Pamplona. Bull running. San fermin festival. All through the eyes of Hemingway.
I couldn't imagine anything better. Especially considering I have been to the very festival and places described in The Sun Also Rises.
It felt as though I was walking hand in hand with the man himself as he traversed the seedy underbelly of cafe life and jazz bars in Paris, the Pyrenees and then Pamplona with his affluent group of friends.
Whether it's describing the bulls being unloaded from the corals, sparing with bull fighters, fly fishing in the Spanish countryside or drinking himself silly in Paris's Montmartre quarter, Hemingway somehow makes everything sound autobiographical.
Of all the authors who I've come to meet on this epic literature journey, Hemingway has been the most honest. The most unashamedly real. Making his novels completely relatable.
Whether it's matter of factly describing an anecdote or interchange between men and women, or probing into the lead characters own flaws, he somehow effortlessly makes you feel you are there in the room. As much a part of the story as the wine and gin they drink.
The simplicity of the prose is deceptive. This is a man who believes less is more and makes the smallest sentence deliver the biggest punch.
The story centers around Jake Barnes—a man whose war wound has made him impotent—and the promiscuous divorcée Lady Brett Ashley. Rather than choose a lead female who is either an old nag or an eligible young woman looking for marriage, Hemingway decides upon a vivacious divorcee who is experiencing sexual liberation and independence in post war Paris and not shy in making the most of it. She is not two dimensional, but five or even six dimensional. Hemingway paints her in so many ways you aren't sure at any one time if you like her, loathe or are inspired by her.
Yet again, like so many books in this top 100 list, the plot revolves around those with money and the misery they find themselves swimming in as they struggle to make their hopeless and vain existence meaningful.
Brett who even has a male name, embodies the modern woman, leaving broken men in her wake, including Jake who can never consummate his love with her. There is a sense of irony in this, that as one woman finally secures the freedom and power she craves and the men in her life become weaker.
In fact, Brett may be the first cougar to be put into writing. She captures the ardour of a 19 year old spanish bull fighter in the middle of the festival and romances him into her bed. An impressive feat for any woman. But a divorcee in the 1920's? I tip my hat to you dear lady..
In the end, what is left is a book with dominated by cougars, bullfighting, sangria, love triangles and debachery. Could there be a more winning combination?
I doubt it, unless of course Hemingway was to read the story aloud to me himself. That will just have to be relegated to my day dreams. I girl can hope can't she?
xx
Monday, 9 April 2012
Saturday, 24 March 2012
that is not a fish, this is a fish...
Call me a speed reader but as soon as I dropped lord of the flies I picked up Mr Hemingway's 'Old Man and the Sea'.
It must be said I'm a Hemingway groupie from way back. He makes me swoon the way most girls experience facial paralysis and loss of body control when they perve on Channing Tatum in 'The Vow.'
He, Hemingway that is not Channing, creates prose that is like literary porn for book nerds such as myself. In the words of Depeche Mode, I just can't get enough.
The old man and the sea has always been a perennial favourite of mine so it was like taking a bath in chocolate to read it again. Every line reminds me of childhood fishing adventures. Casting a line, the rocking of the ocean, the silence, the beauty of just becoming part of the landscape.
While small, it is an epic book. One man and his enduring battle. Against the sea, against odds, against himself and against a magnificent fish.
With every page you can practically hear the lapping of the ocean against his boat, feel the film of salt against your skin, the sting of the line cutting into your palms and the sense of apprehension and excitement that comes when a line screams off the bow.
Every man, woman and child whether they are a fisher or not should read this book.
Has there ever been an author like Hemingway? I'm not sure, it could be why five of his books are on the top 100 list.
So with Easter around the bend, rather than indulge in a chocolate binge I'm going on a Hemingway gorge fest. Next up is The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls and A farewell to arms.
Let the overdose begin!
x
J
It must be said I'm a Hemingway groupie from way back. He makes me swoon the way most girls experience facial paralysis and loss of body control when they perve on Channing Tatum in 'The Vow.'
He, Hemingway that is not Channing, creates prose that is like literary porn for book nerds such as myself. In the words of Depeche Mode, I just can't get enough.
The old man and the sea has always been a perennial favourite of mine so it was like taking a bath in chocolate to read it again. Every line reminds me of childhood fishing adventures. Casting a line, the rocking of the ocean, the silence, the beauty of just becoming part of the landscape.
While small, it is an epic book. One man and his enduring battle. Against the sea, against odds, against himself and against a magnificent fish.
