The past few weeks I've been speeding through this book! I've reached a lot of the shorter stories, some of which are one or two pages long. One of which was incredibly fascinating, it's called "Old Man at the Bridge" and it describes a conversation between a narrator and on old man. As the story progresses Hemingway adds subtle details to the picture, but he doesn't actually tell a story. This begs the question: what makes a story? In this case, there isn't a solid story that is told but rather bits and pieces that could potentially make a story. In a way Hemingway relies on the reader to form the story themselves. You're given information, and what you do with that information creates the story for you as a reader.
Another story that I absolutely fell in love with was "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". It's beautifully written and flips between past and present in the form of flashbacks. Hemingway flips between the two without warning, which follows the stream of consciousness of a dying man. Personally, I love that kind of writing because it's so human. It's abstract, but it's a relatable human experience that doesn't need a lot of explanation. For example Hemingway jumps between one simply with: "Now in his mind he saw a railway station at Karagatch and he was standing with his pack and that was the headlight of the Simplon-Orient cutting the dark now and he was leaving Thrace then after the retreat." There's not a lot of explanation, but Hemingway forces you to go along this journey with him. I'd like to learn how to write like that because it forces the reader to suspend their belief and allow the writer to guide them along this journey they've created.
Additionally, I think that the way Hemingway describes death in the story is so abstract and yet so clear. Throughout the story the main character seems to feel waves of death wash over him, and has moments of certainty that he is going to die. It's a terrifying concept, but he's totally calm about it. He accepts death and remembers the things he'd always wanted to do. However, it isn't until the end that Hemingway shows the scary side of death, when the main character fights and doesn't want to die. He describes death creeping up on his bed, smelling of rot and paralyzing him with fear, but that too passes.
Hemingway ends the story with his wife finding him dead, after he has this beautiful vision of journeying across the countryside. I found one of the most interesting parts of the story was the fact that his wife was trying to take care of him, but denying that he's going to die. He has this internal struggle with death, fighting off these horrible visions and immersing himself in his memories. However, his wife totally denies his struggle until she finds him dead. The reader never really learns how she reacts to this because it ends so abruptly, but it certainly says a lot about perspective in writing and in real life.
As a whole, I think I've found my favorite story in this book! I hope I find more gems like this as I continue reading.
