Ernest Hemingway Biographical info Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), born in a! "ar!

!, #llinois, starte$ his career as a writer in a newspaper office in %ansas &ity at the age of se'enteen( )fter the *nite$ +tates entere$ the ,irst -orl$ -ar, he .oine$ a 'ol/nteer amb/lance /nit in the #talian army( +er'ing at the front, he was wo/n$e$, was $ecorate$ by the #talian 0o'ernment, an$ spent consi$erable time in hospitals( )fter his ret/rn to the *nite$ +tates, he became a reporter for &ana$ian an$ )merican newspapers an$ was soon sent bac! to E/rope to co'er s/ch e'ents as the 0ree! 1e'ol/tion( 2/ring the twenties, Hemingway became a member of the gro/p of e3patriate )mericans in "aris, which he $escribe$ in his first important wor!, 4he +/n )lso 1ises (1956)( E6/ally s/ccessf/l was ) ,arewell to )rms (1959), the st/$y of an )merican amb/lance officer7s $isill/sionment in the war an$ his role as a $eserter( Hemingway /se$ his e3periences as a reporter $/ring the ci'il war in +pain as the bac!gro/n$ for his most ambitio/s no'el, ,or -hom the Bell 4olls (1989)( )mong his later wor!s, the most o/tstan$ing is the short no'el, 4he l$ :an an$ the +ea (19;5), the story of an ol$ fisherman7s .o/rney, his long an$ lonely str/ggle with a fish an$ the sea, an$ his 'ictory in $efeat( Hemingway - himself a great sportsman - li!e$ to portray sol$iers, h/nters, b/llfighters - to/gh, at times primiti'e people whose co/rage an$ honesty are set against the br/tal ways of mo$ern society, an$ who in this confrontation lose hope an$ faith( His straightforwar$ prose, his spare $ialog/e, an$ his pre$ilection for /n$erstatement are partic/larly effecti'e in his short stories, some of which are collecte$ in :en -itho/t -omen (195<) an$ 4he ,ifth &ol/mn an$ the ,irst ,orty-=ine +tories (19>8)( Hemingway $ie$ in #$aho in 1961( ,rom =obel ?ect/res , ?iterat/re 1991-196<, E$itor Horst ,ren@, Else'ier "/blishing &ompany, )mster$am, 1969 4he A?ost 0enerationB +ee!ing the bohemian lifestyle an$ re.ecting the 'al/es of )merican materialism, a n/mber of intellect/als, poets, artists an$ writers fle$ to ,rance in the post -orl$ -ar # years( "aris was the center of it all( )merican poet 0ertr/$e +tein act/ally coine$ the e3pression Clost generation(C +pea!ing to Ernest Hemingway, she sai$, Cyo/ are all a lost generation(C 4he term st/c! an$ the mysti6/e s/rro/n$ing these in$i'i$/als contin/es to fascinate /s( ,/ll of yo/thf/l i$ealism, these in$i'i$/als so/ght the meaning of life, $ran! e3cessi'ely, ha$ lo'e affairs an$ create$ some of the finest )merican literat/re to $ate( 4here were many literary artists in'ol'e$ in the gro/ps !nown as the ?ost 0eneration( 4he three best !nown are ,( +cott ,it@geral$, Ernest Hemingway an$ Dohn 2os "assos( thers /s/ally

incl/$e$ among the list areE +herwoo$ )n$erson, %ay Boyle, Hart &rane, ,or$ :a$$o3 ,or$ an$ Fel$a ,it@geral$( Ernest Hemingway was the ?ost 0eneration7s lea$er in the a$aptation of the nat/ralistic techni6/e in the no'el( Hemingway 'ol/nteere$ to fight with the #talians in -orl$ -ar # an$ his :i$western )merican ignorance was shattere$ $/ring the reso/n$ing $efeat of the #talians by the &entral "owers at &aporetto( =ewspapers of the time reporte$ Hemingway, with $o@ens of pieces of shrapnel in his legs, ha$ heroically carrie$ another man o/t( 4hat episo$e e'en ma$e the newsreels in )merica( 4hese war time e3periences lai$ the gro/n$wor! of his no'el, ) ,arewell to )rms (1959)( )nother of his boo!s, 4he +/n )lso 1ises (1956) was a nat/ralistic an$ shoc!ing e3pression of post-war $isill/sionment( Hemingway an$ 4he A?ost 0enerationB -hen Ernest Hemingway arri'e$ in "aris late in 1951 to ta!e /p resi$ence in the )nglo)merican encla'e of a'ant-gar$e artists an$ intellect/als there, his literary aspirations were p/rely spec/lati'e( Get at twenty-two, this wo/l$-be writer somehow engen$ere$ cre$ibilityH e'en before he p/blishe$ anything ma.or, many of the encla'e7s e3patriate literati, among them E@ra "o/n$ an$ ,or$ :a$o3 ,or$, regar$e$ him as a significant talent( 4he belief in him pro'e$ well fo/n$e$( -ith the p/blication of his first no'el, 4he +/n )lso 1ises, in 1956, Hemingway emerge$ as one of the most original writers of his generation( 'er the ne3t se'eral $eca$es, many of his short stories an$ no'els wo/l$ be embrace$ as classics almost o'ernight( #n his own lifetime, Hemingway7s fame reste$ nearly as m/ch on his personality as it $i$ on his art( Between his e3pertise as an o/t$oor sportsman, his stints as a war correspon$ent, an$ his enth/siasm for b/llfighting an$ bo3ing, he became a symbol of 'irile glamo/r, an$ his celebrity e'en among those who ne'er rea$ his boo!s was a phenomenon /ni6/e in )merican letters( His most en$/ring legacy, howe'er, is his crisp, $irect storytelling prose, which has been a shaping infl/ence for co/ntless writers of the twentieth cent/ry(