Reviews

True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway

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jasmin_awoodun's review against another edition

adventurous reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read Green Hills of Africa last summer, and enjoying that immensely, was excited to discover Hemingway had written another novel about his travels in Africa. Although I'm vehemently against big game hunting myself, I love the reverence in Hemingway's description of wildlife and landscapes. It makes me feel nostalgic for a place I've never visited, which is no mean feat. True at First Light didn't disappoint in that respect; however, it felt much more political than Green Hills of Africa. Hemingway draws a lot of attention to his own highly flawed and problematic nature, and although I appreciate the author's honesty and self-awareness throughout the novel, it can at times be uncomfortable to be reminded of the kind of person the author was. If you can get past that, though, this was a truly transportative and clearly heartfelt ode to Africa.

ellahamiltonsavory's review against another edition

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1.0

I genuinely didn’t enjoy this book atall. I bought it from Shakespeare and company when I was twelve years old as a token gift for myself - and that is all I consider it to be.

I finally got round to picking it up last year - and let me say, It felt like the longest book I have ever read despite its nature being quite petite. I never thought to myself :
Hey
Can’t wait to read more!
Or
I can’t put it down!
In the grand scheme of things - I desperately wanted to finish it so I could put it down!

I struggled to feel enticed to turn the pages, I felt as though I couldn’t see any plot, any interesting characters or development at that.
Maybe I’m just too stupid to understand the art of it - or maybe Hemingway was just having an off day with this one.

Kudos to the gorgeous descriptions throughout though, that was a pretty read.

mgoodbbc's review against another edition

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adventurous

3.0

lailasemeda's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

“I’d rather live in a place and have an actual part in the life of it than just see new strange things.”

This book was reworked by Ernest Hemingway’s son Patrick and published after his death in the mid-1990’s.

The book title is inspired by Mary Hemingway’s fourth wife’s poem mentioning; “In Africa a thing is true at first light and a lie by noon and you have no more respect for it than for the lovely, perfect weed-fringed lake you see across the sun-baked salt plain. You have walked across that plain in the morning and you know that no such lake is there.”

The book is mix between a memoir and fiction about Ernest and Mary Hemingway’s trip to Africa, about their relationship how he loved his wife and how they disagreed together, also about how keen he was to help Mary hunt the majestic lion she wanted to hunt down by herself.

When you read this book you will feel like reading someone’s journal which is very personal and exciting at times, however would be rather boring at other times as it lacks the art of good storytelling.

emmyrosem's review against another edition

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3.0

I had a hard time following this novel. I listened to it as an audio book, and I'm terrible at audio books.

There are occasional moments of gorgeous depth (see below) peppered in between boring accounts of waiting around for a lion that Hemingway's wife wanted to shoot to show up.

Here's one of those amazing sections. Hemingway is reminiscing about the time he brought his wife, Mary, to visit the Spain that he'd loved years before:

But we had found the storks quite easily and would find more and we had seen the wolf and had looked down on Segovia from a near and pleasant height coming onto it naturally on a road that tourists did not take but that travelers would come by naturally. There are no such roads anymore around Toledo but you can still see Segovia as you would see it if you walked over the high country and we studied the city as though it were being seen for the first time by people who had never known it was there but had always lived to see it.

There is a virginity that you, in theory, only bring once to a beautiful city or a great painting. This is only a theory and I think it is untrue. All the things that I have loved I bring this to each time but it is lovely to bring someone else to it and it helps the loneliness.

The novel also explored themes of globalization, but the elements that stayed with me were Hemingway's ruminations on writing and travel.

hrishivish23's review against another edition

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3.0

Set in the dusk of the colonial times, this book explores the bucolic lifestyles of hunters of East Africa. Hemingway uses vivid imagery to depict the jungle setting in a mesmerizing fashion. While the story is slow paced at the beginning, it picks up mid way through. Digressions are common through out the story, with Hemingway's musings on various sociopolitical themes of the mid 20th century Africa. This forms an enjoyable and relaxing read which is occasionally thrilling.