The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (1987)

It has never occurred to me before, but the autor seems to have been obsessed with physical violence, whether in the form of war, boxing, corrida, hunting ... Which is maybe why I still consider one of the few 'non-violent' stories, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, the best he's ever written. ( )

Hemingway expresses it well himself in one of the stories when he describes his alter-ego as writing morbid stories. Maybe not morbid, but they all have such a morose feel to them. It's like listening to hours of music in a minor key, discordant and mournful. He was not a happy camper. There is no joy in any of his stories. Awe sometimes, but never joy. ( )

This collection of stories is wonderful. Hemingway was a master of the short story genre and one of the finest American writers ever. Ever word is meaningful and well crafted into extraordinary stories. "Hills Like White Elephants" is my absolute favorite of the bunch. ( )

for me to give these marvelous nick adams and early war stories anything less than five stars would be blasphemous indeed. I've read and re-read the early stories, and especially "Up in Michigan," "Indian Camp," and "Big Two-Hearted RIver (parts 1 and 2)" are delicious to read again, and again. If I were allowed only one book or one person's work to have for eternity, it would be Papa's Before one thinks I am going to put him on a pedestal and worship him as a cohort of the angels, let me say I know he spelled worse than an Irish immigrant and didn't "develope" a style in maturity. His fifth grade essay reprinted by Carlos Baker in that author's biography shows the exact same literary style as used in "A Farewell to Arms." I sure wish I could find an editor like Max Perkins, or an agent like Scott Meredith. ( )