26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Resonant and Revelatory, November 2, 2005
This review is from: Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD (Audio CD)
Of the Charleton Heston readings of The Old Man and Snows little need be said; they are professional in all respects and fine as they can be. It is good to hear Hemingway's deceptively simple prose read well, for it discloses the fundamental modern English architecture beneath it: decidedly tuned to the ear, with conscious attention to alliteration and repetition of sounds and words. The stories are two of the most carefully crafted in Hemingway's canon, and the resonant voice of Heston will gratify repeated listenings.
The addition of a rare disc of Hemingway's own voice will seem, in context, a throw-away or add-on. First of all, the listener will be startled by the high, occasionally hesitant pitch of the author's voice, simultaneously tentative and clipped, and heavily accented. It is no species of stereotyped tough guy one might have expected, neither Jimmy Cagney nor John Wayne. Nor is it one used to public performance. It is quite obviously private, and distinctly regional -- the timbre found in many great plains settlers, with a distinctly 19th century timbre that by now has all but vanished.
The occasion was Hemingway's pal A.E. Hotchner (author of Papa Hemingway) bringing a tape recorder down to Cuba in the 1950s. Set pieces of the public non-fiction voice were what the author obviously found most comfortable in this experiment: introductions to an obscure play and the collected stories, and finally a very moving performance of the short Nobel speech. There is also humor -- a self-parody of Across the River and Into the Trees harder on himself than any critic, and an outrageous improvised bawdy tale that sounds rather boozed. Yet there are two incredible, serious performances here: the wartime Second Poem to Mary, and the first chapter of book III of the then unreleased Islands in the Stream. In the world of audio literature, this is about as good as it gets. The poem eerily harks back to the horrors of the World War II Battle of Hurtgen Forest; it sounds as convincing as a battle report, and is an anguished, angry testament to bravery amidst death and monstrosity and the tactical errors of top brass, leaving fighting men in an impossible situation. The Islands reading describes Thomas Hudson amongst similar unspeakable things. If not for everyday or for cruising through town, this disc is certainly for sometimes, preferably late at night and perhaps aided by a shot of your favorite tonic to help you take the hit. In such a setting you will quickly understand how and why this unusual voice became a standard in the war-ravaged "American Century."
The thoughtful listener might aid appreciation by picking up Caedmon's Gertrude Stein Reading, and listening to it at the same sitting. Here is another classic, lost Midwestern voice -- and Hemingway's perhaps most important Paris teacher. The similarity of the diction between her Picasso and his Second Poem is a grand revelation, and the sort only possible through this aural dimension Stein thought so essential to her pioneering sandblast job honing our modern English tongue. Yeah kids, maybe you can do it now, perhaps even in your sleep. But only because they did it first.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
to complete your Hemingway journey this is essential, March 9, 2006
This review is from: Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD (Audio CD)
I have read everything Hemingway wrote and visited his home in Key West, the man is a legend on many levels. In order complete one's Hemingway collection this CD is required. Enjoy the readings and the brief glances at the man's voice
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CHARLES DOES IT AGAIN !, September 26, 2005
This review is from: Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD (Audio CD)
How could you not enjoy another endeavor of Hestons talents, he delivers time and time again. What a team, Heston and Hemmingway!!!!
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