Saturday, February 25, 2012

Review: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Title: A Moveable Feast
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Publisher: The publisher of the copy I read was Scribner (Restored Edition)
Publish Date: Originally 1963
Source: Library



Why You're Reading This Book:
  • You're a classics lover.
  • You're an armchair traveler.
What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. It is a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized."

My Two Cents:

Ah early 20th century Paris! Land of cafes and writers. Can you imagine having a drink in a cafe while sitting across the table from Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald while discussing their latest work? A Movable Feast gives you the chance to do just that. Hemingway takes us to glamorous Paris where the writing elite of the time have all descended to fine tune their craft. This book is so awesome. It's sort of a who's who of the cafe culture of Paris during the 1920s, a time period that I'm absolutely in love with.

This is really my first experience with Hemingway and as far as I know, this is one of his only non-fiction books. Even from this book with his friends and familiars as his focus, you can see why he's still so beloved by readers today.

Probably my favorite parts of the books were the parts about Hemingway's family and also F. Scott Fitzgerald and his family. This book is rare as it isn't too often that you get to hear first hand information about people that I really admire like this.

What I can say is that this book definitely whet my appetite to read more Hemingway.


4 comments:

  1. Oh this does sound good! I only started reading a fiction one of his a long time ago (not sure why I never finished), but I'm definitely interested in this one too. I like the "who's who" aspect of it!

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    Replies
    1. Be ready to feel like you want to jump on a plane to Paris ;)

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  2. I loved it too. I bought it thinking it was a novel, because I'm a doofus. But I loved it so much--how great to be following Hemingway around Paris. The parts about F. Scott Fitzgerald were so much funnier than I expected them to be. (He was... kind of a doofus too. If brilliant.)

    The only downside of reading this novel, plus the writings of Martha Gelhorn, is that you won't enjoy The Paris Wife. Because you already know how it ends.

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    Replies
    1. Ugh, I better read The Paris Wife soon then. I actually won a copy a couple months ago and it has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. So many books, so little time!

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