Hemingway: So Far from Simple
"Bouchard's lucid and intelligent analysis of Hemingway's 'far from simple' artistry demonstrates the complexity of Hemingway's evolving style as he dared to expose ignorance and moral complicity while refusing to adhere to expected form, especially during the volatile 1930s when literary critics expected writers to speak to the political turmoil of the day. Hemingway 'knew what was expected and was aware that he was writing against the grain' in bothDeath in the AfternoonandGreen Hills of Africa, works in keeping with Hemingway's lifelong goal to make the lived life emotionally tangible to his readers. Bouchard understands how these too often overlooked (or misunderstood) masterpieces are not so much about bullfighting or hunting as about the intricacies and mystery of the creative process, the primary concern of all of Hemingway's art. Bouchard's careful analysis of Hemingway's 1930s writing, along with other key works in the Hemingway canon, illuminates Hemingway's genius as a self-conscious writer whose stylistic innovations anticipated and captured the changing times. Bouchard integrates Hemingway's own statements on writing, as drawn from his letters and his art, to reveal Hemingway as a preeminent stylist who continued to speak to his times in unexpected ways. This marks one of the best critical works I have read in recent times, and I expect itwill become a classicand a must read for anyone interested in better understanding Hemingway as the Father of Modern American Prose." --Linda Patterson Miller, professor of English, Penn State Abington; editor ofLetters from the Lost Generation: Gerald and Sara Murphy and Friends; and head of the editorial review board for theCambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway"Why has it taken so long for Hemingway criticism to approach his writing more from philosophical positions than from narrowly biographical-psychological ones? In this well written study encompassing much of Hemingway's writing, both fiction and especially non-fiction, Donald Bouchard raises new questions andshows us new ways of understanding Hemingwaythe author-thinker whose 'simple' style and superficially transparent thought have misled if not deceived some critics." --Robert W. Lewis, editor ofNorth Dakota Quarterly, co-editor of Hemingway'sUnder Kilimanjaro, author ofA Farewell To Arms: The War Of The Words, and editor of the Kent State University Press Reading Hemingway series