I don't like the mob either. Morality police is how I would call it. I haven't read Hemingway in a long time, so I can't say how I'd feel about his work specifically.
Yet, this is how I'm relating to what you've written from my experience. It makes me think of Michael Jackson. After watching the documentary of the survivors of his sexual abuse tell their story, I can't enjoy his music. Whenever I hear it, I hear the voice of a rapist and I see images of those boys, of Michael molesting them, of how he hurt people and got away with it, and I feel physical pain in my chest.. and anger.
A song that previously made me happy and joyful, now makes me angry, because I know what the artist was doing while he was creating and I can't ignore that. Some people can.
My cousin loves his music and always will. My cousin says the art is not the artist. The art has its own life. That can be true. I see the beauty of that perspective. As an artist myself, I want that to be true - I want my art to be an entity in and of itself.
In this case, my cousin can hold the art and the artist separately. I can't. Maybe in another case, with a different artist, different art, and different vices, I'd be able to and my cousin wouldn't.
Like Hemingway, Michael Jackson revolutionized his field, and I continue to enjoy the music that has evolved from the developments he initiated. I am grateful for his contributions to the evolution of music, as I am grateful for Hemingway's contributions to literature. (So, so grateful!) At the same time, for me, in my body, Michael's own songs have become visceral reminders of harm.
For me it's not about jumping on a bandwagon or joining a mob, it's about how I feel. I imagine this must be true for at least some of Hemingway's detractors, no?
I think it's OK, great even, that many people can continue to appreciate the work, I think it's OK, great even, to be angry at the morality police, and I also want to acknowledge a third group, people whose sensitivities are too overpowered by the harm perpetuated by the artist to continue to enjoy the art.
I think these groups can coexist peacefully, and when we take a super wide lens perspective, I think we need them all. Does that resonate, or have I missed your point?
Thought-provoking topic, Richard! Thanks for sharing!
Christine, what a powerful, insightful and sensitive note. I appreciate you taking the time to write to me about the post. I've been getting various sorts of responses, and that has been eye-opening. Yours is so nuanced and heartfelt and intelligent. As for Michael Jackson, I completely see your point. I was never into his music so it really doesn't pertain to me. I do understand your reaction and it makes total sense. I don't know if you saw the piece I wrote about my high school football coach, but it talks about abuse. And how it lasts and damages. Because of that the school is conducting an investigation! They're taking forever. I can't think of anything Hemingway did that would compare to what Michael Jackson did. He probably was not good to his wives. I don't know about his children. But he wasn't a pedophile or anything like that. People object to his work because in some places he's anti-Semitic or perhaps misogynistic and they also cite his macho style of life. Those things are not enough for me to reject him. I'm with Joan Didion. I have no problem with people who do, however. I'm not here to try to convert people to loving Hemingway. My point is: be cautious about the crowd. Be careful about jumping on literary bandwagons, because it might feel good at the time. Especially if deep down you feel differently. But, yes, I think all groups can co-exist peacefully. Thanks again for writing, Christine!
Well done Richard. I like to see this kind of push back when all the literary world gangs up on a good writer. And Hemingway is clearly that and all the admirable things you say about him. I love teaching one of my favorite Hemingway books, A Moveable Feast, but that text highlights the real complication of Hemingway's literary legacy. The writing is mostly pitch perfect. But there are chapters–like the one in which he expresses disgust at Stein's lesbianism, or his awful treatment of a gay writer in "The Birth of a New School," or his reprehensible evisceration of Fitzgerald's alleged sexual inadequacies (being dead F was unable to defend himself), that certainly justify the criticisms that some readers level at him. When my students read that book, and express their disdain for those chapters, they aren't piling on or joining the mob (they are blissfully unaware that such a mob exists), but telling me what effect the writing has on them.
I'm guessing, though, that your defense of H brackets this text, since it IS (ostensibly) his life and not a part of his fiction (though I seem to recall that he wanted it read as fiction). And if you think readers should separate a writer's life from his/her work, I guess we have to exclude their avowedly autobiographical texts from our assessment of them.
