jeremyanderberg's review against another edition
3.0
It's a short book, and a little bit studious in tone, which is surprising given that author Steve Paul was a journalist before retiring. No matter — Paul gives fans of Papa Hem an insightful look into what was inarguably one of the more important single years of Ernest's life.
What really stood out from this particular book, to me at least, was just how Midwestern Hemingway was. I sort of knew that, but not the reality of it. He was born in Chicago, spent nearly every summer of his youth at a family property in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and then embarked on his very first job, as a cub reporter, to the Kansas City Star. It's so interesting to me that a number of Lost Generation writers were Midwestern — Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and more.
Anyways . . . while at the Star, Hemingway got a reporter's education in writing. It's amazing how clearly the newspaper's famed style guide and Ernest's prose line up. What an influence that very first job of his had!
After just 6 months at the newspaper, though, the call of WWI was too strong to resist. Hemingway always wanted to be part of the action. Though he failed an Army physical, he was able to sign on as a volunteer ambulance driver. It was along a river in Italy, just a couple weeks shy of turning 19, that a mortar shell exploded just 3 feet from Hemingway, killing an Italian soldier and leaving Ernest with over 200 pieces of shrapnel in his legs. The injuries left him recovering in the hospital for months, which led to his first great love, which led to the story found in A Farewell to Arms.
Truly, the story of Hemingway's youth led directly to the story of the rest of his life. Again, the writing itself as good — not great — but the subject matter intrigued me to no end.
What really stood out from this particular book, to me at least, was just how Midwestern Hemingway was. I sort of knew that, but not the reality of it. He was born in Chicago, spent nearly every summer of his youth at a family property in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and then embarked on his very first job, as a cub reporter, to the Kansas City Star. It's so interesting to me that a number of Lost Generation writers were Midwestern — Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and more.
Anyways . . . while at the Star, Hemingway got a reporter's education in writing. It's amazing how clearly the newspaper's famed style guide and Ernest's prose line up. What an influence that very first job of his had!
After just 6 months at the newspaper, though, the call of WWI was too strong to resist. Hemingway always wanted to be part of the action. Though he failed an Army physical, he was able to sign on as a volunteer ambulance driver. It was along a river in Italy, just a couple weeks shy of turning 19, that a mortar shell exploded just 3 feet from Hemingway, killing an Italian soldier and leaving Ernest with over 200 pieces of shrapnel in his legs. The injuries left him recovering in the hospital for months, which led to his first great love, which led to the story found in A Farewell to Arms.
Truly, the story of Hemingway's youth led directly to the story of the rest of his life. Again, the writing itself as good — not great — but the subject matter intrigued me to no end.
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