Customer Reviews

The First Forty Nine Stories (Arrow Classic)

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Hemingway is one of the greatest of all short - story writers. There is often a poetic beauty and clarity in his language. His apparently simple Biblically cadenced sentences are perceptually precise and focused. His stories generally have themes and create in a few lines memorable characters. Think of the old man who drinks without spilling in a 'Clean Well- Lighted Place' and who recites the "Nada y Nada' version of the "Lord's Prayer'. Or think of Krebs the soldier who comes home from the war and whose experience has estranged him completely from the sentimentalities and cliches of his family and home life. Think of Nick Adams himself the Hemingway alter ego whose innocence meets terrible experience more than one time. Hemingway is a master of close observation , a great American classic. Enjoy.

In my opinion Hemingway's best work was in the short story genre. While there have been many editions and anthologies published over the years, this limited edition from Frnaklin Library is an absolute stunner. Beautifully bound in full ox blood leather with silk end papers and full gilt edges, the volume is additionally illustrated with color plates by Bernard Fuchs. It includes the first 49 stories Hemingway wrote between 1921 to 1938 and was originally published intact and with the author's forward in 1938. I purchased my copy in "Like New" condition from an amazon seller for $40 and consider it a bargain.

Regardless of which edition you might choose I would urge any who struggled through Hemingway's more formidable (some might say turgid) novels to pick up a copy and immerse yourself in Hemingway's terse dialog of spent emotion in the genre to which it's most suited. He writes the way Humphrey Bogart spoke.

Although you can get twice as many stories in the new complete edition, this small paperback is perfect for people who don't want to commit to a hard-cover, or to 300+ pages of a Hemingway novel, or to long chapters. The few 4+ page short stories I read in this collection let me glimpse Hemingway's genius and still have more and want more. There is a nice, short preface to these stories written by EH.