Not that I’m some obsessive superfan who had his death date on my calendar; his name just came up in another thread, and I had the thought “he killed himself at 61, the age I am now, and I’m soon to turn 62. I guess I probably outlived him”. And checking the dates, he died 19 days before his 62nd birthday. My upcoming birthday is now closer than that.
As a lifelong avid reader, I did go through a Hemingway phase in my younger days. And I wasn’t just a fan of his novels and short stories, I’ve been interested in his flawed yet fascinating life as well. I share the love of the outdoors that he did, particularly northern Michigan. He grew up spending his Summers in Northern lower Michigan, and ‘Big Two-Hearted River’ takes place in a general area of the U.P. where I’ve spent a lot of time camping.
I visited his house in Key West many years ago, and I have to admit I was kind of envious of the lifestyle the guide described of a typical day in his life back then-- he’d get up at 6am and write for 6 solid hours. Then around noon he’d take his boat out ocean fishing for another 6 hours. Finally after 6pm, he’d go hang out at Sloppy Joe’s, or maybe the bar at the La Concha Hotel on Duval Street for a change of pace. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have wanted to try to match him drink for drink even when I was much younger. But the ‘work – fish – hang out with your pals and have a couple drinks in Paradise’ lifestyle sounded appealing to younger me, who even briefly contemplated moving to Florida.
And, not to get too dark or maudlin, but since this is a thread about my observation that I just happened to outlive him, I should probably note that I’ve seen at least faint parallels between the depression and mental illness that seems to run in his family and the OCD that runs in my family-- depression and anxiety being closely linked.
Anyway, just a miscellaneous and personal thought I decided to share.
When I was stationed in Rota, Spain I took a college course called “Hemingway in Spain.” Being on the ground in his playground brought a lot of life to his works and I became obsessed for a few years. I visited Ronda and Pamplona (not during San Fermin), and started going to bullfights on Sundays. I always wanted to go to Key West and Cuba, but haven’t gotten around to it. They’re still on my bucket list though.
I heard, when Hemingway first started attending bullfights, he got a meal at a restaurant just outside the ring after a fight, and ordered the Especial del día, the Special of the Day.
It was an outstanding meal, so he asked the waiter what it was. “Those are the cojones of one of the bulls who lost the day’s fights, senor.”, the waiter replies. Hemingway was somewhat taken aback, but had to admit it was delicious, despite its main ingredient.
So he became a semi-regular, often stopping to get the Especial del día, even if he didn’t attend a bullfight. But one day, the portion size was much smaller than usual. He asked the waiter “why is the amount so small today?”.
“Ah, it is not always the bull who loses the fight”.
Haha, old joke, and when I first heard it, it did not include Hemingway. But hey, it works in context, so I couldn’t resist.
(Checking Marisa Tomei’s birthdate) Yeah, born Dec. 4 1964, practically makes her a Gen X-er. When they start casting Millenials as Aunt May in Spiderman movies, we’re really gonna feel old!
It is indeed an old joke. Injecting Hemingway works. In actuality, the dish served in local restaurants after a corrida is Rabo de Toro - braised bull tail. It is delightful, and the tail of a toro bravo is much bigger and meatier than an oxtail, but I still enjoy Spanish oxtail stew from time to time when I can find one at a local butcher.
Interesting, and cool story in general about spending time in Hemingway’s old stomping grounds in Spain, a very formative time for him. I wouldn’t mind visiting as well, not to mention a trip to Cuba. Spain / Europe may very well happen for me someday; but Cuba, probably doubtful.
Back in the day I was a fan of Thirtysomething. In one of the episodes Michael, the writer, was moaning to Elliot, the artist, about being stuck on his great American novel. “I’ll never be another Hemingway.”
“Are you kidding me? Hemingway couldn’t be Hemingway – he died trying.”
Yeah, I’ve seen that before. And it does do a good job of covering the highlights (or, mostly lowlights?) of his life in 3 1/2 minutes. But that amount of time doesn’t leave a lot of room for nuance.
Look, I have no intention of being an apologist or defender for Hemingway; at least, certainly not his lifestyle. The man was no role model: raging alcoholic; treated his 4 wives badly; had epic misadventures, many likely caused or at least exacerbated by his drinking; and the African big game hunting was not too cool, at least viewed from a 21st Century perspective.
But speaking of lacking nuance, the claim in the video “he spent most of the 1940s working for the KGB” is misleading, to say the least. There’s evidence that, beginning in late 1940, Hemingway may have made a deal to spy for the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB. Not because he was pro-Communist, but because he was anti-fascist, and he thought helping the Soviet Union was the best way to help that cause. There’s no evidence that he actually ever gave the Soviets useful info, however. And he did work for American Intelligence agencies, even going so far as, which the video does mention, taking his boat out in the Caribbean with a machine gun looking for German U-Boats.
Mrs Maven & I visited Cuba of January 2015 on a group to support the Cuban Jewish community. It was a fascinating experience. We brought OTC medicine, batteries, and other supplies. There is almost no antisemitism in Cuba, but I digress.
We visited Hemmingway’s house, which was very cool. His writing room was roped off, but we could see inside. You could hand your phone or camera to a docent and they would take a picture of his typewriter. I just searched my photos, but it wasn’t there. Go figure.
Very cool. I would love to visit Cuba one day. I’m hoping for a brief window someday after it becomes legal for Americans to openly travel there, but before a McDonald’s gets built on every other street.
I, too, visited Hemingway’s Key West home. Didn’t get a photo of his typewriter, though.
My favorite Hemingway trivia is that he and his wife survived two plane crashes on two consecutive days. They were in Uganda on a small Cessna, and the plane clipped an electrical wire and plunged into the shores of the Nile. The Hemingways and the pilot camped out overnight. The next morning, they boarded a second plane to get them out of Dodge, but it crashed just after takeoff. Ernest suffered burns, a concussion, and a skull fracture.
The Key West Museum of Art & History has a neat exhibit called “Depicting Hemingway: Guy Harvey Sketches ‘The Old Man and the Sea’”. Worth checking out if you’re visiting Key West (or you can view the sketches online here)
Bah. This year I outlived Rob Reiner, Mahatma Gandhi, Andrew Jackson and a lot more who died at 78. Also Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Carson and Ella Fitzgerald, who all died at 79.
An issue of, I think, National Lampoon had chalk lines of famous dead people — Karen Carpenter’s was a stick figure, for example, Mama Cass’s has a chalk line in the shape of a ham sandwich and you can imagine what Hemingway’s looked like.
Yeah, surviving two plane crashes in the span of 24 hours is insane. The crashes did lasting damage though, and he was never quite the same afterward. The PBS series on Hemingway showed a clip of a TV interview he did not long before his death. He came across as shockingly feeble and not quite all there. If I recall correctly, the PBS series hinted strongly that it was the lasting effects from the plane crashes as much as the damage from lifelong alcoholism and his general depressive nature that led him to kill himself.