Yes, those parts of AMF stink. He gives cheap shots. Vindictive, etc., etc. And his treatment of Robert Cohn is deplorable. He was anti-Semitic, etc. And "did the earth move" is silly. And Across the River Into the Trees is not very good at all. And.... But, you tell me who has done more to liberate the American writer, the English language as practiced by American writer than Hemingway? If he's good enough for Joan Didion, he's good enough for me. He made the language new, as she said. He understood words, he got inside them. At his best, he wrote beautifully. What he gave lasts. I thought about writing and the language differently after I read In Our Time, and I realized that we had our own way of writing that didn't have to come directly from Europe. It was distinctly American. People mock The Old Man and the Sea, but it has some of the best nature writing going. His short stories are still moving. Hills Like White Elephants. My favorite, A Clean, Well-lighted Place, but so many others. Great energy on the page. If you keep turning the pages, something is going on. I was so glad Didion cited that first paragraph of Farewell. That's EH at his best. I think if you've ever wrestled with words to try to express something the most economical and honest way possible with some music thrown in, you have to find inspiration in Hemingway. Does he have flaws? Well, what writer doesn't.
For decades I have been, and remain, a huge fan of much of Hemingway's work. Not that every sentence he wrote was a classic, but when he got it right his lines are about as good as it gets. Thanks for reminding us that a writer's life and his work are not the same, and that we can value one, without appoving of the other.
Tuesday is take-off day. Trying not to forget anything vital. Passport, shot card, euros, ticket, oh and some clothes to wear in a hard-to-assess climate, always a problem, always have the wrong gear!
I don't like the mob either. Morality police is how I would call it. I haven't read Hemingway in a long time, so I can't say how I'd feel about his work specifically.
Yet, this is how I'm relating to what you've written from my experience. It makes me think of Michael Jackson. After watching the documentary of the survivors of his sexual abuse tell their story, I can't enjoy his music. Whenever I hear it, I hear the voice of a rapist and I see images of those boys, of Michael molesting them, of how he hurt people and got away with it, and I feel physical pain in my chest.. and anger.
A song that previously made me happy and joyful, now makes me angry, because I know what the artist was doing while he was creating and I can't ignore that. Some people can.
My cousin loves his music and always will. My cousin says the art is not the artist. The art has its own life. That can be true. I see the beauty of that perspective. As an artist myself, I want that to be true - I want my art to be an entity in and of itself.
In this case, my cousin can hold the art and the artist separately. I can't. Maybe in another case, with a different artist, different art, and different vices, I'd be able to and my cousin wouldn't.
Like Hemingway, Michael Jackson revolutionized his field, and I continue to enjoy the music that has evolved from the developments he initiated. I am grateful for his contributions to the evolution of music, as I am grateful for Hemingway's contributions to literature. (So, so grateful!) At the same time, for me, in my body, Michael's own songs have become visceral reminders of harm.
For me it's not about jumping on a bandwagon or joining a mob, it's about how I feel. I imagine this must be true for at least some of Hemingway's detractors, no?
I think it's OK, great even, that many people can continue to appreciate the work, I think it's OK, great even, to be angry at the morality police, and I also want to acknowledge a third group, people whose sensitivities are too overpowered by the harm perpetuated by the artist to continue to enjoy the art.
I think these groups can coexist peacefully, and when we take a super wide lens perspective, I think we need them all. Does that resonate, or have I missed your point?
Thought-provoking topic, Richard! Thanks for sharing!
