Before my pilgrimage to Ernest Hemingway’s house, I wanted to re-read some of his work. I picked up The complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway and learned he doesn’t use a lot of commas, just like me. He has a fairly bare bones style of writing. He doesn’t tell you how to feel or how the characters feel, he lets you do the emoting. But he writes a compelling read anyway.
During my visit ( listening to the tour guide), I also realized he never earned big money or fame till a couple of his novels were turned into films. Rather his first two wives supported him. Okay I don’t feel so bad about taking Canada and/or Ontario Arts Council grants any more.
Tourists from all over traipsed through his house in Key West today, but
he’s lived in a kazillion places. They seemed more interested in his cats than his books.
Hemingway got into trouble with For Whom The Bell Tolls, it was banned for years, delaying his winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Hemingway indirectly showed me the impact art can have on a community. The bar he frequented is famous, the boat he used is famous, his house and his cats and his marriages and death also. There’s an industry of t-shirts based on his image. Key West is known for all the writers and artists who live there.
Now lets just think about Toronto and Burlington even…
Hemingway — early Hemingway — is always worthwhile. Economic use of language, he allows so much room for the reader. Lovely. And may I suggest adding Durham Region to your geographic reference at the end. Beyond Toronto — west and east — there be literary treasures.
Great post. Thanks!
Well I could add all of Canada. The arts are underrated as an economic stimulant to a community. Property value goes up based on the number of writers and artists who live in the area. Publicly celebrating your artists in all the genres only makes sense.