Customer Reviews

Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Hemingway's Boat is a new nonfictional acccount of the life of Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) the 1954 Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature. The author is Paul Hendrickson who teaches creative writing to college students. Hemingway is the fa author of such American literary classics as "The Sun Also Rises"; "A Farwell to Arms"; "For Whom the Bell Tolls"; "A Moveable Feast"; "Green Hills of Africa": "Across the River and Into the Trees"; "Death in the Afternoon"; "The Old Man and the Sea"; the Nick Adams short stories and countless other works.
Hendrickson's book is a mixture of pleasures especially for those who love fishing and exploring the complex lives of the dysfunctional Hemingway family. Ernest's father committed suicide as did his younger brother and possibly two of his sisters. His mother died insane. Hemingway was a difficult man who could be cruel to friends and family members. He could also extend kindness and help to those in need. He lived for adventure and was a hedonist. Hemingway relished good food, drink and conversation. He had a massive ego
Hendrickson, an outdoorsman and fisherman, describes his personal visits to the Hemingway finca in Havana and the Pilar boat owned by the Cuban government. Hemingway loved the Pilar since the day he bought her at the Wheeler firm in Brooklyn in 1931. At that time the famous author was married to Pauline who gave him two sons" Patrick and Gregory. Gregory became a doctor who was a notorious cross dresser. Patrick and John both lived outdoor lives serving as game guides. Papa's oldest son John was by his first wife Hadley Richardson. Hemingway's third wife was journalist Martha Gellhorn and his final wife was Mary. Hemingway shot himself to death in Ketchum Idaho in 1961 tortured by his failing health, mental capacity and failure to write up to his high standards.
The book contains sections on friends of Hemingway such as Walter Hough and Arnold Samuelson who knew the Hemingway family during their long residence in Cuba There are also many pages on Dr. Gregory Hemingway who lived a tragic life.. Hendrickson's book has many pages on the excitement of big game fishing, the construction of fishing vessels and the atmsopheric color of Havana and life in the Caribbean. Many readers will find this fascinating material while others will be bored by these pages. Hemingway is not everyone's cup of tea!
An interesting take on Hemingway which will get you into the mind and soul of the old man of the sea who loved fishing, hunting, chasing women and most of all writing! A great reading experience which should be on the shelf of everyone who loves Hemingway and life.

Paul Hendrickson writes a personalized view of Ernest Hemingway, with the focus on Hemingway's love and obsession with the sea, fishing and his boat `Pilar'. Hendrickson visited Cuba and what remains of Hemingway's home and boat. He interviewed and got to know those who knew Hemingway, especially his son Gigi and a Foreign Service officer that married his secretary during his years in Cuba. It is quite an original idea to write of Hemingway and his love of the sea - using this as the main focus of Hemingway's life from 1934 until 1961. The outdoors made this writer much of what he was and was the part most fondly remembered by his sons.

At times it seems as if there is padding of the story, with letters and history of the `Pilar's boat builders. There are almost 20 pages concerning Arnold Samuelson, who wanted to be a writer, came to Hemingway and spent some time with him. These 20 pages are Samuelson's life, not his contact with Hemingway. The same technique occurs with Walter Hock, which is interesting in its' own way, but detracts from the focus of Hemingway. Much is also added in concerning Hemingway's cross dressing son, his problems, his life and death.

A picture is placed in the beginning of each chapter, but photos are mentioned so frequently, that one longs to see these pictures that the author is describing, including ones he took of `Pilar' in more recent times.

What is extremely good is the talent Hendrickson has for getting inside Hemingway's head; his feelings for the surroundings and of course his boat and the sea. Even subtle changes are well described and noted, such as the how Hemingway's writing changes through the years to a more complex sentence structure. How certain stories and passages grew in this time period are almost lyrically described
Hemingway's faults are not forgotten. The perception is presented of Hemingway's hair fetish, cutting his wife's hair, his secretary's, dying it white blond, his fixation with hair in his stories. He however, remains larger than life and this phenomenon is analyzed too.
This is a book for those who have a passion for Hemingway, the sea, boats or fishing.

