196 1 On July 2nd, 2008, American writer Hemingway shot himself in his residence in Ketcham, Idaho. Unexpectedly, this evening's greetings turned out to be Hemingway's last words to everyone. It was Sunday, Hemingway, who had been diagnosed with dementia, got up early, and his wife Mary was still sleeping. Hemingway found the key to the storage room and took out a double-bore shotgun inlaid with silver ornaments. When he came to the front hall to load the bullets, the phone rang. He picked up the phone and said something puzzling: "I'm Dr. Hemingway;" We all owe God a death. If we die this year, we don't have to wait until next year. " Then he hung up. Then he went to the front door, put the double-chamber muzzle used to shoot pigeons in his mouth and pulled two triggers at the same time. Hearing the news, the family members were puzzled in grief, because Hemingway had attempted suicide several times during the two years of suffering from dementia, but his mental state has been very good in recent days. Yesterday, he and his family had a happy meal in a local restaurant. He sang Italian folk songs happily with everyone at home. Before turning off the light, he kindly whispered to everyone, "Good night, my kitten." Unexpectedly, this evening's greeting became the last sentence he said to everyone.
Today, there are various speculations about Hemingway's suicide. One of the most common sayings is that he has been brilliant in Jiang Lang since he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Knowing that he could never surpass himself, he was so proud that he had to shoot himself in the despair of creation. Some people think that he was seriously injured in the war and was in distress several times, leaving a chronic disease. In his later years, he couldn't bear physical illness and committed suicide. So some people think that his suicide has genetic factors, because his father couldn't bear the pain of serious illness and committed suicide with a revolver to his head.
In fact, Hemingway's attitude towards death is detached, because he has deeply understood the connotation of death in the Italian battlefield. At that time, he was less than 20 years old. He met a veteran who was nearly sixty years old at the ambulance station and jokingly said, "Dad, you are too old to fight!" " The veteran replied proudly, "Son, I can die like anyone!" " "Hemingway suddenly felt his heart does it one brace up. Before long, he met the British prospective officer Eric Doman Smith. When discussing the topic of death with the British, the British quoted a sentence from Henry IV: "A person only dies once; We all owe God a death. If we die this year, we don't have to wait for next year. "For Hemingway, who is 19 years old, this sentence has since become the mantra of his life. So, when he was injured, the doctor took out 28 shrapnel from his leg. In his letter to his father, he boasted that he had 228 injuries and proudly claimed that he was the first American to be injured in Italy. He was calm when he passed death in distress several times in his life, especially when he crashed for the second time. When the plane caught fire, he opened a bottle of scotch and took a sip. After the plane crashed, he knocked down the stuck door with his head and injured shoulder. When he came out, he shook the bottle of wine and a bunch of bananas in his hand and shouted to the panicked others, "I am very lucky!" "
The master of literature lives in Paris.
After returning to his hometown from the battlefield of World War I, Hemingway was regarded as a hero, and many people invited him to give a speech. Hemingway is also willing to publicize his heroic achievements everywhere, often showing his blood-soaked trousers full of bullet holes and the silver medal of hero awarded to him by the Italian government. Besides, he wandered around, not doing housework or looking for a job. His parents are very angry. After a fierce quarrel, Hemingway was driven out of the house and came to Chicago alone 1920 to write short stories and write some essays for the free column of the local Toronto Star. Here, he not only met sherwood anderson, a famous writer who helped him change his fate, but also Elizabeth Hadley Richardson, who later became his first wife. Hedley was eight years older than Hemingway, but Hemingway resolutely married her in September of the following year. After marriage, Hemingway decided to live in Italy, where he fought with his wife.
However, sherwood anderson told him this way: "Wrong! Not Italy, Paris. That's the only place a writer should go. "
Sherwood anderson used to be a successful factory owner, but later he turned to a writer. He wrote a famous work, Weird Man in a Small Town. The famous writer who once gave william faulkner the best advice and guidance on Nobel Prize in Literature thought Hemingway was "a young man with outstanding talent in writing". He decisively suggested Hemingway go to Paris, wrote him a letter and introduced him to some old friends there. "Go to them-Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, ezra pound. These three people will help you find your place in world literature. " In return for the care of the famous writer, Hemingway carried all his unused canned food back to Anderson's home with a bag the night before he left, and smashed it on his floor. However, all this did not stop him from mocking Anderson in a work called Spring Tide.
On the Christmas Eve of 192 1, Hemingway and his wife came to Paris.
