, the one that made me double take was definitely "An Alpine Adyll".
Also, reading this, trying to decipher certain prose, it makes me want to be a literature nerd, not gonna lie.
The book is a collection of a number of short stories, each one mainly focusing on men going through certain stages of life. Some were men old in their profession and yet hanging on, some soldiers or military men around World War 1. The stories weren't necessarily connected, but each story made me think about the characters, their feelings, all the words that were left to interpretation and weren't told by the author. I really liked that. The book demanded my utmost attention and yet made it enjoyable. It was more than entertainment.
My favorite stories were "Fifty Grand", "Ten Indians", and "A Canary for One". And the most shocking one, the one that made me double take was definitely "An Alpine Adyll".
Also, reading this, trying to decipher certain prose, it makes me want to be a literature nerd, not gonna lie.
October 18, 2015
Extract from Ten Indians:
“My heart’s broken,” he thought. “If I feel this way my heart must be broken.”
After a while he heard his father blow out the lamp and go into his own room. He heard a wind come up in the trees outside and felt it come in cool through the screen. He lay for a long time with his face in the pillow, and after a while he forgot to think about Prudence and finally he went to sleep. When he awoke in the night he heard the wind in the hemlock trees outside the cottage and the waves of the lake coming in on the shore, and he went back to sleep. In the morning there was a big wind blowing and the waves were running high up on the beach and he was awake a long time before he remembered that his heart was broken.”
A collection of somewhat mediocre stories from an otherwise brilliant writer. Ten Indians was my favorite.
“My heart’s broken,” he thought. “If I feel this way my heart must be broken.”
After a while he heard his father blow out the lamp and go into his own room. He heard a wind come up in the trees outside and felt it come in cool through the screen. He lay for a long time with his face in the pillow, and after a while he forgot to think about Prudence and finally he went to sleep. When he awoke in the night he heard the wind in the hemlock trees outside the cottage and the waves of the lake coming in on the shore, and he went back to sleep. In the morning there was a big wind blowing and the waves were running high up on the beach and he was awake a long time before he remembered that his heart was broken.”
A collection of somewhat mediocre stories from an otherwise brilliant writer. Ten Indians was my favorite.
November 30, 2020
Rating: 3.6. Too bad I can't give a half star rating. That's why I am rounding this down to 3 stars.
Some were not good, some were ok, some better than ok. I am a bit disappointed - yes I am not a Hemingway fan, but still, To Whom the Bell Tolls was so good.
My 4th Hemingway book.
Some were not good, some were ok, some better than ok. I am a bit disappointed - yes I am not a Hemingway fan, but still, To Whom the Bell Tolls was so good.
My 4th Hemingway book.
September 3, 2019
I am determined to get through these stories if its the last thing I do, c'mon its Ernest Hemingway.
Everyone loves a Hemingway story right, so why not me.
Everyone loves a Hemingway story right, so why not me.
May 29, 2018
قصة رجال بلا نساء ذكرتني مباشرة بالعجوز والبحر ..الرمزية والاصرار والتحدي ..والنهاية الخاسرة الرابحة بنفس الوقت ..
October 31, 2013
I'm not good at short stories. It is a literary form that has eluded me, just as the story gets good; it ENDS!
Hemingway writes short stories that feel like snap shots; you see the young couple in the cafe, the boy trying to contain his broken heart, the injured soldiers. But the contact is brief, you look at them and draw conclusions about their lives based on body language, facial expression, their manner of speech and their interactions with the world. But a snapshot does not tell you what happened next; you're left with a sense of wondering and a small sense of loss.
Hemingway writes short stories that feel like snap shots; you see the young couple in the cafe, the boy trying to contain his broken heart, the injured soldiers. But the contact is brief, you look at them and draw conclusions about their lives based on body language, facial expression, their manner of speech and their interactions with the world. But a snapshot does not tell you what happened next; you're left with a sense of wondering and a small sense of loss.
March 25, 2024
це було якось… ніяк…
можливо, романи автора значно крутіші, але коротка проза мене зовсім не вразлива
майже жодне оповідання не запамʼяталось і я не можу нічого виділити зі збірки 😑
шкода
не впевнена тепер, що читатиму ще щось у Гемінґвея
можливо, романи автора значно крутіші, але коротка проза мене зовсім не вразлива
майже жодне оповідання не запамʼяталось і я не можу нічого виділити зі збірки 😑
шкода
не впевнена тепер, що читатиму ще щось у Гемінґвея
August 3, 2016
Recommended for: Tough guys with a gentle heart.
The blurb on the cover read " In these tales shorn of sensitivity and femininity,one meets real men–gunslingers, bullfighters,soldiers, jockeys,gangsters--," I stopped there,frowning--aren't doctors,academics,bankers (ok,not bankers) real men too?
Ah,but then you have to remember Hemingway's culture of machismo*: these are 'real men' cause they've looked death in the eye,they have gone to the edge & come back- mortally wounded yet never conceding defeat. His bullfighter in the story 'The undefeated' wants a fight more for self-vindication than money. Life thus becomes more real to these men ,drunkerds & washed out though they may be,than it can ever be to the rest of us.
I think nobody does lovable losers as well as Hemingway & Graham Greene. I don't like bullfighting & boxing & yet he made me care for his characters in these 14 short stories,most of them very famous ones,e.g.The killers,Hills Like White Elephants & In Another Country.I liked all of these along with The Undefeated,Fifty Grand,Ten Indians & Now I Lay Me. Hemingway's semi-autobiographical character Nick Adams appears in three stories.
