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Ernest Hemingway was born into the hands of his physician father. He was the second of six children to Doctor Clarence Hemingway and Grace Hemingway (daughter of an English immigrant). His father's interests in history and literature, as well as his outdoorsy hobbies - fishing and hunting, became a lifestyle for Hemingway. His mother was a domineering type. She dressed Ernest as a girl and called him Ernestine. She also had a habit of abusing his quiet father, who was suffering from diabetes, and ended up committing suicide. Hemingway later described the community in his hometown as one having "wide lawns and narrow minds".In 1916 Hemingway graduated from high school and began his writing career as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. There he adopted his minimalist style by following the Star's style guide: "Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative." Six months later he joined the Ambulance Corps in WWI and worked as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, picking up human remains. In July 1918 he was seriously wounded by a mortar shell, that left shrapnel in both of his legs, and he was awarded the Silver Medal.He became a Toronto Star reporter in Paris. There he published his first books, called "Three Stories and Ten Poems" (1923), and "In our time" (1924). In Paris he met Gertrude Stein, who introduced him to the circle, that she called the "Lost Generation". F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thornton Wilder, Sherwood Anderson, and Ezra Pound were stimulating Hemingway's talent. At that time he wrote "The Sun Also Rises" (1926), "A Farewell to Arms" (1929), and a dazzling collection of Forty-Nine stories. Hemingway also regarded the Russian writers, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev, and Anton Chekhov as his important influences. Hemingway met Pablo Picasso and other artists through Gertrude Stein. "A Movable Feast" (1964) is his classic memoir of Paris after WWI.Hemingway participated in the Spanish Civil War and in the World War II, by taking part in the D-day invasion of France. He took an active part in the military action. In one case he attacked the Nazis by throwing three hand grenades into an SS bunker and killing SS officers. He was decorated with the Bronze Medal for WWII. His military experiences were emulated in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940) and in several other stories. He settled near Havana, Cuba, where he wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" (1953), for which he received a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. The eponymous film, starring Spencer Tracy as the Old Man, was nominated for three Academy Awards and won one Oscar.War wounds, two plane crashes, four marriages, and several other affairs took their toll on his hereditary predispositions and things fell into pieces. Hemingway was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and insomnia in his later years. His mental condition was exacerbated by chronic alcoholism, diabetes and liver failure. After an unsuccessful treatment with electro-convulsive therapy, he suffered severe amnesia, and his condition worsened. The memory loss obstructed his writing and everyday life. He committed suicide in 1961. Posthumous publications revealed a considerable body of his hidden writings, that was edited by his fourth wife, Mary, and also by his son Patrick Hemingway. |
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