Christine, what a powerful, insightful and sensitive note. I appreciate you taking the time to write to me about the post. I've been getting various sorts of responses, and that has been eye-opening. Yours is so nuanced and heartfelt and intelligent. As for Michael Jackson, I completely see your point. I was never into his music so it really doesn't pertain to me. I do understand your reaction and it makes total sense. I don't know if you saw the piece I wrote about my high school football coach, but it talks about abuse. And how it lasts and damages. Because of that the school is conducting an investigation! They're taking forever. I can't think of anything Hemingway did that would compare to what Michael Jackson did. He probably was not good to his wives. I don't know about his children. But he wasn't a pedophile or anything like that. People object to his work because in some places he's anti-Semitic or perhaps misogynistic and they also cite his macho style of life. Those things are not enough for me to reject him. I'm with Joan Didion. I have no problem with people who do, however. I'm not here to try to convert people to loving Hemingway. My point is: be cautious about the crowd. Be careful about jumping on literary bandwagons, because it might feel good at the time. Especially if deep down you feel differently. But, yes, I think all groups can co-exist peacefully. Thanks again for writing, Christine!
Well done Richard. I like to see this kind of push back when all the literary world gangs up on a good writer. And Hemingway is clearly that and all the admirable things you say about him. I love teaching one of my favorite Hemingway books, A Moveable Feast, but that text highlights the real complication of Hemingway's literary legacy. The writing is mostly pitch perfect. But there are chapters–like the one in which he expresses disgust at Stein's lesbianism, or his awful treatment of a gay writer in "The Birth of a New School," or his reprehensible evisceration of Fitzgerald's alleged sexual inadequacies (being dead F was unable to defend himself), that certainly justify the criticisms that some readers level at him. When my students read that book, and express their disdain for those chapters, they aren't piling on or joining the mob (they are blissfully unaware that such a mob exists), but telling me what effect the writing has on them.
I'm guessing, though, that your defense of H brackets this text, since it IS (ostensibly) his life and not a part of his fiction (though I seem to recall that he wanted it read as fiction). And if you think readers should separate a writer's life from his/her work, I guess we have to exclude their avowedly autobiographical texts from our assessment of them.
Yes, those parts of AMF stink. He gives cheap shots. Vindictive, etc., etc. And his treatment of Robert Cohn is deplorable. He was anti-Semitic, etc. And "did the earth move" is silly. And Across the River Into the Trees is not very good at all. And.... But, you tell me who has done more to liberate the American writer, the English language as practiced by American writer than Hemingway? If he's good enough for Joan Didion, he's good enough for me. He made the language new, as she said. He understood words, he got inside them. At his best, he wrote beautifully. What he gave lasts. I thought about writing and the language differently after I read In Our Time, and I realized that we had our own way of writing that didn't have to come directly from Europe. It was distinctly American. People mock The Old Man and the Sea, but it has some of the best nature writing going. His short stories are still moving. Hills Like White Elephants. My favorite, A Clean, Well-lighted Place, but so many others. Great energy on the page. If you keep turning the pages, something is going on. I was so glad Didion cited that first paragraph of Farewell. That's EH at his best. I think if you've ever wrestled with words to try to express something the most economical and honest way possible with some music thrown in, you have to find inspiration in Hemingway. Does he have flaws? Well, what writer doesn't.
All true.
For decades I have been, and remain, a huge fan of much of Hemingway's work. Not that every sentence he wrote was a classic, but when he got it right his lines are about as good as it gets. Thanks for reminding us that a writer's life and his work are not the same, and that we can value one, without appoving of the other.
Spot on!
Thank you, Richard for the thoughtful and straightforward analysis. As you know, I’m a big Didion fan and agree with her comments as well.
I'm glad you found it interesting. It's not the sexiest topic, but one I wanted to get off my chest.
And you did that very well.
Wise words, Richard. I've shared this with my reading group. I'm waiting for the Jane Austin disparagers to rise up in concert!
Thanks, Nancy. The mob is always ready to take up a new , or old, cause! You should be flying off soon, right?
Tuesday is take-off day. Trying not to forget anything vital. Passport, shot card, euros, ticket, oh and some clothes to wear in a hard-to-assess climate, always a problem, always have the wrong gear!
I hope you post from Greece and Italy. Could be some amusing things to report.
Absolutely. But first I have to report on the Whitney family reunion in Downeast Jonesboro--that's tomorrow's road trip.