Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. He is famous for such masterpieces as For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea, and A Farewell to Arms, among others.
His adventurous life added a ring of truth to his novels and short stories, for example, bull-fighting (Green Hills of Africa) and big game-hunting (Green Hills of Africa). In 1953 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his famous book, The Old Man and the Sea, and the following year he won the Nobel Prize for literature.
Early Life of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois, the second of six children. At the age of 19 he was badly wounded in Italy while serving as a Red Cross ambulance driver during World War I. He went to Paris after the war and became part of a group of prominent literary writers and avant garde artists including Gertrude Stein, who called themselves the "Lost Generation." He first gained recognition as a writer with the publication of his short-story collection In Our Time when he was 26.
Pursuit of Interest
In the 1920s and 1930s Hemingway spent much time pursuing his interest in hunting and dangerous supports in Africa, Spain, and Florida. During the Spanish Civil War he went to Spain as a reporter. One of his greatest novels, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is about this war.
Hemingway also reported on World War II, following America troops as they invaded France and liberated Paris from the Germans. He got married four times, with the first three wives all ending in divorce. In a fit of depression, Hemingway shot himself and died on July 2, 1961, at the age of 61.
Hemingway Writing Style
Hemingway's books are famous for their "macho" protagonists and brutal stories. He himself was drawn to adventure and danger and was notorious for his hard-drinking lifestyle. He wrote in short, simple sentences that make his scene descriptions seem all the more harsh and detached. The influence of his work has continued through the years, not only on American literature but worldwide. His novels have been made into successful films.
Works by Ernest Hemingway
- In Our Time, 1925
- The Sun Also Rises, 1926
- Men without Women, 1927
- A Farewell to Arms, 1929
- Death in the Afternoon, 1932
- The Green Hills of Africa, 1935
- To Have and Have Not, 1937
- For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940
- Across the River and into the Trees, 1950
- The Old Man and the Sea, 1952
- A Moveable Feast, 1964 (published after he died)
Sources:
Goring, Rosemary, Editor. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. Larousse, 1994
Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. Carlton Books Ltd, 1997
Ousby, Ian. Cambridge Guide to Literature. Cambridge, 1993
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