A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
This memoir, published posthumously, covers Hemingway’s early days in Paris, right after he decided to leave journalism to become a writer of fiction. He was married, a father, constantly writing, friends with some very intelligent and very successful writers (Gertrude Stein and Scott Fitzgerald), and – to use his words – “very poor and very happy.” In this series of short essays, he sheds his skin to expose his heart.
I was struck with the sense that Hemingway found every day an adventure. He is constantly stringing together sentences as run-ons with the connectors of “but” and “and.” It’s like he is spinning some yarn and can’t wait to get to the end. So he rushes and avoids the periods and the commas. He is ready to tell his tale no matter what comes. Such was his sense of determination to become a writer while in Paris.
It is good for this aspiring writer to read of his struggles. He knew not how to make money. He just worked on his craft. This is good advice for anyone starting off in any profession or station in life. Work on the craft; be dedicated to the work; hone your skills; don’t be discouraged by rejection. Such was Hemingway’s time in Paris, whose lesson of being “very poor and very happy” is the path to success.