The Ernest
Hemingway we read about in biographies has very distinctive characteristics
that set him apart from his contemporary fellow writers. He kept his writing
style minimalistic, his themes modernist and his protagonist full of bravado.
All these qualities can be transferred to him as a person. He is known for
being quite broody, depressed, and even melancholic. But the biographies fall
flat.
As of 2011,
much of Hemingway´s private correspondence has come to light. In these letters
we get to see a whole new side of the author. He is funny, witty, caring, and
happy. Of course he is an accomplished writer, so the many letters he wrote
during his lifetime are nothing short of amazing and a valuable piece of the
puzzle to discover the real Ernest.
I´d like to
focus on one particular letter he wrote to Marlene Dietrich, an actress, in
1955.
The text is
full of dark humor. One particular line that caught my attention was: “Marlene, darling, I write stories, but I
have no grace for fucking them up for other mediums. It was hard enough for me
to learn to write to be read by the human eye. I do not know how nor do I care
to know how to write to be read by parrots, monkeys, apes, baboons, nor actors.”
Make no
mistake, this IS a friendly letter. It was just his humor.
His letters
are very wordy, in contrast to his novels. Also, notice the type-os. Where they
made on purpose as part of his personal style? Or since this letter was never
meant to be made public, perhaps he didn´t mind?
In the last
paragraph he refers to a photo-shoot he must do, but doesn´t want to since he has
a bad back. When you read this letter he is no longer the distant, moody icon.
Instead, he becomes human. He becomes “Papa”.
The style on his personal letters has to do with the fact that Hemingways professional side, (the writer) there he could not be or show this talkative and chatty him. Maybe this was because it would had exposed too much of him. Instead in his book he follows the code of a journalist and a writer who has to be consist and fast. Perhaps, in his personal life, he just wants to show his emotions and feeling without second thoughts.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarI don't really agree with you, because when I read Hemingway I was fascinated by the way in which I was able to perceive context and his own life in every word. I compared his bibliography to his book Sun Also Rises, and every aspect of his life was reflected in his words, in an indirect way, but I laughed at many things just because I understood the context. Perhaps, when you are not into the context while reading it might appear like you say. Noticing some aspects of his bibliography every depressive thing in his book was also a part of his own life, but what we did not see there were his way of thinking, because one thing is to reflect your life and another one is to reflect your toughts and beliefs. His life was not happy at all and that is maybe why his boook looked depressing, and his thoughts and personality maybe were completely different.
ResponderEliminarOn the other side, I can relate this to the fact that Hemingway was not into writing about his own country, as well as he was not into writing about his own beliefs which differentiated him from many modernist authors so it might be the reason of the difference in his writings.