Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Panther (1977), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 136 pages
Description
CLASSIC SHORT STORIES FROM THE MASTER OF AMERICAN FICTION First published in 1927, Men Without Women represents some of Hemingway's most important and compelling early writing. In these fourteen stories, Hemingway begins to examine the themes that would occupy his later works: the casualties of war, the often uneasy relationship between men and women, sport and sportsmanship. In "Banal Story," Hemingway offers a lasting tribute to the famed matador Maera. "In Another Country" tells of an Italian major recovering from war wounds as he mourns the untimely death of his wife. "The Killers" is the hard-edged story about two Chicago gunmen and their potential victim. Nick Adams makes an appearance in "Ten Indians," in which he is presumably betrayed by his Indian girlfriend, Prudence. And "Hills Like White Elephants" is a young couple's subtle, heartwrenching discussion of abortion. Pared down, gritty, and subtly expressive, these stories show the young Hemingway emerging as America's finest short story writer.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
I hadn't read much Hemingway in a long time when I found this sitting in a charity shop waiting to be rescued, so I thought why not and gave it a go. I read the first story painfully a couple of weeks ago, and put the book down after it - I'm not one for bull fighting at the best of times so you
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can imagine how I took to such a fully-developed short story about the sport. But I took it up again today and the rest of the stories didn't take long to work through at all. Hemingway has a keen eye for detail and his dialogue is sometimes of the highest order. I can see the genius in some of what he does, and at other times I can see why the critics attack him. Show Less
LibraryThing member pingdjip
**spoilers**
The atmosphere in these stories is raw, without illusions and cynical. Most characters are not too upset about their disenchanted world. Ok, they’re grumpy or gloomy, but they give a shrug and carry on.
The narrator keeps from committing himself, delivering his sober prose stoicly
A character resembling Manuel is Jack, the boxer in “Fifty Grand”. Jack is also heading for certain defeat. Not only is he old like Manuel and does he have to fight a young brute, but he also suffers from insomnia which makes it almost impossible to train. But the nice thing about these stories is that characters are never completely the same. Whereas Manuel is victimised by a commercial and cynical organizer of bullfights, Jack is commercial and cynical himself. He bets on his own defeat, putting in fifty grand. What a fright if he almost wins, against all odds, because his opponent commits an enormous ‘foul’, hitting heavily below the belt. Luckily Jack can persuade the referee that it’s insignificant, and the game continues. Afterwards he says: ‘It’s funny how fast you can think when it means that much money.’
The atmosphere is not always determined by sturdy men going about their crude business. In the anti-fascist story ‘Che Ti Dice La Patria?’ the first-person narrator playfully teases his traveling companion. In ‘A pursuit Race’ a just as playful (but also very drunk) racing cyclist gets into an absurd conversation with his coach. And in the famous ‘Hills like white elephants’, one of the few women in this collection utters the maybe not exactly playful, but certainly not sturdy or crude phrase: ‘Will you please please please please please please please stop talking?’
There are many sides to these stories and they all tingle with life.
The atmosphere in these stories is raw, without illusions and cynical. Most characters are not too upset about their disenchanted world. Ok, they’re grumpy or gloomy, but they give a shrug and carry on.
The narrator keeps from committing himself, delivering his sober prose stoicly
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like his characters. But between the lines he shows compassion. Every once in a while he abandons his short sentences for longer ones, more lyrical. This happens with Manuel the aging bullfighter (“The Undefeated”) who is in for a hopeless defeat. Before the bull tosses Manuel, Hemingway slows down the narrative to highlight Manuels competence, one last time. Manuel faces the bull and takes in every detail: ‘He knew all about bulls.’ A character resembling Manuel is Jack, the boxer in “Fifty Grand”. Jack is also heading for certain defeat. Not only is he old like Manuel and does he have to fight a young brute, but he also suffers from insomnia which makes it almost impossible to train. But the nice thing about these stories is that characters are never completely the same. Whereas Manuel is victimised by a commercial and cynical organizer of bullfights, Jack is commercial and cynical himself. He bets on his own defeat, putting in fifty grand. What a fright if he almost wins, against all odds, because his opponent commits an enormous ‘foul’, hitting heavily below the belt. Luckily Jack can persuade the referee that it’s insignificant, and the game continues. Afterwards he says: ‘It’s funny how fast you can think when it means that much money.’