With every page you can practically hear the lapping of the ocean against his boat, feel the film of salt against your skin, the sting of the line cutting into your palms and the sense of apprehension and excitement that comes when a line screams off the bow.
Every man, woman and child whether they are a fisher or not should read this book.
Has there ever been an author like Hemingway? I'm not sure, it could be why five of his books are on the top 100 list.
So with Easter around the bend, rather than indulge in a chocolate binge I'm going on a Hemingway gorge fest. Next up is The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls and A farewell to arms.
Let the overdose begin!
x
J
Castaway for kids...
Think of the film Castaway only instead of Tom hanks, it's the group of bullies out of Stephen King's Carrie novel who are stuck on an island, they are pint sized, meaner and crazier.
That basically sums up Golding's 'Lord of the flies'. Of course not all of the boys are bullies but it's what happens while watching them try to govern themselves that is what is most intriguing.
They become afraid and when fear strikes they start to become primal and more prone to manipulation by the powerful members of the group.
Golding has a flawless childlike imagination which makes you feel he is one of them and you can feel the suffocating paranoia as all semblance of civility breaks down.
The use of fear and violence in the fight for control is something that is echoed over and over again in the world today. It's sobering to see young boys tragically play this out, acting the way adults have done for years in international and domestic conflict.
It's a challenging read but a rewarding one. It takes a talented writer to not only tell a story but have the reader live the story at the same time. I would normally never pick up a book like this but found myself loving it and finishing it in two sittings.
This book was written more than 58 years ago and it is still relevant and long may to continue to be. It's kind of success every author dreams of.
I can't imagine anything more satisfying or fulfilling than having your writing be relevant and meaningful to others..
X
J
That basically sums up Golding's 'Lord of the flies'. Of course not all of the boys are bullies but it's what happens while watching them try to govern themselves that is what is most intriguing.
They become afraid and when fear strikes they start to become primal and more prone to manipulation by the powerful members of the group.
Golding has a flawless childlike imagination which makes you feel he is one of them and you can feel the suffocating paranoia as all semblance of civility breaks down.
The use of fear and violence in the fight for control is something that is echoed over and over again in the world today. It's sobering to see young boys tragically play this out, acting the way adults have done for years in international and domestic conflict.
It's a challenging read but a rewarding one. It takes a talented writer to not only tell a story but have the reader live the story at the same time. I would normally never pick up a book like this but found myself loving it and finishing it in two sittings.
This book was written more than 58 years ago and it is still relevant and long may to continue to be. It's kind of success every author dreams of.
I can't imagine anything more satisfying or fulfilling than having your writing be relevant and meaningful to others..
X
J
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Wishful thinking...
I wish I was reading the new Jane Green book...
I wish I was reading the Hunger Games series...
Instead I'm reading...
I wish I was reading the Hunger Games series...
Instead I'm reading...
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Recipe for a classic with a twist...
Take one
mixing bowl and add:
- A
scrawny, guileless and gutless American soldier/optometrist, an alien abduction
and World War II
- Add a
sprinkle of time travel and stir until well combined
- Fold in
a loveless marriage, a fatalistic attitude and a life-long nemesis and knead
until a soft consistency
- Cook in
an oven on medium heat for 2 hours and then leave to cool
- Season
to taste and sample the final result in one sitting - Kurt Vonnegut's, Slaughterhouse Five
I suppose
I should have known when I first bought it that it was going to be an unusual
read. I only had to mention the title before the shop assistant became
incredibly animated. He literally jumped on the spot and rattled off a raft of
sci fi authors and other works by Vonnegut. In between his breathless enthusiasm
he got out that Slaughterhouse was one of his favourites and what did I think
of it? Was I re-reading it?
When I
told him that I'd never read any of his work before and that I was just
re-educating myself on the classics he dropped me like a hot plate. I read his
face instantly. 'She's not one of my people.'
I
practically had to force him to take my money for the book. I knew then, that
this book wasn't going to be any old classic book to tick off the list.
It was
better.
Think The Time Traveller's Wife set in WW2 with an alien
abduction thrown in along the way. It's beyond strange but completely
enjoyable. The The Time Traveller's Wife simply pales in
comparison.
Told from
the view of a timid, often gutless and cowardly man, the book keeps coming back
to the idea that life does not end with death, instead its about the living of
moments. So as the plot develops it jumps back and forth, as Billy, the main
character keeps reliving his time and time again.
