Hemingway Urge

Friday, March 18, 2011 - Long Beach, CA

Still feeling exhausted. I did manage to get some work done, though. I also got out of the house for a bit, going for a walk on the beach (there beach here in Long Beach is truly a dirty, disgusting place). On my way back from the beach I suddenly felt the urge - or perhaps the the need - to read Ernest Hemingway, which is something I haven't done to any degree since my early twenties. So I altered my route a bit and headed over to the Alamitos Branch of the LB Public Library and picked up a copy of The Sun Also Rises. When I got home I lay down and read the first thirty-odd pages of it. I really enjoyed it. Hemingway truly is an original and fascinating stylist, who, when he's at his best, can be very powerful. I don't remember to much about my first go round with The Sun Also Rises, but I do recall that it was one of my favorite of his novels. Hopefully I will like it as much as I did all those years ago. So far there's none of the buffoonishness or subtle dishonesty that originally drove me from his work, which is of course a good sign ...

I wonder what brought on this Hemingway urge. It must have at least something to do with my upcoming trip, in that so much of Hemingway's writing looks at parts of the world that are outside the U.S. and interest me a great deal. I wonder if I'm beginning a general reappraisal of his work or if this is just a one off. Whatever it is, I'm just going with it. I've finally learned just to let my reading go where it must - I read only what my gut tells me to read. I'll figure out what it means later ...