Do you personally feel that Ernest Hemingway was a genius? Why or why not?

Answer 1

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."
--Ernest Hemingway

The man who brought us "The Sun Also Rises", "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea" certainly was a genius. The proceeding literary "hacks" (those that drafted the first, second and fourth comments here) shouldn't confuse the life he lived with the work he produced. Or set themselves up as the last say in the judging of prose.

It's no accident that he is still one of the definitive American authors to be globally read and praised. He was nearly universally hailed by his contemporaries -- Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Cheever, White, Hammett, Williams. Even James Joyce, one of the greatest of all literary lions, appreciated his work.

The world became a lesser place as booze slowly robbed him of his gift and finally his life. It's so easy now to be judgemental about this flaw in Hemingway. But, I find it interesting that so many great authors -- before and after his death -- are tormented by the same alcohol driven demons.

Even looking through the "Greens Hills of Africa" today -- a book that was not received well by the public -- there is impressive and dynamic prose that so few others even come close to achieving.

It has become so "cool" to dash prior generations of (and established) American writers, that I fear we are fueling the literary grasp of coming generations with voices that have little weight, speak for few and are the trendy icons of the moment. Writers that at the end of the day; lack any real staying power.

Answer 2

Nowadays, there is great prejudice against Hemingway. All emotional art comes from experience. Your University critics have none. By 1916 Hemingway was a medic in ww1 for Italy. He lived and associated with expatriate literary greats, killed pigeons for food and visited the Louve in the same week.

Fought illegally against Nazis in ww11. Hunted lions, and sailfish. Knew Castro, fought against Franco. You may agree or disagree with his opinion, but like Solzhenitsen and Doestevsky he DID live, he did not just imagine a life.

"The Old Man and the Sea" is short but a work of genius.

Answer 3

Great, great question, and one that is sure to spark a lot of debate. Hemingway does not come close to being a genius, and is vastly overrated. His flabby prose appeals to many who don't have the intellectual capacity to appreciate more complex, nuanced writing.

Answer 4

As English major, I have read quite a bit of Hemingway's works, and I wasn't very impressed. I mean, he actually didn't introduce anything completely groundbreaking in literature, and his stories don't make me jump with excitement.

Answer 5

Interesting question, but genius. questionable. definitely not a person able to live outside the literary world a sad reality to live in. The world of words with no seance of his own life's worth outside of the publishing domain. sad story indeed.