Before it is too late, actual collaboration between the U.S. and Cuba is happening regarding the restoration of Hemingway’s beloved Cuban home. He lived there for about twenty years. As mentioned in previous posts, he and Mary left many papers and mementos when they were not allowed to return. Apparently, there remain many writings/notes of historical and literary interest even after Mary was permitted to remove some of them post-Hemingway’s death.
Most of us can’t be a Hemingway even if surrounded by his aura and his home. Still, it has to inspiring. Enter the contest and maybe you can be the one to sit in his chair and banish any thought of writer’s block. Click above link for details.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. The above is a link to an article in The Hemingway Project about early short stories written by Hemingway. Enjoy. Thank you for reading this Blog and being interested in Ernest Hemingway.
I have eagerly awaited this movie since I heard about it. I love Colin Firth and Max Perkins deserves his own glory. The role of the editor was very different in the 20’s-50’s with huge nurturing of egos and careers. How Perkins managed his stable of temperamental geniuses is beyond imagination. It should get to the US in early 2016.
Hemingway famously did not like any adaptations of his novels. Heck, they changed the end of A Farewell To Arms. He “kind of” liked For Whom the Bell Tolls. To Have and Have Not barely resembled the book. And don’t get him started on The Old Man and the Sea. He told A E Hotchner that the best way to handle a movie offer is to drive to the CA border, let them throw the money at you, you throw the book to them, and then drive away like a bat out of hell.
Nice article about Hemingway and others. I did a post early on about who I would cast in main roles. Maybe i’ll do that again and reconsider my earlier thoughts.
Hemingway is never played out. As I’ve previously mentioned, three movies are coming out about Hemingway or in which he is featured–four if you count Mariel Hemingway’s A MOVEABLE FEAST.
Let the fun begin.. Features Adrian Sparks as Hemingway and Giovanni Ribisi as journalist Ed Myers. Not sure how widely distributed it will be.
While Hemingway is never out of style, apparently there has been a resurgence in the purchase and reading of his A Moveable Feast since the tragedy in Paris.
I will read it again this weekend as well for the comfort of the words.
May I wish all a wonderful Thanksgiving and a peaceful holiday. Love, Christine
Every writer has his/her own comfort place where writing is easier and better for him/her. Hemingway often wrote standing up especially after the plane accidents but he also enjoyed writing at a big table. His fourth wife, Mary, created a studio for him on the Finca property but he never took to it and preferred to write in the house. He typed but he also did a fair amount long hand and edited long hand, slashing, writing, correcting, modifying.
The above article is about other writers’ habits. To quote the author of the article, Richard Lederer:
Francis Bacon knelt each day before creating his greatest works. Martin Luther could not write unless his dog was lying at his feet, while Ben Jonson needed to hear his cat purring. Marcel Proust sealed out the world by lining the walls of his study with cork. Gertrude Stein and Raymond Carver wrote in their cars, while Edmond Rostand preferred to write in his bathtub.
Emily Dickinson hardly ever left her home and garden. Wallace Stevens composed poetry while walking to and from work each day at a Hartford, Conn., insurance company. Alexander Pope and Jean Racine could not write without first declaiming at the top of their voices. Jack Kerouac began each night of writing by kneeling in prayer and composing by candlelight. Friedrich Schiller started each of his writing sessions by opening the drawer of his desk and breathing in the fumes of the rotten apples he had stashed there.
Some writers have donned and doffed gay apparel. Early in his career, John Cheever wore a business suit as he traveled from his apartment to a room in his basement. Then he hung the suit on a hanger and wrote in his underwear. Jessamyn West wrote in bed without getting dressed, as, from time to time, did Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain and Truman Capote. John McPhee worked in his bathrobe and tied its sash to the arms of his chair to keep him from even thinking about deserting his writing room.
This is me again. So you always knew writers were a weird and rare breed. I don’t have any habits that rival the above. Give me a fire, one of my dogs, and some smooth jazz and I usually can get something down.
Any other strange writing habits out there?
Best, Christine
ADDENDUM: An astute reader wrote to say that the above photo is not of Emily Dickenson. So much for Google image search. Here is another and I hope it is correct. Many thanks! C