This is not only a must read for all readers of Hemingway but any reader that likes great writing and a fascinating subject will find this a worthwhile book. Some might ask is another book about Hemingway really necessary. But Hendrickson adopts a middle-of-the-road approach and brings a great deal of new material to light. Certainly Ernest Hemingway is an author almost bigger than life. And the tragedy of his life and talent deserve such a book.

Having read this book, I'm still not too sure of just what the author's point was. It's not a biography, though there is plenty of biographical information in it. It's not a literary criticism, although the author mixes some of that in. It's not a psychological analysis, though there are certain psycho-babble theories proposed.

All of that said, it is interesting, and I'm glad I read it.

If there is any new information in this volume, it is most likely the detailed rendering of Hemingway's purchase of the "Pilar" and how it was outfitted, delivered, and where indeed he borrowed the money to acquire it. The author doesn't say so - at least in so many words - but perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Hemingway's relationship with his boat is how long-lasting and constant it turned out to be. While friends, wives, and others drifted through Hemingway's life in a kind of revolving door fashion, he never let go of the "Pilar" until he had to leave it behind when he finally quit Castro's Cuba. It was a wooden boat, and by the time he bade it farewell, most such craft were being made from fiberglass, which was stronger, lighter, and virtually maintenance free. And yet, Ernie evidently never gave a thought to replacing his 25 year old craft with a newer model. Interesting.

Another interesting thing is how many folks who know far more about Hemingway than I do continue to screw up his Sun Valley history. This author doesn't have him traveling there with Martha Gelhorn until 1940...the trip which saw him marry her in Cheyenne. In truth, Martha was with him on his very first journey to Sun Valley, in 1939. Hendrickson, an enthusiastic fly fisherman, also has Hemingway himself doing a lot of fly fishing in Idaho. In actuality, apparently the only time he ever fished there was on that 1939 trip. There is a photo of him in Loyd Arnold's book, "High on the Wild with Hemingway" showing him posed in fly fishing garb, holding a nice catch. The picture was part of a Union Pacific publicity release in which Hemingway praised the resort's fishing opportunities in return for the U.P. putting Gelhorn and him up for free.

In the narrative, Arnold clearly states that the posed photo was Hemingway's only time fishing in Sun Valley. Like Hendrickson, the academic community seems to ignore Loyd Arnold, and that's a shame. He may never have seen the inside of a college or university, but he has one qualification that overrides that lack: He was there.

Unlike the previous review, also a five-star rating, I say this book IS a MUST READ if you have any interest in Hemingway at all.

Hendrickson writes beautifully, which is appropriate given that his subject wrote some of the most beautiful and imitated prose in the English language.

And to think that I didn't even really like Hemingway that much before I read this great great book.

I promise you that after reading this book you will understand better both the strengths and weaknesses of this most interesting of men!

'Nuff said!

Every time I think I'm done with reading Hemingway and reading about Hemingway, someone comes along with a fresh angle and reels me back in. . .so much of what Hem wrote is hopelessly stale (the dialogue between the lovers in Farewell stimulates the gag reflex) but the best stuff (the retreat scene in the same book) still crackles with life. Wish I could understand why this writer, who died when I was about 13, continues to fascinate me. . .I've read everything he wrote and most of the bios and memoirs, so you'd think I'd have had a belly full. And yet. . .

I'm more than halfway thru Hendrickson's book and am having a very tough time putting it down. . .yes, he hops around a lot and sometimes gets bogged down in detail and yes, he succumbs to the Hem disease, writing in the master's style, in spite of his best efforts. Michael Reynolds suffered from this defect, which is minor but occasionally annoying. I also find it jarring when PH quotes post-Hemingway sources such as Springsteen and Lyle Lovett. Nor do his repeated attempts at period slang often ring true.

On the plus side, I appreciate the reminders of Hem's kindness to kids and wayfaring strangers. Some great insights here. Also appreciate Hendrickson's generally sympathetic remarks on the perhaps unfairly reviled Islands in the Stream, which does contain some beautiful passages. Hendrickson is particularly strong in documenting the shocking, even heartbreaking, decline and fall of the author during the '50s. . .

