hgar78

a teacher of mine recommended reading hemingway for the subtle way he writes. i've heard he's pretty boring. what would be the best to start with. (not the sun also rises thought, i'm not into the brutalities of bull fighting)

Darren H

Start with the story, "Hills Like White Elephants." Hemingway notoriously compared his own style to an iceberg: what you see on first glimpse is only the 10% floating above the surface; the other 90% must be discovered. "Hills Like White Elephants" is typical of Hemingway in that it features two characters engaged in a seemingly banal conversation. With care, though, you'll discover that the story is actually most concerned with everything that they're unwilling or unable to share with each other.

His early collection of stories, In Our Times, would be a good follow-up. And if you can get past the bullfighting sections -- which are much shorter and much less graphic than in Death in the Afternoon -- then give The Sun Also Rises a fair chance. I think it's his best novel.

Nick Danger

I think his novels are boring. I think his short stories are great -- his pungent style adapts well to a small number of pages. So I would recommend one of the books of short stories.

hgar78

you know i didnt even think of his short stories! prob. b/c no one ever mentions them. thanks for the recommendation, i think i'll start with your suggestions.

devilpants

I like To have And Have Not - it chronologically jumps around like "Pulp Fiction" (the movie, not the genre).
I'm not a big Papa fan, but I really enjoyed this book, and found it more interesting than the film version starring Bogie.

Amator

Some of the short stories are good, and I have not read all the novels, but IMHO Hemingway's best is The Old Man and the Sea. It touches on so many things: failure and success, growing old, the lure of the sea. I think of Zen Buddhism everytime I read it... the old man is a living koan.

Buck Turgidson

After you get your feet wet, and if you find you like his style, read For Whom The Bell Tolls. It's a long novel, but it will stay with you for a long time.

B.A.

I agree w/ For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises - great books, you just have to have the patience to get into Hemingway's style of writing - it is well worth it.

BoatDrinks

The Old Man and the Sea
The Sun Also Rises

Either one is great, imho, as are his short stories.

Hemingway wrote the BEST short story ever; there was a contest for the "Shortest Short Story." Hemingway won with:

For Sale. Baby shoes. Never used.

I could write for another hundred years and never come up with something that brilliant...