NOBEL PRIZE AWARDED ON THIS DAY

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

On this day in 1954, American author Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Whatever he was, as a blustery character and depressed, tormented (and sometimes, tormenting) soul, few would dispute that he richly deserved his professional accolades. His terse, deceptively simple, eloquent prose, revolutionized the American novel.

Whenever I see pictures of him in his youth like the one above, he looks so familiar-- a vaguely handsome American boy. He could be the guy who bags your groceries and offers to take them to your car...

My favorites of his-- "The Sun Also Rises", and also his nostalgic memoir, "A Moveable Feast". Both give an unforgettable portrait of American expatriates in Paris in the madcap Twenties. It was a jubilant time, after the horrors of World War I for these men who fought, and had seen so many die.

He himself would die a suicide in 1961. His father before him also committed suicide, as did his sister, Ursula, and his brother, Leicester. What a family legacy. Wiki had some fascinating theories about the suicides, including a hereditary medical condition that may have been implicated.

Wiki also had this incredible photo, depicting Ernest, Lady Duff Twysden, his wife Hadley Hemingway, and assorted friends on a riotous trip to Spain, seemingly much like the fictionalized one that the Paris characters take in "The Sun Also Rises". Lady Duff Twysden was the real life model for the glamorous, disaffected character, "Lady Brett Ashley", in that novel.

Caligurll · ‎07-20-2014

I loved A Farewell to Arms, both book and film.

LoveMeSomeQVC · ‎05-14-2016

Very interesting post @Oznell . Thanks for sharing!

Ruby Laine · ‎05-25-2016

@Oznell, I love to read. My favorite authors have nothing in common and use completely different styles. Solzhenitsyn, Mignon Eberhart, Robert Van Gulik, and Sarah Orne Jewett are a few of my favorite fiction writers.

I have tried to like Ernest Hemingway, but I just can't. I have no idea why. I haven't read any of his books all the way through. I just skip to the last few pages to read the endings. I will say I like his writing style, but reading him seems so laborious and it wears me out! However, he deserved the Nobel Prize, and I enjoyed your post on him.

If you don't write, you should! Your movie reviews make movies that I know I don't like sound like something I'd love to see. I always enjoy your posts.

daisyk · ‎05-20-2011

I agree with @Ruby Laine about your writing @Oznell , If you don't-you should. I'm always entertained by your posts.

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

Thank you, @Ruby Laine and @daisyk .

You have eclectic tastes for sure, @Ruby Laine ! I'm sympathetic to your critique of Hemingway-- apart from extravagantly admiring his technique and literary aims, it's mostly only the two books I mentioned that I really like. It was hard to engage with the others, for whatever reason.

If you haven't tried it, you might like "A Moveable Feast". As a memoir, it has a different feeling to the novels, and it's fascinating to know how Hemingway and his literary and artistic pals lived in Paris....

furbabylover · ‎08-24-2011

@Oznell My favorite writer was Colette, whose depictions of nature and animals were superb. Interestingly, she had an affair with Bertrand de Jouvenel, the son of her husband (!), who went on to marry Martha Gellhorn, one of Hemingway's wives.

depglass · ‎03-10-2010

Haemochromatosis, I've not heard of it, but I will research it. As I read the Wiki entry, I kept thinking "Yep, classic depression." I've been there, also having had ECT three times in the 80's. In my case I think it worked. I still get depressed in the winter (SAD) but never to the point of contemplating suicide. I notice they classified the death accidental so he could be buried in the church. I would hope the church has become more enlightened by now. On the lighter side, I think he became more handsome as he aged.

seaBreeze · ‎02-04-2014

The yearly ceremony is something to behold on December 10 (the date of Nobel's passing). The Nobel Prize is awarded in Stockholm, Sweden (the "peace prize" is in Oslo). If you ever watch the movie "The Wife," this is very close to the actual event.

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https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel-prize-award-ceremonies/

(last year's ceremony can be viewed on this website)