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.
Not everyone has this weird need to personally relate to what they’re reading. In fact, I don’t understand that need whatsoever, as I don’t want to read essentially about myself again and again. I want stories and perspectives different from mine to learn about other people and human experiences.
You know, I’ve seen plenty of comments by men saying they exclusively or primarily read books about men and by men because they don’t relate to women, whereas women don’t seem to have this issue. We gladly read about men’s lives and experiences because we are interested in all people, whereas the aforementioned men often don’t even see us as people.
That’s so true. And in fact, writers and publishers know this. 9/10 new books are either celebrity memoirs, fiction about completely abnormal humans (either fabulously wealthy and at the top of society or totally destitute, from a totally different era/universe), or magical fantasy beings.
Few people want to sit down and read about the minutiae of school drop off, the plumber fixing a clog, or regular marital problems unless the writer is in the top .001% of fantastic storytellers. We read to escape, learn, be entertained, feel, cry, struggle, accomplish.
With that said I hate Hemingway, or did when I was forced to read him and dissect his works throughout my youth. Thanks, male AP English teachers.
I love Tolstoy, a who was a passionate misogynist, so make of that what you will. Lol