Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ernest Hemingway writing

                I’ve kind of been reading a lot of Ernest Hemingway lately. I have read the old man and the sea, recently finished the sun also rises and just started a farewell to arms (and I’m planning on reading for whom the bell tolls next). But I haven’t really read far enough in the book to post anything at the moment. However I can write about Hemingway’s style of writing.
                First of all, a lot of situations in his books are based on personal experiences. For example the sun also rises was based on his own experiences in Spain. And a farewell to arms is based on his experiences as an ambulance driver during world war1.
                In his writing he rarely uses adverbs. Ms. Rear said that she thinks that it makes his writing a little bit too “dry” sometimes. I happen to agree with her opinion. Hemingway’s writing is a lot of the time “straight to the point” without very much description. I suppose that he wanted to get the main point through but I believe that elaborating and using descriptions adds a good quality to text. I have had trouble starting his books but as I read further, they became much more interesting.
                Hemingway’s books are all very interesting and deeply meaningful. Several of them have won awards. In research about Hemingway I found that he traveled to many different countries. He led a very interesting life which contributed to his writing. To me he seemed to be a very troubled person, I read that he was often a heavy drinker, was often depressed and also was very paranoid especially in his final years. He suffered many injuries from war, as well as two airplane crashes. And he was married four times in his life. The reason for his death was suicide.
                Hemingway writes in prose, the most typical form of written language. It is the natural flow of words, no rhythm or rhyme like some poetry has. Hemingway is famous for his “spare and tightly written prose” style of writing. In 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature because of his influence in contemporary style.

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