Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : Bantam Books, 1976.
Description
The ideal introduction to the genius of Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction. Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical; the autobiographical "Fathers and Sons," which alludes, for the first time in Hemingway's career, to his father's suicide; "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," a "brilliant fusion of personal observation, hearsay and invention," wrote Hemingway's biographer, Carlos Baker; and the title story itself, of which Hemingway said: "I put all the true stuff in," with enough material, he boasted, to fill four novels. Beautiful in their simplicity, startling in their originality, and unsurpassed in their craftsmanship, the stories in this volume highlight one of America's master storytellers at the top of his form.… (more)
Media reviews
"Las nieves del Kilimanjaro" es un relato corto del escritor estadounidense Ernest Hemingway, publicado por primera vez en 1936. La narración sigue a Harry, un escritor que se encuentra de safari en África con su esposa Helen. Al comienzo de la historia, Harry sufre una herida infectada en la
Mientras espera a ser rescatado, Harry reflexiona sobre sus experiencias pasadas, sus relaciones y las decisiones que han marcado su vida. Las nieves del Kilimanjaro sirven de telón de fondo simbólico y representan la pureza y la trascendencia. A lo largo de la historia, los pensamientos y recuerdos de Harry permiten vislumbrar sus luchas internas, sus arrepentimientos y el impacto de sus decisiones en su vida personal y creativa.
A medida que la infección empeora, Harry se enfrenta a la inevitabilidad de la muerte. La historia explora temas como la reflexión existencial, la mortalidad y la tensión entre vivir una vida auténtica y sucumbir a las expectativas de la sociedad. La prosa de Hemingway, caracterizada por la concisión y la sobriedad, contribuye a la profundidad emocional del relato.
"Las nieves del Kilimanjaro" está considerada una de las obras maestras de Hemingway, conocida por su exploración de la condición humana y su retrato de la compleja relación entre el arte y la vida. La historia capta la esencia de los temas de Hemingway sobre la gracia bajo presión y las consecuencias de las decisiones tomadas y las oportunidades perdidas.
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pierna que pone en peligro su vida.Mientras espera a ser rescatado, Harry reflexiona sobre sus experiencias pasadas, sus relaciones y las decisiones que han marcado su vida. Las nieves del Kilimanjaro sirven de telón de fondo simbólico y representan la pureza y la trascendencia. A lo largo de la historia, los pensamientos y recuerdos de Harry permiten vislumbrar sus luchas internas, sus arrepentimientos y el impacto de sus decisiones en su vida personal y creativa.
A medida que la infección empeora, Harry se enfrenta a la inevitabilidad de la muerte. La historia explora temas como la reflexión existencial, la mortalidad y la tensión entre vivir una vida auténtica y sucumbir a las expectativas de la sociedad. La prosa de Hemingway, caracterizada por la concisión y la sobriedad, contribuye a la profundidad emocional del relato.
"Las nieves del Kilimanjaro" está considerada una de las obras maestras de Hemingway, conocida por su exploración de la condición humana y su retrato de la compleja relación entre el arte y la vida. La historia capta la esencia de los temas de Hemingway sobre la gracia bajo presión y las consecuencias de las decisiones tomadas y las oportunidades perdidas.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member alanteder
Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories" is an anthology collection of 10 short stories that was first issued by his publisher Scribners in 1961 which was also the year of Hemingway's death by suicide. There isn't any reference to these being selected by Hemingway himself so
Most Hemingway fans will likely have at least one or two other stories that they would expect to have seen included in a "most acclaimed" collection and I was surprised that the exquisite camping and fishing story "Big Two-Hearted River" from 1925 was missing here. However, there is an overall air of melancholy and impending tragedy and death in the stories in this collection which probably didn't suit the inclusion of the sunlight and air and cold fresh waters of the famous outdoor tale.
Of the selected stories, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "A Day's Wait", at 4 or 5 pages each, appear pretty slight at first glance, and yet, James Joyce is reported to have described the former as "one of the best short stories ever written," so some further close attention to each of these stories may be repaid with renewed appreciation and insight. I especially enjoyed reading this collection after having also just read Donald Bouchard's "Hemingway: So Far From Simple" which causes you to view all of Hemingway's characters and stories as metaphors for the writer and the act of writing itself. Reading "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and thinking of the ineffectual Francis Macomber, the sometimes sensitive/sometimes cold Margaret Macomber and the mythologized great white hunter Robert Wilson as all facets of Hemingway himself and the hunt as the path of the career of writing added a whole different view to what can superficially just be read as a tale of cowardice and jealousy in the bush.