But what really irritates me is I know damn well that when I finish this compelling treatment, I'll be going back to the bookshelf and re-reading Hemingway, one more time. A guy really ought to have better things to do. . .

Paul Hendrickson must have read my mind and when I came across this wonderful book, I just knew I had to have it. I think the author found a brilliant way into the life of one of America's best-known, most dedicated, and most influential writers, as he chronicles in great detail, when and how Hemingway acquired his most loved possession and how devastating it was when Hemingway abandoned his beloved boat, Pilar, on the shores of Cuba in 1960 for Ketchum, Idaho.

Hendrickson has a knack for describing locations intimately and anchoring us to places we've barely heard of, making us feel as if we've been invited aboard Pilar for the ride of a lifetime. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was very moved by the graphic and disturbing scenes Hendrickson recounted of the death of Hemingway's cross-dressing son, Gregory, and of Hemingway, himself. Not to mention the friction between these two egocentric characters and how they apparently competed for public attention.

A truly heartbreaking account of a man whose life ended so tragically and so devastating, as though he had nothing else to offer but death in its most horrific form for all to see, for all to feel.

Thank you Paul for such a heartfelt work and for such insight into the life and times of America's quintessential minimalist man of letters. I feel as if I've had the honor of learning not only about Earnest Hemingway, but of another author who esteems him as much as I do.

If you're a Hemingway fan in any way, you'll love this magnificent book.

I wanted to love this book; I generally like Hendrickson's writing, and even forgave him for the stuttering comma in the subhead. But for someone who accuses the press in Hemingway's day of "hackdom," Hendrickson gets a bit carried away on his own, venturing into psychological territory that become a tiresome mishmash of suppositions, overly dramatic and sometimes embarrassingly gimmicky writing, and some mistakes; one is noted above in a review regarding timeframe. The long explication about Arnold Samuelson was mystifying, especially since the subject of his mental illness arrived much later than it should have. This was a seriously disturbed human being, and deserved a more poignant, nuanced discussion -- if so much written about Samuelson even belonged in the book at all. Descriptions of people are sometimes a bit off; for example, the author's description of Eva Blixen as "voluptuous" when it was clear from the photo that she was rail-thin.
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was the same problem I have with much current non-fiction these days: the insertion of the author into the story when it might be better to stay aside as a keen observer. When the story becomes about the author as well (as Mr. Hendrickson does in his italicized chapter forwards), the book loses focus.
There are so many gaps in this book, and so many sections and thoughts that just disappear without a trace. Not much written about Martha Gellhorn; Gigi's first wife, who was said to come to a sad end, but with no explanation; and the airplane accidents in Africa, to name a few out of many. The section about Gigi was painful to read, but the author's knowledge about transvestitism and sexual-reassignment surgery is woefully lacking.
That said, I enjoyed many of the details of the fishing episodes (minus the Thompson machine gunning of sharks), and wished for more atmospherics about Key West, the Biminis, and Cuba. The story of Hemingway falling apart, which we all know so well, is always painful to read, as is the story of his sons. The story became almost voyeuristic in these descriptions, so I was grateful for the few stories that showed Hemingway's compassion, such as the section on the deaths of Gerald and Sara Murphy's sons.

I am near the end of this book and can't wait to finish it. It was long and wordy in many places and lacked focus in other places. The author sidetracks several times to other characters which leaves the reader wondering "why." Often times when reading this book I wondered what "this" has to do with anything. On the positive side there was much insight into Hemingway's daily life on his boat as well as his interaction with friends and family. It makes me want to read more of his work. I now understand Hemingway's charcter more than I ever did and how insanity may have run in his family. There is a fine line between insanity and genius and I think Hemingway and some members of his family prove this.

Thoroughy enjoyed reading this book and the little side stories about the Wheeler Shipyard and family, Arnold Samuelson's year with Hemingway in Key West, and the stories of Hemingway friends Walter and Nita Houk. I found Samuelson's Book on Abe Books, am planning my trip to Key West, and researching how I can travel to Cuba and visit Finca Vigia.
Author Paul --- if you happen to peruse Amazon and read these reviews, thank you !!!