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.
I’ve only read For Whom the Bell Tolls, and it didn’t leave me desperate to pick up another Hemingway in a hurry.
I found his writing to be very emotionless.
I find his writing to be some of the most emotion invoking writing there is because he doesn’t lay it out for you by telling you what to feel through how the characters directly feel. The emotions you get are what you are able to extract and interpret from what is omitted. Take the ending of TSAR for example with Jake and Brett in the car, or the ending of A Farewell to Arms. You’re told hardly anything regarding how they feel and that makes it all the more impactful because you’re sitting there imagining what they’re going through without having it spelled out for you. Many writers could’ve written pages about how conflicted and drained Jake Barnes it at the end lf TSAR, but “Oh Jake, we could have had such a damned good time together.” — “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” says more than a thousand words could and that is the beauty of his writing.
I agree. The words are stripped so bare that it just leaves nerve endings exposed. I find his work to be very emotional. His style is simply very curated and all the fat is eliminated.