Philip,

I am glad you think Venus beautiful.

I omitted the cock-fighting Michael. "But, what else is a fighting cock going to do," he said.
Black humor or not though, many of his pursuits required patience, strength, courage, skill, knowledge and stamina. Excellent attributes, yes?

Not for me! I prefer quickness, timing, focus, and following through the end.

Oh, and a dozen cats...creepy beyond my comprehension. But you obvious like him, so enjoy your hero--they are good to contemplate.

Michael

www.michaelnewberry.com

 He loved things Latin and wanted to write about the Spanish Civil war so Cuba would have seemed perfect especially as it is so close to the U.S. He had been travelling across since 1928 and moved there in 1939. He liked it for, among other things, its baseball, birds and shooting. Most of all though he liked it because he had privacy and he could drink and fish and shoot as one-of-the-boys; he wasn't treated as Ernest Hemingway, writer.

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

"Hope you don't mind my black humor Philip, but he sounds more like he had a zest for killing." 

I omitted the cock-fighting Michael. "But, what else is a fighting cock going to do," he said.

Black humour or not though, many of his pursuits required patience, strength, courage, skill, knowledge and stamina. Excellent attributes, yes? And, I think  were it just a zest for killing he could have satisfied it in easier ways than spending hard-weeks on safari, or hours on the end of a rod trying to reel-in marlin.

Besides he had dozens of cats in Cuba and as far as I know he didn't kill any of them!

Michael, I was a lurker when you posted 'Venus.' I'll take the chance now to say 'beautiful work.' 

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

 as far as I have been able to find out Hemingway only ever met Castro once when he (Hemingway) presented him with a prize in a fishing competition.

He did, for the most part, support the revolution though; a popular revolution against the brutal dictator Batista. And he did indeed stay for a period after Batista was overthrown saying that he saw very clear improvements in the standard-of-living of Cubans in the following nine months.

 Hemingway left Cuba- a place that he adored- before the U.S. broke diplomatic relations and it seems generally agreed that he would have left earlier if he had thought that his remaining there would have hurt American interests.

Marcus, you have a bee in your bonnet about the communism aspect (fair enough!!) but seem to be forgetting the context for both periods you have mentioned.

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

Philip: "...it is also for his incredible zest for life. Hemingway was a great fisherman, a big-game hunter,...a dedicated drinker. He was an expert shot, an enthusiastic boxer, a bullfighting aficionado..."

 
Hope you don't mind my black humor Philip, but he sounds more lilke he had a zest for killing. 

 I did enjoy a Farewell to Arms, but didn't have any affinity for the people in the story. 

 Michael

www.michaelnewberry.com

...he was initially quite friendly with Castro. After Castro's revolution Hemmingway stayed on in Cuba.

However, some say Hemmingway soon fell out with Castro, and therefore left the island.

And a master of understatement.

I think it is interesting that he lived in Cuba for so long.  Do you know why he moved there?  Was he friendly with Castro before going?

Rosie

Hemingway and Stein fell out in a big way so keep reading!

Waffle!? Hemingway took the waffle out of writing- he's the master of word economy.

But then in times when friggin Batman seems to merit weighty discussion, what would I know?

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

...reading the first few chapters of "A farewell to arms".

I must say, so far, I don't like it.

Too much "pomo" waffling for my taste.

No wonder Hemmingway was friends with Gertrude Stein!

 I have never read Stein: she seemed a woman of more style than substance using her vicious wit to destroy rather than create. If anyone can suggest something of hers worth reading then I am all ears but such descriptions of her writing as shown below mean I am unlikely to be drawn to her anytime soon.

 "Stein’s innovative writing emphasizes the sounds and rhythms rather than the sense of words. By departing from conventional meaning, grammar and syntax, she attempted to capture “moments of consciousness,” independent of time and memory."  (Is this why you make the Stein-Goode comparison, Rosie? )

Rosie, the so-called Lost Generation that you say Hemingway was part of is, if you think about it, a grossly insulting thing to label him and many other writers of that time.

Hemingway hated the tag: "Look, Gertrude was a complainer. So she labelled that generation with her complaint. But it was bullshit. There was no movement, no tight band of pot-smoking nihilists around looking for mommy to lead them out dada wilderness...we were a pretty solid mob."

If Hemingway was lost and yet could write and live like he did then I can think of a few people we should send into the hills without a compass...

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

are you Richard Goode's current squeeze?

the guy responds to literary posts not political dross!

I agree that Hemingway was a wonderful man and writer. The part of his life that most captures my imagination was in Paris when he became part of "the lost generation" as they were called. Ezra Pound was part of that set and Gertrude Stein. He wrote somewhere:

"Ezra was right half the time, and when he was wrong, he was so wrong you were never in any doubt about it. Gertrude was always right."

Swap Ezra for Linz, Gertrude for Goode.....lol 

Rosie

But perhaps he is mistaking me for someone else because I have actually read some Joyce - upon which I based my low opinion of him.

... but a high class stalker too!

While I get the dross like Campbell and Goode. Marcus, I'm jealous. What's your secret?

Looks like you have a stalker Marcus.

Just when you least expect it... BAM!!!!

"I think I might give one of his books a read then."

Why bother? Why not base your opinion of Hemingway on the same utter and complete ignorance that "informs" your opinion of the "PC Wanker" James Joyce? Never underestimate the virtue of consistency!

For what it's worth, A Farewell to Arms is Hemingway's best novel.

JR

"As far as I know he had little input into the film you refer to- although he too thought it was rubbish."

He must have had good taste then. I think I might give one of his books a read then. Most likely "the old man and the sea", that's quite short.

 yes Marcus, he fought for the communists- against the fascists. You know, against Franco, that dictator chap who was strongly supported by a fascist Germany and Italy of the time. Hemingway was heavily investigated by the FBI after the war and they could not offer any proof at all that he was a communist. Hemingway himself said:

"I can't be a communist because I  hate tyranny and, I suppose, government."

 And he wasn't in Italy fighting for the communists in 1918 where he was wounded and twice decorated.

As far as I know he had little input into the film you refer to- although he too thought it was rubbish.

And as you say you haven't read his works.....

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

...I just know that he fought for the communists in Spainish Civil War. So did George Orwell, who afterwards criticised them in his book Homage to Catalonia.

Contrast that with Ernest Hemingway who celebrated the communists as heroes in his book, For Whom the Bell Tolls. I did see the 1943 film of the book and I must admit that it was absolute rubbish!

"But you can’t work more than two at once because it is dangerous to let them get behind you. Same thing applies to some people I know.”

Oh boy!

I walk our dog through a wild pine plantation on a steep(ish) cliff above the sea each day: always reminds me of For Whom The Bell Tolls.