Hemingway first met Joyce through Anderson and introduced him to another old friend, Miss Cheval Beach, the owner of Shakespeare Bookstore. After some conversation, the outstanding Irishman deeply touched Hemingway, and they soon became good friends. In addition to discussing literature, the two often go shopping and drink together. Joyce has poor eyesight, and once she is drunk, she will fight with others. Because he couldn't see his opponent clearly, he shouted to Hemingway, "Kill him, Hemingway!" " "Although Hemingway could not help laughing at Joyce when he mentioned it in later articles, he admired Joyce very much at that time. 1922 After the publication of Ulysses, Hemingway cursed while reading it: "The best damn book!" And found a way out of his own creative style in this book, which is a headache for many critics.
Ezra pound was called "eccentric genius poet" by some avant-garde artists in Paris. It was the first time that he made Joyce attract the attention of the international literary world. He also saw Hemingway's talent and thought that "he can write good prose, and he has the most beautiful prose style in the world". At first, however, Hemingway laughed at Pound's strange appearance: sparse and untidy goatee, open neckline and heavy hat, "like an unfortunate character in an ancient opera". Hemingway soon realized that Pound was a truly creative person. In fact, Hemingway learned from Pound to thoroughly purify English and return it to its beauty and ability. When later critics pointed this out in Hemingway's works, Hemingway said, "Yes, but I gave Pound many boxing lessons!" " "
Among several literary masters living in Paris introduced by Anderson to Hemingway, Gertrude Stein helped Hemingway the most. This outstanding woman was praised by many as "a great innovator of American prose abroad", and artists in Paris were proud to be close to her at that time. She is arrogant and quite conceited, and what she often says has almost become a famous saying in the Parisian art world: "Modern culture is gertrude stein." Hemingway often humbly asks her for advice with his own works. Facing Hemingway, who is young enough to be her son, Stein rudely pointed out that there are too many decorations and tricks in his works, and bitterly asked him to learn to concentrate and concentrate. Stein not only tried his best to guide Hemingway in writing, but also cared about him in life. When Hemingway was depressed, she suggested that he go to Spain to watch the bullfight. Thus, this ancient and crazy sport aroused Hemingway's potential passion and arrogance. Since then, Hemingway not only indulged in watching bullfighting, but also injected his passion and arrogance into his works, and his writing became tough. When Hemingway's eldest son, Bumpy, was born and Hemingway was troubled by his lack of experience as a father, it was Stan who took the initiative to become Bumpy's godmother. Of course, none of this can compare with her help to Hemingway's creation. However, after Hemingway became famous, in some reminiscences, he mentioned more about how he practiced boxing with Stein and how he hit her huge chest with his fist.
Of course, Hemingway also made friends with other literary masters in Paris, such as Fitzgerald and Pazos, but no one had a greater influence on his writing than the above three.
The Old Man and the Sea and Nobel Prize in Literature
In any case, Hemingway finally won his position in the world literary world with his unique writing style. His representative works, such as The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, are widely circulated all over the world. In particular, The Old Man and the Sea, a classic novel in world literature, not only made Hemingway one of the greatest American writers, but also made him a legend in the world literary world in the 20th century.
In fact, Hemingway's literary reputation had been declining before The Old Man and the Sea. Since Death in the Afternoon, every new novel he published has been ridiculed by critics. Hemingway was so angry that he threatened to crush the critics who criticized his works and vowed to write a "work to shut those sons of bitches up". This work is The Current Island, which was published after his death. After the completion of this book, Hemingway knew that compared with his other works, this book is boring and mediocre, and only the ending can be unique. Later, he took this ending out and revised it into a short story, named "The Old Man and the Sea". This novel, which regained Hemingway's international reputation, was published in Life magazine on September 1952, with Hemingway's photo on the cover. This issue sold 5.3 million copies in 48 hours. The story of this novel is well known, and its significance is what Hemingway pursued all his life: people can be destroyed, but they cannot be defeated.
Hemingway wanted or didn't want Nobel Prize in Literature. At that time, when two other American writers, sinclair lewis and william faulkner, won prizes respectively, Hemingway made a lot of sarcastic comments on the former's works and looks, calling the latter an alcoholic and a word game player, and always contemptuously called Nobel Prize in Literature "the Swedish thing". However, on 1954 and 10/28, when he received a phone call from his home in Cuba, he shook his wife Mary wildly and shouted, "Baby, my baby, I got that thing from Sweden!" However, due to his physical condition, he did not go to Stockholm to receive the prize, but showed his sobriety and calmness in that tough and elegant acceptance speech: writing is a lonely life at best.