Earnest Hemingway: Poet Or Novelist?
By Dennis L. Siluk
Dec. 20, 2004
I got a lot of Earnest Hemingway's books, many First Editions. Did you know he started writing poetry in l912 [couldn’t have been much older than 19 or 20, if that], and never stopped until l956, and as we all know, he died less than a decade after that, a suicide case, all history now of course? I’ve read a lot of poetry, although that does not make me an expert, but I do know who I like and do not like. But first things first, as a historical fiction writer, or non-fiction writer, he made his mark, and was good at what he did; yes, he was worth his salt; even if he had excessive dialogue, and short sentences, and a few misspelled words in his first editions [but most people do; Faulkner had 50-errors in one of his books, and Joyce it took 13-years to wipe out all the errors he had in Ulysses]. Nonetheless, “A Movable Feast,” is one of my most cherished books. And although I have his first edition of “The Old Man and the Sea,” I can’t stand the pace; when all is said and done, I think he could have written the book as a short story of 6,000-words vs. his 21,000/24,000. I like the book, “Across the River and into the Woods,” written in l950, he was sneered and jeered for that book, but I liked it, and he fell in love—to understanding—with one of the main characters of the book
(But again I can’t blame him; Faulkner had a mistress on the side so I’ve heard and some black blood in him from his great grandfather ((good for him)). Anyhow, he had to prove himself, so he wrote the Nobel Prize winning book, “The Old Man and the Sea.” Again, I prefer the previous. But as a poet, how does he fair in my eyes is what this ‘overview,’ is about.
How can I put this: with poetry I do believe he needed God’s help, and alas, God never gave it; need I say more, no, but I will; by the looks of things he used poetry to get out his emotions out—at any cost, which is good, and in the process though, he made a joke out of it; but again I must say, so did Dr. Seuss. I think Hemingway slammed every poet alive to include Graves, Stevenson, and Kipling to mention a few, which is fine, since I’m slamming him. He also used it to vent against his Christian views; he criticized them in essence; I wonder what he is doing now, I don’t think too much criticizing. But again, it was his way of dealing with stress and pressure, and getting mad at God for allowing two wars, and why not God. I mean, God didn’t’ start them, but I think he wanted Him to stop them; something like that. But why should God stop them, when man would just start them up again; that would be my view, if I were God. I’d kind of think: you made your bed, now sleep in it. But we all try to punish God for our own dirty lives, like the gays, and aids, and all that crap.
I use, I know, a few bad words now and then, but read his poetry and you get a massive structure of swear words to express his emotions that could hold up the Empire State Building. Reminds me of Allen Ginsberg [a nasty old poet], but Hemingway wasn’t that bad. His short stories, most of them I don’t care for, like Joyce’s and Sherwood Anderson’s; not half as good as O’Henry’s, or some of Fitzgerald’s. So I always end up back in Paris, with Hemingway, and “A Moveable Feast.” Although “To Have and Have Not,” was a great movie, the book didn’t sell that good, and I suppose the reason for it being a great movie was because William Faulkner did the screen play. Oh well, we can’t have everything in life can we now.
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By Dennis L. Siluk
Dec. 20, 2004
I got a lot of Earnest Hemingway's books, many First Editions. Did you know he started writing poetry in l912 [couldn’t have been much older than 19 or 20, if that], and never stopped until l956, and as we all know, he died less than a decade after that, a suicide case, all history now of course? I’ve read a lot of poetry, although that does not make me an expert, but I do know who I like and do not like. But first things first, as a historical fiction writer, or non-fiction writer, he made his mark, and was good at what he did; yes, he was worth his salt; even if he had excessive dialogue, and short sentences, and a few misspelled words in his first editions [but most people do; Faulkner had 50-errors in one of his books, and Joyce it took 13-years to wipe out all the errors he had in Ulysses]. Nonetheless, “A Movable Feast,” is one of my most cherished books. And although I have his first edition of “The Old Man and the Sea,” I can’t stand the pace; when all is said and done, I think he could have written the book as a short story of 6,000-words vs. his 21,000/24,000. I like the book, “Across the River and into the Woods,” written in l950, he was sneered and jeered for that book, but I liked it, and he fell in love—to understanding—with one of the main characters of the book
(But again I can’t blame him; Faulkner had a mistress on the side so I’ve heard and some black blood in him from his great grandfather ((good for him)). Anyhow, he had to prove himself, so he wrote the Nobel Prize winning book, “The Old Man and the Sea.” Again, I prefer the previous. But as a poet, how does he fair in my eyes is what this ‘overview,’ is about.
How can I put this: with poetry I do believe he needed God’s help, and alas, God never gave it; need I say more, no, but I will; by the looks of things he used poetry to get out his emotions out—at any cost, which is good, and in the process though, he made a joke out of it; but again I must say, so did Dr. Seuss. I think Hemingway slammed every poet alive to include Graves, Stevenson, and Kipling to mention a few, which is fine, since I’m slamming him. He also used it to vent against his Christian views; he criticized them in essence; I wonder what he is doing now, I don’t think too much criticizing. But again, it was his way of dealing with stress and pressure, and getting mad at God for allowing two wars, and why not God. I mean, God didn’t’ start them, but I think he wanted Him to stop them; something like that. But why should God stop them, when man would just start them up again; that would be my view, if I were God. I’d kind of think: you made your bed, now sleep in it. But we all try to punish God for our own dirty lives, like the gays, and aids, and all that crap.
I use, I know, a few bad words now and then, but read his poetry and you get a massive structure of swear words to express his emotions that could hold up the Empire State Building. Reminds me of Allen Ginsberg [a nasty old poet], but Hemingway wasn’t that bad. His short stories, most of them I don’t care for, like Joyce’s and Sherwood Anderson’s; not half as good as O’Henry’s, or some of Fitzgerald’s. So I always end up back in Paris, with Hemingway, and “A Moveable Feast.” Although “To Have and Have Not,” was a great movie, the book didn’t sell that good, and I suppose the reason for it being a great movie was because William Faulkner did the screen play. Oh well, we can’t have everything in life can we now.
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posted by Dennis and Rosa Siluk at 8:48 AM
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