Looking For a Good Book

You could take an entire university course just studying the works of Ernest Hemingway, so trying to sum up his importance in a blog post would be both presumptive and trite. But if, for some reason, you aren’t already familiar with Hemingway’s work, this short story might be a good place to start.

Big Two-Hearted River is, at best, a short story – not even a novelette. But combined with a foreword by John N. MacLean, which is almost as long as the story, we do get a novella-length work.

This story (a Nick Adams story, for those of you might find that interesting) is possibly the epitome of a nature love story. Nick, a WW1 veteran, needs to clear his head and so he goes away to camp and fish the Big Two-Hearted River.

And that’s really all there is to it.  No big plot.  Just man and nature as simply as possible.  This is emphasized by Hemingway’s sparse language and short, clipped sentences.

It had been a hard trip. He was very tired. That was done. He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him. It was a good place to camp. He was there, in the good place.  …  It was quite dark outside. It was lighter in the tent.

While I appreciate the simplicity of this, I also have to say that the Foreword might have been more interesting.  The Foreword was about something … it was about the story.  The story, however, is not about something … it’s more a meditation.  At the same time, though, it captures the mood of being outdoors, camping and fishing.

This special edition, recognizing the 100th anniversary of the story’s first publication, is beautifully illustrated with black and white art by Chris Wormell.  It is worth buying the book for the artwork.

Looking for a good book? Those who fish, camp, or generally enjoy the outdoors will find a connection with Ernest Hemingway’s story Big Two-Hearted River, now being republished in a new centennial edition.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Big Two-Hearted River

author: Ernest Hemingway

artist: Chris Wormell

publisher: Mariner Books Classics

ISBN: 9780063297494

hardcover, 112 pages