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we're left to speculate on how the selection was made, although the stories are described on the blurb as "Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction." There are 3 stories from 1927's "Men Without Women" ("In Another Country", "The Killers", "Fifty Grand"), 5 stories from 1933's "Winner Take Nothing" ("A Clean, Well-Lighted Place", "A Day's Wait", "The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio", "Fathers and Sons", "A Way You'll Never Be") and the 2 African safari stories ("The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber") from 1936 that were first collected in 1938's "The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories".Most Hemingway fans will likely have at least one or two other stories that they would expect to have seen included in a "most acclaimed" collection and I was surprised that the exquisite camping and fishing story "Big Two-Hearted River" from 1925 was missing here. However, there is an overall air of melancholy and impending tragedy and death in the stories in this collection which probably didn't suit the inclusion of the sunlight and air and cold fresh waters of the famous outdoor tale.
Of the selected stories, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "A Day's Wait", at 4 or 5 pages each, appear pretty slight at first glance, and yet, James Joyce is reported to have described the former as "one of the best short stories ever written," so some further close attention to each of these stories may be repaid with renewed appreciation and insight. I especially enjoyed reading this collection after having also just read Donald Bouchard's "Hemingway: So Far From Simple" which causes you to view all of Hemingway's characters and stories as metaphors for the writer and the act of writing itself. Reading "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and thinking of the ineffectual Francis Macomber, the sometimes sensitive/sometimes cold Margaret Macomber and the mythologized great white hunter Robert Wilson as all facets of Hemingway himself and the hunt as the path of the career of writing added a whole different view to what can superficially just be read as a tale of cowardice and jealousy in the bush.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
It has been too long since I read anything by Hemingway. I've read a lot of the big ones, but hadn't touched his short stories. These stories are truly remarkable written by a master storyteller. I found that any one of these stories could be the basis for at least one book, and some several books.
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The title story - The Snows of Kilimanjaro - is jarringly real. and was written by Hemingway in 1934. The story has all his characteristic writing styles - wonderful prose, beautiful descriptions, very real characters and a plot that grabs from the beginning. But this one is a beautifully written allegory about life and death, and all completely fleshed out in about 18 pages. A true masterpiece and a signature piece for this author. Hemingway admitted that this story was one that he put his whole heart into, and it was based on his own close calls with the "Grim Reaper". He also said that he condensed four novels into the 18 pages of this story, and he held nothing back. I don't think Hemingway holds much back at all with any of his work, but Kilimanjaro brought that out very clearly. The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber is as different from Kilimanjaro as a story can be. It tells the story of a society wife who has tired of her rich husband, and is looking for any excuse to leave him and go on. When MacComber displays his cowardice and pettiness while on an African safari, she has the perfect reason to get rid of him. I see at least two novels that could come from this story. One before the safari and one after as we see what his wife gets up to afterwards. There are a eleven other stories in this book, and they are all great, but none reach the pinnacle that Kilimanjaro does in my opinion. Hemingway is superlative when he builds stories around his own personal experiences. He was a man who lived whole-heartedly and completely. Yes, he had many faults, and he is never afraid to admit to them, and to also point them out in his work, but I am thankful that he put all this "living" to such good use and created such wonderful literature for us to enjoy. Show Less
LibraryThing member jpsnow
This is my first exposure to Hemingway since "The Old Man and the Sea" (c. 9th grade). My main reaction now is a deep appreciation for his writing style and a belief that one must have a little more life experience to truly respect what and how he conveys the essence of a situation (particularly in
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adult relationships). "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" gives a quick and hard message about making what you can of your talents and not letting them slip away. The moral is especially geared toward any aspiring writer. The last story in this collection was "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." It parallels elegantly with the hunting theme of the first story, and drives home equally a message about being a man. The relationship nuances were especially dominant in this story too. From "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (p.24): "'The very rich are different from you and me.' And how someone had said to Julian, Yes, they have more money." "A Clean, Well-lighted Place" is a very short story about two waiters watching a customer they might become. "A Day's Wait" is another very short story about a boy who believes he is going to die and his unique young viewpoint that changes when the news of his mistake. "Fathers and Sons" is another Nicholas Adams story about how men in a family line are alike (also very deep into the senses of several male-oriented activities). There are also a couple stories reflective of Hemingway's experience in war and Italy. "Fifty Grand" is a joy -- simple plot, essentials conveyed elegantly, and neat ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member caklr650
An uneven collection of stories. The title story and The Short Life of Francis MacComber were very good, but most of the others were a chore to finish. Doesn't make me want to rush and read more Hemmingway just yet. A real sense of Machismo runs through the book. Men are Men when they fight in
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War...Against Men. Men like to hunt, in the company of men. Hmm, Does being a man also mean fostering a family value of suicide? I don't mean to be cruel but finding a man in this book who has a sensitive thought or an emotion that is not done in a shade of Red or Black is impossible. I feel like Hemmingway's prose hides behind a facade of pompous bravado. And even though we cannot expect to get the depth of character we would expect to fing in a novel, his characters, to me at least, often come off as insecure, knuckle dragging, Neanderthals who are afraid to express what they really might be feeling Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Some beautiful stories, but I always connect more with novels and this one wasn't an exception. I loved A Clean and Well Lighted Place. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber was dark, but packed a punch. They're a good way to dip into Hemingway if you're new to his work.
