Torrents of Spring [Hardcover]

Ernest Hemingway (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: CROSBY CONTINENTAL EDITIONS (1932)
• ASIN: B000OJTZYE
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Ernest Hemingway ranks as the most famous of twentieth-century American writers; like Mark Twain, Hemingway is one of those rare authors most people know about, whether they have read him or not. The difference is that Twain, with his white suit, ubiquitous cigar, and easy wit, survives in the public imagination as a basically, lovable figure, while the deeply imprinted image of Hemingway as rugged and macho has been much less universally admired, for all his fame. Hemingway has been regarded less as a writer dedicated to his craft than as a man of action who happened to be afflicted with genius. When he won the Nobel Prize in 1954, Time magazine reported the news under Heroes rather than Books and went on to describe the author as "a globe-trotting expert on bullfights, booze, women, wars, big game hunting, deep sea fishing, and courage." Hemingway did in fact address all those subjects in his books, and he acquired his expertise through well-reported acts of participation as well as of observation; by going to all the wars of his time, hunting and fishing for great beasts, marrying four times, occasionally getting into fistfights, drinking too much, and becoming, in the end, a worldwide celebrity recognizable for his signature beard and challenging physical pursuits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Changing contracts, September 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Torrents of Spring (Paperback)

For one to understand why Hemingway wrote a book of this caliber, it must be understood that Sherwood Anderson, whom Hem parodied, had a contract with the same company Hemingway had signed a contract with. An offer had also been made by Scribner which was more prestiegeous of the two literary firms. To get out of the contract, Hem offered this book, which he knew would be turned down by the firm of Boni and Liveright, thus giving Hemingway the chance to accept the contract from Scribner. The contract essentially said that if the second book of a three book contract was turned down, Hemingway could break the contract. Hemingway knew that Boni and Liveright would never publish a book which lampooned Sherwood Anderson (one of the stars of Boni and Liveright). Hemingway actually had other offers besides Scribner's. He did, however, take Scribner's offer, basically because he had given his word to Maxwell Perkins who worked at Scribner that he would work with them. The book was not intended as a great literary work, and thus must be examined in the light of which it is written. There are many funny idosyncrasies which Hem used for some of the characters in the book. Most of these came from people he knew there in Paris. Entertaining? Yes it was to me. A great literary work? It achieved what he was looking for. So you be the judge.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still holds up after all these years., December 5, 1999

By 

LaLoren - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Torrents of Spring (Paperback)

I thought I'd read everything Hemingway ever published, but I was not even familiar with this one. When I read that it was a parody, I thought I might not get it, since it had been a long time since I'd read any of the authors he was targeting. Instead I found myself laughing out loud. So much reminded me of best-sellers I had read in recent years(The Bridges of Madison County is one which comes to mind). It just goes to show, great writing can come in many styles, but bad writing remains amazingly consistant over the years.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars to fully enjoy the parody, read the object of the joke first, June 11, 2006

By 

vernoula "Mom and PhD" (Midlothian VA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Torrents of Spring (Paperback)

This isn't a novel that would be very enjoyable to someone who doesn't have much experience with other literary works of the 1920s. Read alone it is pretty silly and vulgar. Read -after- you have finished Sherwood Anderson's _Dark Laughter_, however, this book is very funny. Hemingway spoofs both Anderson's style and his silly plot. And throughout, EH offers a treatise on the art of parody. The book is very short, and tightly controlled by Hemingway (something Anderson didn't get right with Dark Laughther). The book is also interesting for those invested in the perennial Hemingway was/was not a racist argument. Read alone, the bits about Indians would be highly offensive, but read in light of Anderson's horrifying primitivism and liberal use of the N-word in Dark Laughter, Hemingway's depiction of the Indians is really a chastisement of Anderson's silly racist story. Hemingway's complex sense of humor, visible in his other novels under the surface, is fully on display here. Too bad time has eradicated a fuller understanding of all the jokes. I recommend this book for Hemingway aficionados and for students of modernism who need a wake-up call about Hemingway's place (and his understanding of that place) in the modernist canon.