"A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway, Revised Edition

I remember being very jealous of Deborah when she picked up her copy of the revised edition of "A Moveable Feast", but it wasn't until I recently read "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" that I actually went out and bought it. I've become fascinated with Hemingway lately, and "A Moveable Feast" is, for me, the perfect way to explore that because not only does the author describe an important period in his life in his own words, but he does so from the perspective of a writer than a biographer. He trims the fat of the stories and changes what needs to be changed because, even though it's not exactly true, he hopes the changes will make it more true. It's written best in one of the Fragments found at the end of this edition, part of an introduction that never was: "This book is fiction. But there is always a chance that such a work of fiction may throw light on what has been written as fact."

The stories in the book chronicle Hemingway's early days of writing in Paris and traveling in Europe. While in Paris Hemingway is exposed the community of writers living there at the time, and in particular he writes about knowing F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ford Maddox Ford, and some other who I did not recognize but enjoyed very much reading about. Upon reflection one can see the hint of a narrative from the beginning of the book to the end, but for the most part the stories stand alone and are as strong that way as they are considered as a whole.

It must be said that it felt strange reading the revised edition without having read the book as it was originally published. But then, even when it was originally published there had been choices and edits to be made, as it was unfinished at the time of Hemingway's death. Of both editions it is safe to say that there is an amount of uncertainty regarding what the finished product may have looked like. This edition claims, of course, to be more complete or true to character than the original, but this is opinion and not fact. Either way it is valuable to have these stories written by a man in his last days (Hemingway committed suicide in July 1961) looking back on his early days.

All of the hallmarks of Hemingway's style are present in the stories, but one aspect I kept coming back to was the beauty and poignancy of the last lines or paragraphs of the stories. Hemingway's descriptions of his day-to-day life and encounters were not spectacular or showy, but matter-of-fact and interesting. But those last lines made me pay special attention, as they usually pulled the concept together, making the story about more than what it was about.

"The Snows of Kilamanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway

I found this book while on a rainy-day walk through downtown Champaign last week. I was enjoying the cold and the spitting mist of rain, but the used book store I passed still looked warm and inviting. Its thickly carpet floors that absorbed every sound and turned everything into a whisper and closely-packed maze of shelves were too good to pass up. I don't know how long I wondered the stacks skimming over handwritten notes and signs that signified obscure categories such as, "British History, 1822-1907, Naval" and "New Age, Aquarius". Eventually I found myself in the section simply marked "Fiction" and I looked over the shelves, judging books by their covers. Hemingway, of course, stood out for me, and I picked this tiny book with its scribbled hand-written notes and strange posterboard binding, to take home. I'm glad I did.

"The Snows of Kilamanjaro" is a collection of some of Hemingway's short stories. Just like their author's life, the stories cover a variety of topics and take place all over the world. The compilation's titular story was written after Hemingway's first trip to Africa, and centers around a man who is near death, berating himself for never having written all the stories he had planned to write, and all the excuses he had for not writing them. It's a great beginning for the compilation as it gives the rest of the stories just a bit more of an underlying meaning: these were written by someone who wanted very much to tell their stories.

One of the things I like most about Hemingway's writing, and which is especially evident after reading a series of short stories, is the way carefully lifts his characters into the light. He turns them slowly and examines them, letting the light bounce off of them how it may, and then just as quietly and carefully, sets them back down into the dark corners, which is where he seems to find most of his characters. Sometimes the stories are nothing more than a brief, but revealing, glimpse into another life.

The last story, however, is different from the others in that it has a well-defined plot. "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is dependent on the sequence of events as much as it is dependent on its characters. They combine powerfully though and the story stands out from the rest because of this. I haven't chosen a favorite, but "The Short Happy Life" is certainly in the running.

But the small hits of short story have turned me into a junkie; instead of re-reading "The Sun Also Rises" for the 1,985,732nd time, I picked up the restored edition of "A Moveable Feast" today. Hopefully I can get my fill of Hemingway's prose while learning a little more about the man himself. Looking forward to it.