LibraryThing member rayski
A bunch of very short stories. Some good, some not.
LibraryThing member br77rino
The Short Life of Francis MacComber was the best of the short stories here, and was very good. A rich but gutless (?) man travels on safari to Africa with his shrewd, content and unloving wife. He is transformed by one of the experiences while hunting, and his wife is as well. A great little tale.
LibraryThing member LCoale1
This book reminded me of how much I love Ernest Hemingway, who happens to be one of my favorite authors because his writings inspire me. Granted, I missed most of the deep symbolism, but I'm okay with that. Some of the short stories included in this book will be very hard to forget about, and I was
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quite impressed by Hemingway's writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
I was rather disappointed to find out that The snows of Kilimanjaro, and other stories is an anthology, consisting of 18 short stories taken from various short story collections.
Most stories in this collection are very short, consisting of dialogues about very down to earth topics. I enjoyed the
Most stories are a pleasure to read, but are hardly memorable.
Most stories in this collection are very short, consisting of dialogues about very down to earth topics. I enjoyed the
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little discussion about the merits of Hugh Walpole and G.K. Chesterton in "The Three-Day Blow".Most stories are a pleasure to read, but are hardly memorable.
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LibraryThing member Neftzger
I had not read Hemingway for over two decades when I picked up this book at the library. I don't remember liking his work that much when I first read it, but I obviously liked his writing enough at the time to read a large portion of what he's written. His work obviously engaged or at least
The Snows of Kilimanjaro is an outstanding piece that's incredibly well written. If you read nothing else from this collection or from Hemingway, I highly recommend it. Hemingway has a distinctive style that you may not always agree with, but I'm walking away from the second reading of this book with deeper respect for his writing.
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intrigued me, but I'd forgotten that. Revisiting this book later in life was like rediscovering the author as an old friend and appreciating his merits.The Snows of Kilimanjaro is an outstanding piece that's incredibly well written. If you read nothing else from this collection or from Hemingway, I highly recommend it. Hemingway has a distinctive style that you may not always agree with, but I'm walking away from the second reading of this book with deeper respect for his writing.
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
This book contains some of Hemmingway's short stories of varying lengths with most of them about 10 pages long but I fear that I may be about to upset his many fans because it just didn't really cut the mustard with me and I cannot in all honesty say that I enjoyed it, which having read a few of
That said I did enjoy the title story which wonderfully charts the main events in lead character's life. He is an author who is lying badly injured after an accident in Africa and riddled with gangrene, he looks back with regrets over his life, in particular how he failed to write more about his own early life experiences. Hemingway depicts a man who has abandoned his own dreams and ambitions instead settling for marriage to a woman he doesn't really love and conformity. In this story we see the skill of Hemingway with both his characterisation and descriptions of the countryside.
The themes of this initial story then go on to form the basis of those stories to follow from memories of childhood to regrets of old men and men at war. There is a recurrant character Nick Adams whom many feel was based on Hemingway himself but on the whole it felt disjointed and without the title story would have been rated even lower. IMHO it didn't work. However, it is also right that I admit that on the whole I am no real fan of short stories either so perhaps it is just me.
This will not put me off reading some of Hemingway's other works but next time it will be a full novel.
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his full novels, is a real shame.That said I did enjoy the title story which wonderfully charts the main events in lead character's life. He is an author who is lying badly injured after an accident in Africa and riddled with gangrene, he looks back with regrets over his life, in particular how he failed to write more about his own early life experiences. Hemingway depicts a man who has abandoned his own dreams and ambitions instead settling for marriage to a woman he doesn't really love and conformity. In this story we see the skill of Hemingway with both his characterisation and descriptions of the countryside.