It's a
fascinating read and I have deliberately not picked up another book since I
finished it last Friday. I just wanted to savour the taste it left in my mouth.
The thoughts and questions it probed at the reader really made me think about
the past, present and future and all that intertwines.
How Vonnegut came up with the idea and flow
of the book baffles me entirely. I'm struggling just with one linear story and
plot. A jumble of experiences which flit back and forth in time would be
overwhelming to try and capture and put into words.
It was
one of the only books I've read that is written and told exactly the way life
actually is. A jumble of experiences, moments and thoughts. All happening at
once, with memories of the past interfering with the present and future.
It makes
you think about everything that has led to the makings of who you are, small as
well as dramatic moments and experiences. It made me think about what has
turned me into the aspiring writer I am today and that the only thing stopping
me from becoming not only an author but a successful one, is me.
xx
J
Monday, 12 March 2012
The damned and the vain...
I have to admire F.Scott Fitzgerald for a couple of things:
1) For being able to write a book where every character is despicable
2) for shining the spotlight on the very class from which he is from, showing them as nothing more than frivolous and soulless
3) For pointing out that when youth is fading, money is little consolation
Ordinarily I wouldn't have picked 'the beautiful and the damned' off the shelf. Sure the heading is interesting but one quick skim of the blurb is enough to put me off.
It goes: a pretty rich girl partners up with a rich man. By rich, meaning he's never had to work a day in his life and doesn't intend to. He plans to be a man of leisure. Partying and decadence are their daily routine until the money starts to dry up and their marriage crumbles along with their youth.
It's interesting watching their lives implode but what is disturbing is in all this turmoil not a single redeemable feature comes to the fore.
They drown in self pity, vanity, shallowness and weakness.
They weren't built to survive hard times only the good times.
While it's set in the 20's I can't help but think how it's still relevant today. How many young people who get married, often do so with the intention of enjoying the good times but when the tough or bad times arrive they cut and run.
They might not be rich, but somehow they still have the weakness in character and the vanity to go along with it.
There is one point in the book where the vain, silly stupid wife, Gloria, drives herself mad with her obsession with her looks -
"there was nothing she had said she wanted except to be young and beautiful for a long time and to have money". Pg 244
" oh my pretty face, I don't want to live without my pretty face! Oh what's happened?". Pg 354
Her obsession with beauty is enough to make you feel ill, but times haven't changed much have they?
Perhaps the biggest coupe de grace is that both Gloria and Anthony nearly drive themselves mad in the battle for his $10million inheritance, but it's only when he actually wins that Anthony goes clinically insane.
An ironic touch by Fitzgerald. If there is one thing he is good at, it is in peeling back the layers or lack of in characters and showing what they are really made of.
In this case they are made of nothing more than flour and egg, dashed away when the rains arrive.
When u read a book like this it makes u look at your own life to take your own measure. And I'm pleased to say the only egg and flour you'll find on me is if I've been baking
X
Jh
Next one - slaughterhouse five by Kurt Vonnegut
1) For being able to write a book where every character is despicable
2) for shining the spotlight on the very class from which he is from, showing them as nothing more than frivolous and soulless
3) For pointing out that when youth is fading, money is little consolation
Ordinarily I wouldn't have picked 'the beautiful and the damned' off the shelf. Sure the heading is interesting but one quick skim of the blurb is enough to put me off.
It goes: a pretty rich girl partners up with a rich man. By rich, meaning he's never had to work a day in his life and doesn't intend to. He plans to be a man of leisure. Partying and decadence are their daily routine until the money starts to dry up and their marriage crumbles along with their youth.
It's interesting watching their lives implode but what is disturbing is in all this turmoil not a single redeemable feature comes to the fore.
They drown in self pity, vanity, shallowness and weakness.
They weren't built to survive hard times only the good times.
While it's set in the 20's I can't help but think how it's still relevant today. How many young people who get married, often do so with the intention of enjoying the good times but when the tough or bad times arrive they cut and run.
They might not be rich, but somehow they still have the weakness in character and the vanity to go along with it.
There is one point in the book where the vain, silly stupid wife, Gloria, drives herself mad with her obsession with her looks -
"there was nothing she had said she wanted except to be young and beautiful for a long time and to have money". Pg 244
" oh my pretty face, I don't want to live without my pretty face! Oh what's happened?". Pg 354
Her obsession with beauty is enough to make you feel ill, but times haven't changed much have they?
