cover-to-cover update

i completed hemingway's group of short stories titled "in our time" and thought i'd deliver some thoughts -- a mini book report, if you will -- on the literature.

it was ok. i've never read hemingway thoughtfully ... past readings of hemingway involved quick skims supplemented by pink money notes for school assignments. but this time, i paid attention to his prose which everyone claims is so abrupt and simple -- and it is! it was a simple read, interesting, and had some great stories, some too gory for my taste (it doesn't take a lot to make me queasy) and others that just bored me. i'm sure i missed some important meaning in "big two-hearted river II," but the account of nick fishing bored me, and it didn't stir my curiosity enough to explore its true, deeper meaning.

"cat in the rain," however, did ignite my curiosity. most of the reviews i looked at talked about the couples struggling, isolated relationship, which i felt while reading it. my question is: why was he looking at her after she came in from the rain? he seemed semi-enamored with her, or at least interested, and called her good looking. then suddenly he was disinterested. it seemed too late in the story to represent the beginning of their relationship and too sudden to represent its gradual deterioration ... any ideas?

"mr. and mrs. elliot" is, without analyzing, an interesting story about how relationships can work ... relationships of convenience, that were originally disguised by love and lust. and they don't turn out as expected and how they mold into something completely different unexpected. happens all the time. i think "indian camp" is my favorite, as demented as that sounds. "my old man" was another favorite. chilling and sad. the title of "my old man" short story was perfect.

i always wanted to learn more about nick, too.

in general, the book was an exploration of relationships, specifically their difficulty and problems that tear them apart. hemingway seems to present each situation to the reader, aware that the reader will see what's going on between the characters clearer than the characters themselves. while reading some of the stories, the reader feels the inclination to yell at the characters -- tell them what they are doing wrong and point out how easy it is to fix it. don't horse race, tell her you love her, don't fight that bull, etc., but interestingly, if we were in that situation ourselves, we would likely be as narrow minded to our own problem and its solution as those characters are.

i was a bit confused by the bull-fighting and war intervals. i know hemingway was interested in and wrote about both, but how they worked into the short stories didn't always connect.

next up is a kurt vonnegut book, because i never read him. but it's short and less of a story and more commentary on life from him, it seems. looks interesting. i'll let you know.