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When I was much younger and "my steps were quick and light," as Mr. Seger used to sing, I sat down at a table in the library with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I hadn't read Hemingway before then, and selected that particular volume because it was referenced in a now-forgotten article I'd read.
Once I had my nose squarely, and immovably, in the book, I caught myself giggling. Not because it was funny, but because I enjoyed the prose so much. It was so purposeful and gossamer-like. Hemingway made every word tell, as William Strunk might say. Ole Ernest didn't always get it right with that style of his, but when he did, hoo-boy!
On the other end of my prose-wordiness spectrum is Charles Dickens. I absolutely adore Dickens' work. That Victorian sarcasm of his is delicious. I just finished rereading several of his novels: A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and David Copperfield. Each gets better in the revisiting, as I think a truly good book should. While Dickens' prose is busier than Hemingway's, it certainly isn't lesser.
Hawthorne is a blast to read over and over. As is Dostoyevsky. And Abe Lincoln (not a novelist, I know, but what a writer!) And on and on…
There hasn't been an addition to my novel library in years. I just read my old books. Repeatedly. There was a brief detour when I tried a couple of those Jack Reacher novels. They were entertaining, but reminded me of cotton candy - kind of yummy in the moment, but all empty calories. There was no real nutrition to be had.
All that said, I have written nothing I haven't hated. Published in magazines? Check. Been issued press passes for sports journalism? Check. Satisfied with my work? Nope. I'm 62, have been writing for decades, and still can't find that thing: the perfect balance of showing, not telling, but still treating readers like they were made in the image of God, in possession of the smarts needed to navigate a complex sentence. Commas aren't evil, you know. But still, Hemingway's prose could be so tight…
Discussion (11)
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I wholeheartedly agree with you on at least two points. Hemingway's writing is often just amazing. And any book truly worth reading once is worth reading many times.
As far as your writing goes, I recommend Dave Carter's post from earlier today.
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George Orwell’s non-fiction, autobiographical books are great: “Down and out in Paris and London,” “Burmese Days,” “Keep the Aspidistra Flying,” and “Homage to Catalonia.” I also recommend Saint-Exupery’s “Wind, Sand, and Stars,” “Night Flight”, and “Flight to Arras.”
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Ditto.
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Hemmingway's book when he was a war correspondent in WWII, embedded in with the troops is also very good. It's called Byline. It also has personal excursions including Christmas, hunting and fishing, bull fights etc. He did it all. He had to write a few paragraphs for various magazines - 4 decades worth from 1920 to 1956. Fascinating!
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