Perhaps the biggest coupe de grace is that both Gloria and Anthony nearly drive themselves mad in the battle for his $10million inheritance, but it's only when he actually wins that Anthony goes clinically insane.
An ironic touch by Fitzgerald. If there is one thing he is good at, it is in peeling back the layers or lack of in characters and showing what they are really made of.
In this case they are made of nothing more than flour and egg, dashed away when the rains arrive.
When u read a book like this it makes u look at your own life to take your own measure. And I'm pleased to say the only egg and flour you'll find on me is if I've been baking
X
Jh
Next one - slaughterhouse five by Kurt Vonnegut
Monday, 27 February 2012
what I meant to say was...
So it seems to me that when it comes to insulting people and describing people unfavourably, no one does it better than a classic lit book.
Cleverly veiled barbs and hooks are weaved in the prose, designed to sting and take the wind out of any character's sails.
So I thought it might be interesting to translate these insults into modern language just for the fun of it... after all it an insult in any era is enjoyable :p
She was a woman of high fashion -
What they meant to say : she's a vain, materialistic cow
She had a great deal of manners which classed her as the most affected of women-
What they meant to say: She's a boring snob
He was what she would describe as provincial-
What they meant to say: He isn't worth a second glance and is beneath me
She was a woman with a high, free spirit and was very engaging. She was often indelicate in her behaviour with men-
What they meant to say: She's a dirty tramp/slut/whore
He had a pleasant countenance and unaffected manner-
What they meant to say: He's alright
She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me-
What they meant to say: She's a feral and no one in their right mind would be interested
She had very cordial feelings toward him-
What they meant to say: She was fantasining about marriage and the names of their babies
His sisters had the air of decided fashion -
What they meant to say: They were snobs who thought they looked better then they actually did
She was a woman of mean understanding, little information and an uncertain temper-
What they meant to say: She was not the sharpest tool in the shed
She had charming, happy manners -
What they meant to say: She didn't throw herself at men like the rest of her trampy friends
She was headstrong and spirited -
What they meant to say: She never did what she was told and enjoyed a good roll in the hay
He had a most ungentlemanly disposition -
What they meant to say: He was a chauvinist pig
She boasted neither cleverness nor beauty -
What they meant to say: She is a butt ugly idiot
She was fond of society -
What they meant to say: She liked to hob nob and lived to kiss ass
He was fond of his own society -
What they meant to say: He was a loner and was most likely into midget porn with the potential to be a serial killer
She had a wilful nature -
What they meant to say: She never did what daddy told her to do
and the best til last...
He was too proud for even his own company -
What they meant to say: He had his head up his ass so far he coudn't see straight
xx
J
Cleverly veiled barbs and hooks are weaved in the prose, designed to sting and take the wind out of any character's sails.
So I thought it might be interesting to translate these insults into modern language just for the fun of it... after all it an insult in any era is enjoyable :p
She was a woman of high fashion -
What they meant to say : she's a vain, materialistic cow
She had a great deal of manners which classed her as the most affected of women-
What they meant to say: She's a boring snob
He was what she would describe as provincial-
What they meant to say: He isn't worth a second glance and is beneath me
She was a woman with a high, free spirit and was very engaging. She was often indelicate in her behaviour with men-
What they meant to say: She's a dirty tramp/slut/whore
He had a pleasant countenance and unaffected manner-
What they meant to say: He's alright
She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me-
What they meant to say: She's a feral and no one in their right mind would be interested
She had very cordial feelings toward him-
What they meant to say: She was fantasining about marriage and the names of their babies
His sisters had the air of decided fashion -
What they meant to say: They were snobs who thought they looked better then they actually did
She was a woman of mean understanding, little information and an uncertain temper-
What they meant to say: She was not the sharpest tool in the shed
She had charming, happy manners -
What they meant to say: She didn't throw herself at men like the rest of her trampy friends
She was headstrong and spirited -
What they meant to say: She never did what she was told and enjoyed a good roll in the hay
He had a most ungentlemanly disposition -
What they meant to say: He was a chauvinist pig
She boasted neither cleverness nor beauty -
What they meant to say: She is a butt ugly idiot
She was fond of society -
What they meant to say: She liked to hob nob and lived to kiss ass
He was fond of his own society -
What they meant to say: He was a loner and was most likely into midget porn with the potential to be a serial killer
She had a wilful nature -
What they meant to say: She never did what daddy told her to do
and the best til last...
He was too proud for even his own company -
What they meant to say: He had his head up his ass so far he coudn't see straight
xx
J
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