The title is a misnomer in the sense that there are female characters here but they are so peripheral to the stories (except in Hills like...) as to be non-existent!
They exist as dead/absent wives,cheating girlfriend,memories or worse as commodities as in Hills Like White Elephants--the white elephant being a symbol of the pregnancy that the girlfriend is supposed to terminate. This commodification reaches its worst form in An Alpine Idyll. But then Hemingway was never known for a sensitive portrayal of female characters- most of them veer between cardboard representations of the virgin and the whore.
And what to say of Hemingway's prose style! Read it when you are tired of pomo excesses- his sentences are easy on the eyes & on the brains too! He satirises the pseudo-intellectualism of his detractors in Banal Story.
The world of these macho men is very forlorn- read it when you are feeling sad- you'll certainly come out feeling better when you contrast the relative security of your job,the concrete reality of a 'home' & the certainty of someone dear waiting for you when you get there.
P.S. To make up for this insipid review,I'm sharing here a must-read interview,where,in his irrepressible style,Hemingway holds forth on a variety of subjects:
http://www.theparisreview.org/intervi...
* Hemingway's culture of machismo:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/sex/summ...
http://www.google.ae/books?hl=en&...
September 17, 2017
An early collection of Hemingway stories that show the range he would employ in his longer works. The more famous "Hills Like White Elephants" and "The Killers" are included in this volume. "Now I Lay Me" was a new story for me and was my favorite of the bunch.
December 29, 2017
We could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.
July 29, 2016
What rock have I been under? I had no idea there were short stories within Men Without Women, this small book of 137 pages. I had just finished For Whom the Bell Tolls and found this book. I thought, “Oh, Ernest Hemingway, I’ll like this novella. I will read it quickly to add to my 2013 Reading Challenge.” Uh, not! These short stories by Ernest Hemingway were the toughest short stories I have ever read; I haven’t worked my brain as much as I have with these. They seem so simple at first, easy dialogue, you follow it quickly, but BAM – you finish each one and you have many questions. I read each story two or three times and looked them up on the internet for explanations, and afterwards, wow, did I feel naive. I am naïve about Ernest Hemingway himself. I had heard bits and pieces about his drinking, drugs, homosexuality/bisexuality, obsessive sexuality, but I had only read For Whom the Bell Tolls, which didn’t show me much in those areas (or I missed stuff). Maybe the reference to the gun resting by his thigh over and over meant something – not sure.
Each story within this small book had a message and each message was pretty darn dark and sad, but poignant.
���Hills Like White Elephants”, is a dialogue between two people, that is the whole story. You read what he says, what she says, and know there is a hidden meaning behind the conversation, but don’t know exactly what it was. I read it, and re-read it and couldn’t figure it out. I ran to the internet and looked it up. I had the “Aha moment”! It all made sense after it was spelled out for me; very interesting short story dialogue. I liked this story the best.
Then, there is “The Killers”, an interesting take on a mafia-type hit to come. The inevitable death to come to a man; and him knowing it but not doing anything about it, just waiting it out. Hemingway’s description of the characters within this story is powerful.
I really enjoyed the “Undefeated”, a boxer who doesn’t want to retire. The boxer feels he still has it and wants to show that he still has it. Very gritty story and gives food for thought on how we all feel getting older and out of our prime, but we don���t want to face it.
“An Alpine Idyll” was bizarre, and after reading the different analyses of this story on the internet, one I read was disgusting. It is interesting how the majority didn’t come up with this one fellow’s discovery. Sometimes I think because Hemingway was “out there”, there are those out there creating more drama in their reviews of his stories than what he intended. How do we know for sure what Hemingway was truly intending to portray? I am taking everyone’s comments with a grain of salt, and coming to my own conclusions.
Every story in this small book has a message. Hemingway’s writing is very clever and intriguing. I recommend this book to adults only. I don’t know if kids would understand many of the hidden messages, and I am sure this is not on any reading list at school.
Each story within this small book had a message and each message was pretty darn dark and sad, but poignant.
���Hills Like White Elephants”, is a dialogue between two people, that is the whole story. You read what he says, what she says, and know there is a hidden meaning behind the conversation, but don’t know exactly what it was. I read it, and re-read it and couldn’t figure it out. I ran to the internet and looked it up. I had the “Aha moment”! It all made sense after it was spelled out for me; very interesting short story dialogue. I liked this story the best.
Then, there is “The Killers”, an interesting take on a mafia-type hit to come. The inevitable death to come to a man; and him knowing it but not doing anything about it, just waiting it out. Hemingway’s description of the characters within this story is powerful.
I really enjoyed the “Undefeated”, a boxer who doesn’t want to retire. The boxer feels he still has it and wants to show that he still has it. Very gritty story and gives food for thought on how we all feel getting older and out of our prime, but we don���t want to face it.
“An Alpine Idyll” was bizarre, and after reading the different analyses of this story on the internet, one I read was disgusting. It is interesting how the majority didn’t come up with this one fellow’s discovery. Sometimes I think because Hemingway was “out there”, there are those out there creating more drama in their reviews of his stories than what he intended. How do we know for sure what Hemingway was truly intending to portray? I am taking everyone’s comments with a grain of salt, and coming to my own conclusions.
Every story in this small book has a message. Hemingway’s writing is very clever and intriguing. I recommend this book to adults only. I don’t know if kids would understand many of the hidden messages, and I am sure this is not on any reading list at school.
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