The themes of this initial story then go on to form the basis of those stories to follow from memories of childhood to regrets of old men and men at war. There is a recurrant character Nick Adams whom many feel was based on Hemingway himself but on the whole it felt disjointed and without the title story would have been rated even lower. IMHO it didn't work. However, it is also right that I admit that on the whole I am no real fan of short stories either so perhaps it is just me.
This will not put me off reading some of Hemingway's other works but next time it will be a full novel.
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LibraryThing member nandadevi
A collection of short stories that, despite the title, are not all about Africa. But the story that lent it's title to the book is - despite the sentimentality - something akin to the most perfectly composed piece that Hemingway, or any author, has ever written.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
It is no surprise that Hemingway took his life. It was a miserable mind to be in. Men are not men until they prove their invulnerability and lack of real interest in living. In Hemingwayland any sign of connection to others is read as weakness. Women filled with scorn are just waiting to
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(figuratively) castrate the men in their lives. But that man was the shit when it comes to crafting perfect elegant prose, telling the reader everything she needs to know with heart-stopping beauty and relentless economy. In the short stories the reader can engage in the situation with excitement and fascination and be done before the characters' vapidity and compulsiveness gets boring and vulgar. Reading Hemingway's novels is kind of like watching the Kardashians. For 10 minutes its amazing and you can't look away. Then, like a switch has been flipped, all the watcher feels is boredom and contempt and occasionally a sprinkling of sadness. "Kim Kardashian IS Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises!" But I digress. My point is that the short stories are filled with interest, and substance and beauty, and stunning craft where the books often feel to me like writing exercises. I had read most of these stories before in other collections, but this is well curated and a great way to return and remind myself why I used to really like Ernie. Show Less
LibraryThing member joefreiburger
I love the ending of this short story.
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Audio of Kilimanjaro performed by Charlton Heston
4**** for the title story (3*** for the collection as a whole)
This slim volume contains 10 short stories, including the most famous SoK.
This short story reflects many of Hemingway’s own concerns in the mid-late 1930s. He worried about the effects
Most of the rest of the stories in the book are not as much to my liking. There are continued threads of death, killing, guns, violence and alcohol abuse through this collection, and, frankly, I just didn’t care about his characters. To be fair, I think this is more a function of what’s happening in my own life rather than a reflection of Hemingway’s talent and skill. The story Fifty Grand about a prizefighter struggling at the end of his career, was very good (I’d give it 4****). The final story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, takes us back to an African safari and a marriage falling apart. I thought this was the best in the collection, though perhaps more obvious than some of the others. Still, I would give it 4.5****
So while I enjoyed and appreciated three of the ten stories, the rest of the volume left me cold. I give it 3 stars over all.
4**** for the title story (3*** for the collection as a whole)
This slim volume contains 10 short stories, including the most famous SoK.
This short story reflects many of Hemingway’s own concerns in the mid-late 1930s. He worried about the effects
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of “politics, women, drink, money and ambition” on American writers (from Green Hills of Africa). Here he voices those concerns through his main character, Harry, a writer who is dying in the bush from an infected leg wound. Their truck broken down, Harry and his wife have little to do but wait for the plane that should come “soon” to rescue them. Immobilized by his gangrenous leg, Harry reflects – sometimes in a delirious state – on his life and writing career. Today’s reader, knowing how Hemingway ended his own life, can see considerable foreshadowing here. Harry’s obsession with what he had not written, while succumbing to the temptations of an easy life, is slowly but surely poisoning him as much as the infection in his leg is. Heston’s narration of this particular short story is very good; the uber-macho man performing the uber-macho author’s work. I would rate THIS story 4****.Most of the rest of the stories in the book are not as much to my liking. There are continued threads of death, killing, guns, violence and alcohol abuse through this collection, and, frankly, I just didn’t care about his characters. To be fair, I think this is more a function of what’s happening in my own life rather than a reflection of Hemingway’s talent and skill. The story Fifty Grand about a prizefighter struggling at the end of his career, was very good (I’d give it 4****). The final story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, takes us back to an African safari and a marriage falling apart. I thought this was the best in the collection, though perhaps more obvious than some of the others. Still, I would give it 4.5****
So while I enjoyed and appreciated three of the ten stories, the rest of the volume left me cold. I give it 3 stars over all.
