How to Read Hemingway

Start by reading Hemingway's short stories. Pay attention to the particularly his use of prose and the manner in which he applies short story form. Read "A Moveable Feast" for its cultural value as well as the outstanding prose.

Examine the author use of reductive prose style in which every word carries enormous weight. Feel how the prose takes on a droning, hypnotic rhythm that draws the reader into the story.

Discover that Hemingway's themes are broad, thus allowing the reader's own values to enter into play without the author providing any subtext.

Notice Hemingway's tendency to use allusion rather than description to create tension. Note the argument in "Hills Like White Elephants," and the soldiers in the rain heading into the woods in "A Farewell to Arms."

Remember that Hemingway had more in common with the painters of the time than with the writers. Examine his attempts to create an impression rather than a narrative. Notice how the author "paints pictures" but does not draw conclusions or use an omniscient point of view.

Date Hemingway to the generation of writers of the early 1900s amid numerous European wars and a general sense of dismay with the words of "civilized behavior" that were at the center of all the conflicts. Take into account Hemingway's ambivalence in the view that violence is a basic part of human nature.

Take time with Hemingway. Read slowly and keep a dictionary handy to ensure clear comprehension of words, passages, story and critical concepts.