The best short stories always seem capable of crafting a meaningful episode populated by interesting characters in such few pages, and this suits Hemingway's trademark style perfectly.
I was awestruck immediately on cracking this one open with a pair of absolute spellbinding examples of short fiction,
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and
The Snows of Kilimanjaro—both of which I found of high enough quality that they deserved their own reviews, which I've linked.
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| A young Ernest Hemingway |
The Nick Adams stories which follow are often subtle and worthwhile. One particular example of great characterization from Hemingway was in
The Battler, which sees the titular Nick Adams character absorb a beating before coming face-to-face with a former prizefighter who's absorbed far too many. The episode is notable for what isn't discussed, as perhaps Adams sees what he could become in the future should he continue on his current path as a vagabond and tramp. Ad Francis is an unstable force—friendly and talkative one moment, brooding and violent the next—and his scarred visage puts Adams off immediately, despite the initially welcoming nature of the man. Perhaps what frightens Adams most is the similarity between this man and himself, rather than the potentially aggressive and violent nature of Francis.
Also notable is the character of Bugs, who's referred to pejoratively with racist epithets through the narrative, but shows himself to be the warm, welcoming, intelligent character that Francis initially appears. Hemingway, a famous fan of
Mark Twain's, plays off his contemporary readers' expectations with the character and subverts their expectations as Twain did with his stories.
Note: This review is in-progress. I'll add more thoughts as I continue to read.
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