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LibraryThing member mbmackay
A collection of short stories. Well written, but these are fragments, not short stories as I know them.
Read May 2004
Read May 2004
LibraryThing member buffalogr
A couple, Harry and Helen, in Africa--he is dying of gangrene; she is by his side, taking care of him. My first Hemingway (since high school) and I really enjoyed it. His writing conveys the inner conflicted soul. Great short story, one of Papa's greatest? How would I know, my first since High
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school. Show Less
LibraryThing member streamsong
These stories seem quite dated and straight out of the men's magazines of an earlier period: fixed boxing matches, safaris in Africa, stories of organized crime and n****r cooks.
Yet there is no doubt that this guy's writing stands with the best and packs a wallop yet today. We know the landscape
My two favorite stories of the collection are both about death and Africa: 'The Snows of Kalamjaro' and 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber' . That's where the similarities end. These two will remain with me.
Yet there is no doubt that this guy's writing stands with the best and packs a wallop yet today. We know the landscape
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and the people and gasp at the all too recognizable human-ness of them, even while being cognizant of the time gone by.My two favorite stories of the collection are both about death and Africa: 'The Snows of Kalamjaro' and 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber' . That's where the similarities end. These two will remain with me.
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LibraryThing member madepercy
This book is drawn from other works and I have read all of the stories several times before either online or in other collected works. Rather than read in awe of the master, this reading had me feeling sorry for the depressing note to all things. While this makes the short stories art, it also
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hints at a fragility, but not of manhood, as Hemingway's critics often suggest, but of the absurd. And yet Hemingway had no time for the absurd, or at least, Malcolm Cowley with:...a stupid look on his potato face talking about the Dada movement...Yet here, in this collection, I couldn't help but think of the meaninglessness of life and Hemingway's enunciation of the absurd, building over and over in a collection put together, not by Hemingway, but by others. I suspect this is worth looking into further and a few re-reads of Hemingway's major works might benefit from a view through this lens. Show Less
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
Thought I'd read some classic short stories but the drabness of most of the stories overcame the fine writing. Maybe Snows, Fifty, and Macomber worked but mostly it seemed disconnected. His Nick Adams stories are so much better than these.
LibraryThing member suesbooks
the writing was of mixed quality. the bigotry and misogyny were painful, and i expect a part of their time. some of the details provided information regarding locations about which i had little knowledge. i would have preferred more clarity and more emotions.
LibraryThing member Rekki
Despite how some of this didn't seem to age well (Sexism, privilege, etc), the meaning that comes across still stands at the end. After hearing a character in one of my favorite anime series reference this story and compare himself to the leopard I decided to give this a read, so by comparing the
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two I was able to enjoy the perspective even more. Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Hemingway at his most Hemingwayesque. Does that tell you what you need to know?
LibraryThing member paperclips
Never been a big Hemingway fan (but that was high school), but thought I should give it a try again. Some of the stories were very good, others I felt as if I just walked into the middle of a conversation and never got the hang of.
The Good: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Clean Well-Lighted Place, A
The Confusing:The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio;In Another Country; The Killers; A Way You’ll Never Be
The first list all had well developed story-lines and could be considered an A –>B–>C type of story (sorry, I am a bit concrete-sequential when it comes to reading); the next list was a bit too scattered for me. If I was to read this again, I would bypass the stories that didn’t do it for me in the first page or two, then move on to the next.
The Good: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Clean Well-Lighted Place, A
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Day’s Wait, The Short and Happy Life, Fifty GrandThe Confusing:The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio;In Another Country; The Killers; A Way You’ll Never Be
The first list all had well developed story-lines and could be considered an A –>B–>C type of story (sorry, I am a bit concrete-sequential when it comes to reading); the next list was a bit too scattered for me. If I was to read this again, I would bypass the stories that didn’t do it for me in the first page or two, then move on to the next.
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LibraryThing member ivanfranko
It seems Mr. Hemingway had a mysterious genius for reproducing the language that rings true for his times. At best these stories are breathtaking in style and sensitivity.
I especially enjoyed his stories of youthful fishing trips to Michigan.
I especially enjoyed his stories of youthful fishing trips to Michigan.
Language
Original publication date
1936: The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1923: Up in Michigan
1930: On the Quai at Smyrna
1925: Other stories from "In Our Time"
1963: This selection
Physical description
150 p.; 18 cm
ISBN
0553049658 / 9780553049657