This is Ernest Hemingway, age 24 years. He was talented and beautiful, no wonder he had such an ego. (He’s more beautiful than I had realised as I’d only ever previously seen photos of him when he’s started to drink himself to ruin). Second, this is his passport photo.
Behold.
Has there been such a dashing passport photo since?
I am about to start reading Hemingway for the first time (it’s true, I have resisted until now because of the misogyny, but hell, I love Bret Easton Ellis, why not Hemingway?). I am going to read The Sun Also Rises because of quotes like this..
“You’re an expatriate. You’ve lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés.”
Such amazing writing. My father is an expat, not the drinking himself to death kind but the kind who might agree he has somewhat “lost touch with the soil”. Expats are an interesting breed of people; something strange happens when a person doesn’t/can’t put down roots over many years.
He’ll make you want to start drinking. And going after women. And writing about it.
You should also read his short story “Hills Like White Elephants”.
I loved it.
Yes, I agree. Beautiful picture. Le sigh.
Also check out his short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
I love the sparseness of Hemingway, but the misogyny will really get to you. Shame, really.
How very right you are about expats. 10 years here and I still feel like that
I read The Sun Also Rises in college, and lots of the short stories along the way, and just couldn’t deal with the misogyny. We recently read The Paris Wife for book club – it’s a novelization of the story of Hemingway’s first marriage – and then followed with A Moveable Feast, and I still can’t deal with the misogyny. Or the complete take-down of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hemingway making fun of someone else’s alcoholism. Yikes.
Would be interested to hear what you think. I mean sure, the man revolutionized 20th century literature, but still.
Another person who can’t hack Hemingway here! I’ve tried several times, even getting all the way through For Whom the Bell Tolls for book club. His talent is obvious, but he is also so obviously not speaking to me that I have a hard time enjoying his work.
The expat thing is interesting, though. I’ll have to ask my husband what he thinks- he’s a Kiwi expat in the US now, and it looks likely that he’ll stay that way due to the utter lack of jobs for me in NZ.
I read Hemingway like crazy when I was about 18-20. I identified as a feminist then, but somehow the misogyny didn’t bother me; I recognised it, I have no idea why it didn’t bother me, I must have been distracted by the writing. I should re-read some Hemingway. I read The old man and the sea about 5 years ago, and still really liked it, but that one’s a bit different. I’d also like to re-read Jack Kerouac, who I read like crazy just after the Hemingway phase. Lots of misogyny there as well, I remember it, but I had a similar experience of being distracted by the writing.
Interesting distinction between expat and immigrant… I grew up in Canada then lived in the US for 14 years and now I’m in Australia, putting down roots. When I first moved to the US I was definitely an expat- I joined the Canada club, and went to Canadian events. I missed home, and wanted to go back as soon as possible. It was something I bonded with when I met my husband, an Australian. But then we put down roots, had kids, and stopped hanging out in cafes. Last year we decided to move to Australia and now at least his roots are back home. I’ve always lived in fantastic places, and I’ve enjoyed the diversity, but one thing I regret is not knowing, in my cells, the way the dirt feels and the seasons roll past in one place.
I am an ex-pat– but I think of myself differently. That being said, I think Hemingway’s description of the typical ex-pat is quite apt. Even out here in Thailand, the “ex-pat” can be found drinking in a cafe (or karaoke), chasing sex, and complaining about the miseries of the country they now call “home.”
I think the difference for me is that I didn’t move abroad to “escape” my country; quite the contrary, I moved to Thailand to buckle down, to research, to devote my time to understanding a different set of cultural values so that I could potentially have a better frame of reference to analyze my own (culture).
Being an ex-pat is both rewarding and difficult. I wouldn’t trade my time living in a developing country for anything.
ps. I love The Sun Also Rises. I think it is a good piece.
I didn’t understand The Sun Also Rises when I was in high school, and I still didn’t understand it when I read it again a few years ago. Not sure what I’m missing. A Farewell to Arms, though, is devastating.