Hi,
I am curious to know what women who have read Ernest Hemingways books think of his style, writing, etc. as his books are very masculine oriented and typically on the topics of men and their struggles. I recently started reading The Old Man And The Sea and as I was reading it, the thought occurred to me that I really couldn’t imagine a woman relating to what was being said on the page.
So I’m curious, female readers who have read his books…do you relate to much of what its saying? What do you think of his books?
Sorry if this sounds naive/obtuse, that is not my intention.
The only Hemingway books I’ve read are Old Man and The Sea and A Farewell to Arms. I didn’t vibe with the former, although I’m not convinced it had to with gender more so than age - I was a teenager with little appreciation for symbolism etc. The latter, however, made me bawl at the end. Not for the characters (has there ever been a flatter female character in fiction?), but the general injustice of it all.
I loved A Farewell to Arms, and I think it was Hemingway’s extrenely spare writing style that sold it. The book just ends in this devastating way, and you get this awful realization that there has never been a promise of a happy ending.
I’ve read other Hemingway, and I see them as wonderful examples of how an author can spin an engrossing story with very little description or wasted subtext. The characters have drives and past experiences that are slowly revealed in how they interact with the world (The Killers). Despite only knowing them briefly, we end up caring for them very much, but are powerless to help or hinder them.
As a woman, I love these stories as a window into a very masculine world that I would never be able to access.
I was just in another thread yesterday talking about books that were ruined because we had to read them in high school. Except, junior year we read A Fairwell to Arms in America Lit (1984-85 school year) and the entire class was so into it. Afterwards we watched the movie, not sure if it was the 1932 or 1957 version, and we all hated how much they screwed it up. The class got a bit out of control talking about how much and how badly they changed the whole point. I think Mr. Schemer was a bit taken aback at how much these 16-17 year old kids got into that book.
Not to start any kind of argument or be offensive but you are make are you not? I’m asking because I don’t always understand context and looking at your name seems like you are mail but I know there could be having context I’m missing.
Yes, I’m male. I know the post was asking about females, but I was responding to another response. Actually, I didn’t really give it any thought at the time and just went, “She is talking about liking a farewell to arms, and I was just telling that story…”
Sorry for the confusion