The most important book on bullfighting ever written in the English language and perhaps of all time. Hemingway is able to describe such a divisive topic with flare, while never losing sight of the technicality that is bullfighting. If Matador and Bull are both special, the fight will be pure art.

“Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor.”

1/5 estrellas.
No sé si es que este libro no es para mí o si es que el momento que he escogido para leerlo no es el indicado. Y es muy frustrante, porque había leído a Hemingway antes y sus obras me gustan muchísimo pero Muerte en la Tarde como que mató muchos buenos sentimientos que tenía hacia él. Pero para gustos colores, así que estoy segura de que habra a quienes les parecerá una pasada este libro (que es más como una especie de reportaje). Me quedo con muchas ganas de más después de estas 400 y pico de páginas.

This book seems to have it all. A detailed explanation of corrida, its elements and techniques, Hemingway’s view of Spain and the Spaniards, fun and jokes, death and tragedy, pain, inspiration, sadness, admiration, some real-life incidents and philosophical thoughts... And yet it is one of the most boring books ever written... and not only by this author.

I had a very hard time reading this. And I can imagine that the subject it talks about is a struggle for many people. But that’s not what I struggled with. This is the most honest book about bullfighting, and the author, despite his fascination with the ceremony, tries to present both the pros and cons.

‘...and if those who read this decide with disgust that it is written by some one who lacks their, the readers', fineness of feeling I can only plead that this may be true’

After all, it's Spanish tradition and heritage. So who am I to criticize or have anything to do with it?

‘So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after and judged by these moral standards, which I do not defend, the bullfight is very moral to me because I feel very fine while it is going on and have a feeling of life and death and mortality and immortality, and after it is over I feel very sad but very fine.’

But I had a really hard time reading this book because of those long sentences, unclear sentences, difficult to understand sentences, and long, unclear and difficult to understand sentences. I struggled even more to continue reading the endless list of names of matadors over 100 years old, their qualities, the things they possess and the things they still need to master to become truly good toreros.

My advice would be to prefer the novel “The Sun Also Rises” or at least “The Dangerous Summer”.

Last but not least, this particular edition has a lot of grammatical errors and excludes images/photos. And I don’t know which one is the bigger mistake.