The atmosphere is not always determined by sturdy men going about their crude business. In the anti-fascist story ‘Che Ti Dice La Patria?’ the first-person narrator playfully teases his traveling companion. In ‘A pursuit Race’ a just as playful (but also very drunk) racing cyclist gets into an absurd conversation with his coach. And in the famous ‘Hills like white elephants’, one of the few women in this collection utters the maybe not exactly playful, but certainly not sturdy or crude phrase: ‘Will you please please please please please please please stop talking?’
There are many sides to these stories and they all tingle with life.
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LibraryThing member george.d.ross
I read a couple of Hemingway novels in high school and since, and I absolutely loathed them... so I was surprised to find I kind of like the stories here! The novels felt stiff and artificial, particularly the female characters -- perhaps this collection is saved by not having any. People think of
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Hemingway as an icon of indomitable machismo, but I see in these stories an overwhelming panic about masculine performance and the possible failures thereof. Show Less
LibraryThing member gbill
These 14 short stories from Ernest Hemingway, first published collectively in 1927, are not entirely devoid of women, but they certainly are bent towards the masculine. There is a certain rugged pathos to stories about an aging bullfighter (“The Undefeated”), a boxer who decides to throw a
As with his other work, there is great economy with language, and I liked how what some of the stories were really trying to say required thought and interpretation. There are times when Hemingway provides contrasts without directly linking things, such as that between characters thinking of “Them Indians” as drunken trouble-makers, and a boy secretly loving one of them (“Ten Indians”). In another story, characters view peasants as “beasts,” whereas a couple of skiers had a carefree winter while a poor peasant was snowed in with his wife’s corpse in a shed (“An Alpine Idyll”). In a third, we get the lightweight reporting of a magazine on various topics which also seems like empty chatter, followed by the gravitas of a dying bullfighter known for his courage (“Banal Story”).
Overall, I don’t think there are any masterpieces here, but the quality level is uniformly high, and it’s worth reading.
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fight (“Fifty Grand”), soldiers maimed in WW1 (“In Another Country”), a drug addict (“A Pursuit Race”), and hitmen terrorizing a diner while waiting for their target (“The Killers”, my overall favorite). Hemingway gets in a direct critique of Mussolini and the fascists effect on Italy (“Che Ti Dice La Patria?”), and more subtly given the era, also touches on homosexuality (“A Simple Enquiry”) and abortion (“Hills Like White Elephants”).As with his other work, there is great economy with language, and I liked how what some of the stories were really trying to say required thought and interpretation. There are times when Hemingway provides contrasts without directly linking things, such as that between characters thinking of “Them Indians” as drunken trouble-makers, and a boy secretly loving one of them (“Ten Indians”). In another story, characters view peasants as “beasts,” whereas a couple of skiers had a carefree winter while a poor peasant was snowed in with his wife’s corpse in a shed (“An Alpine Idyll”). In a third, we get the lightweight reporting of a magazine on various topics which also seems like empty chatter, followed by the gravitas of a dying bullfighter known for his courage (“Banal Story”).
Overall, I don’t think there are any masterpieces here, but the quality level is uniformly high, and it’s worth reading.
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LibraryThing member DRFP
The future influence Hemingway would have seems obvious in this collection. Yet too often many of these stories feel oddly soulless, like they're technical exercises more than anything else. However, the other half of the time Hemingway does manage to nail a mood or a feeling particularly well. For
Personally, I feel Raymond Carver would go on to write in a sparse style much more effective and heartfelt stories about the trouble between men and women. This collection isn't without certain merits but for something similar, but better, I'd prefer to read any Carver collection.
