Ernest Hemingway — 60 Years Ago — 6 Must-read Articles
Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 — July 2, 1961) was a great American writer — enough said.
The persona Hemingway carefully manufactured can be summed up as an early lesson in personal branding, which often overshadowed his writing skills. The question to be asked: If Hemingway hadn’t constructed his “larger than life” image, would he have had the writing success he had?
At the end of his life, Hemingway was suffering in mind and body. Then, on this day 60 years ago, one and half days after he came back from the Mayo Clinic, being treated for depression brought a sudden end to his storied life.
Countless biographies and articles have been written about Ernest “Papa” Hemingway, itemizing his exploits as a boxer, drinker, and gambler and how he had immersed himself in the Great War, the Spanish Civil War, and the Second World War. Hemingway hunting big game in Africa, deep-sea fishing from his yacht, and befriending generals, movie stars, bullfighters, and artists have been well chronicled. It’s as if Hemingway’s writings were secondary.
The following are 6 articles I think encapsulates what Ernest Hemingway gave to American literature.
1. The Moods of Ernest Hemingway, by Lillian Ross (May 13, 1950)
2. The Best Hemingway Novels, by Nancy W. Sindelar (June 6, 2014)
3. 5 Ernest Hemingway Passages Every Gentleman Should Know, by Jonathan Wells
4. Why Ernest Hemingway Was Probably the Most Interesting Man in the World, by Tibi Puiu (March 16, 2021)
5. Ernest Hemingway and the Cost of the Writing Life, by Joseph McAuley (July 21, 2015)
6. Ernest Hemingway, The Art of Fiction №21, by George Plimpton (Spring 1958)
FOOTNOTE: Hemingway’s influence on ‘writing style’ has been such that there’s a Hemingway App you can run your writing through to edit your writing so that it’s following one of Hemingway’s writing rules, Keep it simple.
