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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jan 4, 2010 18:21:50 GMT -6
On my recent Hedo vacation for New Years, I read "A Moveable Feast", Ernest Hemingway's memoirs from his days as a poor, young writer trying to survive in Paris during a 5 year period of 1921-26. This is a book he wrote around 30 years after the experience, during the late 1950's. In it, he recounts many tales about the artistic community which surrounded him in that era that helped to form the writer he later became when he matured. Why did I select this book to read during my vacation? Well, over a year ago when I went to Fantasy Fest, one of the highlights of my trip was a tour through Papa's house in Key West; being immersed in his life and his times, it immediately reminded me of how much I enjoyed his writing 30 years ago, when I was introduced to it in college. After that tour, I immediately made a mental note to purchase some of the man's books and read them with the expectation that the many years with additional life experience and maturity (albeit modest), I would be viewing them with a deeper, richer appreciation than I had as a callow youth. I was in no way prepared for what I found in this book -- which is my way of telling you how much I loved it. When you enjoy a book deeply, it's more than just the book itself, it's the experience of reading it -- and that's precisely what struck me so hard with "A Moveable Feast". Filled with many stories -- quite a few of them surprisingly and unexpectedly amusing -- about such literary luminaries as Gertrude Stein, Ford Madox Ford and especially F. Scott Fitzgerald, the book is a treasure trove of essays that shine a bright light on Hemingway himself. If you are looking for a good biography of the author, then "A Moveable Feast" provides all you ever really need to know about him as he provides extensive introspection into his soul and (one thing I particularly appreciated) his writing process. A good trip -- which may or may not be a vacation -- is one that is both informative and transformative. Clearly, Hemingway's experience during this post-World War I era of Paris was exactly this and it is one reason why I recommend the book, especially if you read it during a trip -- whether the trip may be a Hedo vacation, a vacation elsewhere or an entirely different kind of trip. It may very well be the best trip report ever written -- and inspire you to want to write one of your own.
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Post by Chicago Jake on Jan 4, 2010 18:28:35 GMT -6
I bought and read that book before a trip to Paris, figuring it might give me some preparation. I enjoyed the way that he immerses you in the minutia of his thought processes all the way through. And I especially liked the parts with F. Scott, each one getting drunker than the other. I remember thinking, these two dudes think they are friends, but actually they are each others' own worst enemies!
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jan 4, 2010 18:37:30 GMT -6
That's an excellent observation, and I wouldn't entirely disagree with you, but I would respond that at the time, each thought they were the best of friends -- which, at least temporarily -- fulfilled a clear need in the other. Point being simply, what more can you ask of a good friend?
My favorite chapter was the one which Fitzgerald complained that Zelda called into question his cock size and needed an "objective" opinion from Hemingway. Priceless stuff!
As you mention, the detail in which he describes the tastes of everything he ate and drank makes you curious about all of it and I could see using this as something of a gastronome's travel guide to France, in the event I ever manage to travel anywhere other than this continent.
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Post by Chicago Jake on Jan 4, 2010 18:53:46 GMT -6
You mean when he pulls F. Scott into the bathroom? That was hilarious. Those guys must have been like the Two Stooges to any outside observers.
The book is sort of the ultimate trip report. I went looking for that bookstore (Shakespeare and company). I found it, but I think I read somewhere that it is in a new location from the one where Hem used to hang out.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jan 4, 2010 18:59:19 GMT -6
There are a chain of bookstores throughout Manhattan with that name; they have been around for a long time, but I have no idea as to whether or not there is any real connection, or if the name is merely some kind of marketing gimmick. Are they located anywhere else in the US?
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Post by Chicago Jake on Jan 4, 2010 19:07:52 GMT -6
Not that I've heard of.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Jan 4, 2010 19:36:18 GMT -6
The ones in Manhattan are quite wonderful -- at least to me, anyway -- because they have an extensive collection of books of all types and lack the corporate mentality of, say, a B&N or Borders in that they don't have coffee shops to reek of "coolness". They simply provide a vast array of supply and places to sample them ... also -- especially given the locations in the East Village and the Upper West Side -- they are a *great* place to pick up women. Perhaps a better discussion for another time ...
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