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me the collection is split half and half.Personally, I feel Raymond Carver would go on to write in a sparse style much more effective and heartfelt stories about the trouble between men and women. This collection isn't without certain merits but for something similar, but better, I'd prefer to read any Carver collection.
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LibraryThing member ZachMontana
Lots of short stories which were generally pretty boring and on the depressing side. I've read better Hemmingway!
LibraryThing member markfinl
This is my second or third time through these stories and I was surprised at how much the stories vary in quality. Some, like "The Killers" and "Fifty Grand" are among the best short stories ever written, while others, like "A Banal Story" are not even fully formed ideas.
LibraryThing member malrubius
Beautifully and intelligently written. Emotionally gripping.
LibraryThing member amarendra
It was short. Rough on the edges at times. Not connecting mostly. As if few interrupted conversations where you yourself end it and walk away. Liked the Bullfighter it was most vividly written.
LibraryThing member frozenplums
This compilation was more or less what I expected. I wasn't a huge fan of the first story, simply because the subject matter was not one I care much about and it was a little on the lengthy side, but it was still well-written, and I derived something from it, so I still consider it a success.
I would recommend this collection to just about anyone looking for a short read but pertinent read. 4 stars.
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Others of the stories in this book I liked very much -- particularly "Canary for One."I would recommend this collection to just about anyone looking for a short read but pertinent read. 4 stars.
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LibraryThing member Rosiers.Nicole
I had to struggle through the book. It was the first time I read something of Hemingway and maybe my expectations were too high. I just pushed through just to finish the book, because I hate to stop in the middle of a book, even though these are short stories. But I thought it was nice that in the
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little history he comes back to the first story. Now I'm glad the book is finished and that I never have to read it again. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisa.isselee
nice collection of short stories.
They always left me wanting more !
fast, fun & easy read.
They always left me wanting more !
fast, fun & easy read.
LibraryThing member madepercy
I've never been a fan of short stories, but Hemingway is surely the master. "Fifty Grand" is my favourite. I was reading it while walking around. I couldn't put it down.
LibraryThing member RBeffa
I read this collection of 14 short stories in part to compare it to Haruki Murakami's recent collection that borrowed the title. These are indeed primarily stories of men without women. I can see even a few bits to compare, probably coincidental, such as the story of the boxer in '50 Grand' who is
Sometimes when I read Hem's stories I feel like a little kid again listening to my grandpa tell stories.
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off training and misses his wife every day and writes her letters. I enjoyed reading this, but this is not the best Hemingway and some of the stories are just little slips of things that didn't grab me. Still, it is Hemingway. There are enough good ones, thought provoking vignettes, in here to put this at the high end of an OK read so I'm giving this 3 1/2 stars. Sometimes when I read Hem's stories I feel like a little kid again listening to my grandpa tell stories.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
The short-story compilation called "Men Without Women" is one of Hemingway's earlier collections of short stories. These stories cover most things that were going on at that time in Hemingway's life. Covered in the stories, are things like bull-fighting, boxing, war, relationships between men and
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women and even a story about Chicago gangsters. There are 14 stories in this collection. Whenever I read a collection of short stories I like to pick my favourite of the bunch. Even though I don't like bullfighting and don't understand it, Hemingway's tribute to famous matador Maera, is the story that I liked the most. In his usual spare writing style, Hemingway describes what it must have been like for a famous and beloved matador to realize that he is too old to fight anymore. It's all he knows, so he signs up for a lesser fight, fully understanding in his heart that this will be his last. He does the best he can, and when the inevitable happens, he accepts the fate that he chose for himself. Hemingway says so much in so few words, but he always get his message across by the end of each story. My journey of wading through all of Hemingway's works is proceeding nicely with the addition of this book. I look forward to the next book from Hemingway's impressive backlist. Show Less
LibraryThing member TomMcGreevy
A truly poor collection. Uninspired writing, pointless stories. There is one good one in the book titled "Fifty Grand", otherwise a total waste of time.
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1927 (Englisch)
1965 (Nederlands)
1958, 1970 (Deutsch)
Physical description
136 p.; 6.85 inches
ISBN
0586044728 / 9780586044728