Such an amazing collection, lot of bang for your buck within these pages.

I read this back in 2017 but I wasn’t impressed. I am trying to reread some of Hemingway’s stories as we prepare for vacation at the end of the end of the month. Better luck to myself on the next book

Just what I wanted. Soldiers, boxers, betting, bulls, fishing, a cat, recurring character “Nick”, paragraph- long sentences, a lot of commas.

O pisica în ploaie
Sat indian
Campionul
Soldatul s-a întors acasa
Cincizeci de bătrâne
Bătrânul de lângă pod

Hemingway's true element was the short story and the selection in this collection shows the development of his status as a master in that particular art form. Despite being technically astute, Hemmingway's writing style and stories are definitely an acquired taste.

I personally find it interesting that many people criticize Hemmingway for being unabashedly male and particularly of the classic 'macho' variety. This can be a turn-off for many readers, but I read it as refreshingly honest and true to who he really was as a person. Sure, it might be uncomfortable to know that there are men who really do not -care- what the women around them think or, heaven forbid, feel and even go so far as to distance themselves from female company for long periods of time, but it's real. And that's what Hemmingway's writing is...it's reality...a slice of reality from usually a single 'macho' point of view.

What I enjoy most about Hemmingway's stories is that they make you think...at least if you can get engaged in them in the first place! Rarely did I finish a story with a total feeling of ambivalence and lack of curiosity. Almost always I was left with questions and I think this sense of incompletion was critical to Hemmingway's writing style, demonstrated in his abbreviated sentence structure, staccato word flow and ambiguous sections of dialogue.

Ani slovami neviem opísať, ako som si tieto poviedky užila. Ak niekto chce začať s Hemingwayovou tvorbou a nie je si istý románmi, tak toto je skvelý úvod - od tém až po štýl písania, ktorý sa postupne vyvíja. A samozrejme, je tu aj pár poviedok, kde je aplikovaná iceberg theory - moje obľúbené.

Non sono mai stata capace di recensire i racconti, da un lato vorrei sempre commentarli con meticolosità uno per uno, dall'altro la mia irrimediabile pigrizia me lo impedisce ogni volta. Così mi limiterò a raccontare un aneddoto su come Hemingway sia stato il mio primo vero approccio alla Letteratura con la L maiuscola.

Sull'antologia che usavo alle scuole elementari, di cui ricordo pagine scarabocchi brani, insomma tutto tranne il titolo, c'era un passo di uno di questi racconti, "Colline come elefanti bianchi". La maestra ce lo aveva fatto leggere e ci aveva dato il compito di trovare la nostra conclusione a questo accenno di storia. Mi pare ancora di vedermi in casa da sola, mentre lo leggevo e lo rileggevo per cercare un finale che potesse essere all'altezza del buon vecchio Hemingway di cui ancora non sapevo nulla. Ovviamente non trovai nessuna degna conclusione, ma di certo intuì qualcosa, perché è ancora troppo netto il ricordo di quel racconto e delle sensazioni che riuscì a donarmi.

La breve vita di Francis Macomber *****
La capitale del mondo ****
Le nevi del Kilimangiaro ***** (magna cum laude)
Vecchio al ponte
Su nel Michigan ****
Sul molo di Smirne
Capitolo I
Campo indiano
Capitolo II
Il dottore e la moglie del dottore
Capitolo III
La fine di qualcosa
Capitolo IV
Tre giorni di vento *****
Capitolo V
Il lottatore
Capitolo VI
Una storia molto breve ****
Capitolo VII
Il ritorno del soldato *****
Capitolo VIII
Il rivoluzionario
Capitolo IX
Il signor Elliot e signora
Capitolo X
Gatto sotto la pioggia ****
Capitolo XI
Fuori stagione
Capitolo XII
Monti sotto la neve ****
Capitolo XIII
Il mio vecchio ****
Capitolo XIV
Grande fiume dai due cuori *****
Capitolo XV
L'Envoi
L'invitto
In un altro paese ****
Colline come elefanti bianchi *****(il mio preferito)
I sicari
Che ti dice la patria?
Cinquanta bigliettoni
Una semplice domanda
Dieci indiani ****
Un canarino in dono
Un idillio alpino ****
Una gara a inseguimento
Oggi è venerdì
Storia banale ****
Insonnia
Dopo la tempesta ****
Un posto pulito, illuminato bene *****
La luce del mondo
Dio vi conservi allegri, miei signori ****
Metamorfosi marina ***** (!)

Typical Hemingway.

This was an entertaining book to read. Some stories in this anthology are pretty good and some are quite ordinary. You'll come across boxers, bull riders, Contract killers and all kinds of different characters in these stories. You'll come across some great / ambitious short stories like "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "Snows of Kilomanjaro" and then there are few stories anybody with a pen and a paper could have written. They will make you question whether these stories were written by a Noble Prize winning author. I guess that's what's unique about Hemingway's writing style. "The Indian Camp" is a good example. It's merely an incident but there's something magical about it.

Genial. Me gustan más que sus novelas largas.

I liked the way the stories were connected, but some of them were so boring and it took me ages to read them. I loved some of the stories, but most were just meh.

Me gustó la forma en la que se conectan las historias, pero algunas fueron muy aburridas y me llevó muchísimo leerlas. Hubo historias que me encantaron, pero la mayoría me resultaron meh.

There are a few stories here, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "The Capital of the World," that, all by themselves, would earn Hemingway a place in the canon. There are others, though, which are stupid, macho, self-destructive and infuriatingly awful. For the awful misuse of the amazing title "Hills Like White Elephants" alone, Hemingway should have been punched in the face. Judging from some of these stories, he would have liked it.