Hemingway, Ernest 1899–1961

Hemingway was a major American novelist and short story writer whose principal themes were violence, machismo, and the nature of what is now called "male bonding." His renowned style, for his firmly non-intellectual fiction, is characterized by understatement and terse dialogue.

The first thing to be remarked about Across the River and into the Trees is that it is so egregiously bad as to render all comment on it positively embarrassing to anyone who esteems Hemingway as one of the more considerable prose artists of our time and as the author of some of the finest short stories in the language. Hence the disappointment induced by this … work of his, a work manifestly composed in a state of distemper, if not actual demoralization.

This novel reads like a parody by the author of his own manner—a parody so biting that it virtually destroys the mixed social and literary legend of Hemingway that has...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass