I've been interested in reading Hemingway for a while (just as many people say they would like to) and am choosing to actually go and DO IT this time. However, i am curious, which of his books is the best one to start with? Easiest to read to get used to his writing style? etc.

Thanks.

Damn library didn't have 'Rules of Attraction', the next Ellis I wanted to read, oh well.

"Old Man & the Sea" blows. I don't care what anyone else says. It's boring and drags on. Which is a horrible statement for such a short book. Avoid it.

For Whom The Bell Tolls is, to my mind, his best. A beautiful mix of personal and political themes.


ps. the old man and the sea does NOT blow.

Thanks to both of you.

Good suggestions, I'd also throw in The Sun Also Rises as it to me, captures his unique style at it's purest in the novel format.

For Whom the Bell Tolls, as mentioned earlier is a good piece of literature and also as was mentioned I'd stear clear of The Old man and the Sea. It's in a way his sell out novel. Think Aerosmith throwing in the rock for ballad after ballad.

The best Hemingway though are the short stories in my opinion: A Clean Well Lighted Place, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hills Like White Elephants, and Soldiers Home are a few examples.

If you dig his style I recommend reading some Chekhov and Turgenev, they were huge influences on Hemingway and his short, concise sentences, point of view, and characterization.

I'll go w/ either 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' or 'The Sun Also Rises and tell y'all what I think after I read either of them. Man, so excited.

I need a beginners guide to a lot of things. Bukowski, Joyce, Plath, Vonnegut, Steinbeck, Updike... the list is almost endless.

Better to have a endless list than no list at all.

In order:

Ham On Rye
Dubliners
The Bell Jar
Breakfast of Champions
The Red Pony

Haven't read any Updike.

As for Hemingway, I'd also recomend the short stories. I for one love The Old Man and the Sea, but I just like Hemingway. A Moveable Feast is also excellent and is a work of nonfiction, giving you a lot of insight into his life in Paris and his writing style.

I just went to Barnes & Noble and bought the top 3 on that list. I hope they're good.

I think instead of Ham On Rye, start with Factotum for Bukowski, but that is just me...

I just put Ham on Rye because it's basically an autobiography and makes understanding Bukowski and his worldview that much easier.

I thought about it after I posted that... but yes, it does give you more insight.

just get a spoon and start digging your eyes out

Not a fan, eh?

you could say that





i do enjoy Buk though

Aren't you an English teacher?

Hemingway can be, how do you say...incredibly bland.

I like movies.

Dubliners-the last two pages of the short story titled The Dead are perfect. Overall it's kind of a slow story, good but slow.