Is Hemingway overrated? I read Old Man and the Sea and it was very meh. Should I try another book?

Is Hemingway overrated? I read Old Man and the Sea and it was very meh. Should I try another book?

He's overrated in America, and appropriately rated in the rest of the world.

>people in america read
ha

>a no-nonsense kinda guy overrated in the land of the bullshitters
whoda thunk it

Yes, like every american writer.

No one is "overrated" or "underrated". There's no objective measurement.

You like what you like and that's the end of it.

That being said, I didn't like Old Man and the Sea too much myself.

OMatS was a good, simply book. Don't understand Santiago or something?

He was sort of overrated by previous generations but is now experiencing a backlash where he is probably underrated.

Wow, kill yourself you fucking pseud waste of semen.

underrated post

when, oh when, will we find the time to place him rightly in the mediocre spot he deserves

I don't know why I'm the pseud when you're the one compensating your lack of personality by pretending that you have a very "refined" taste in literature.

Stay mad.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of my favorite novels, but it definitely plays on some late 19th century varieties of sentimentalism. After that work and The Sun Also Rises I think his stuff declines sharply, with The Old Man and the Sea being on a nearly YA level.

That said, is correct, and many people like his work because the prose is plain and sincere, and far from experimental. I do want to read The Snows of Kilimanjaro

If you dislike Hemmmmmingway you are either a feminist, a nu-male, or a pleb.

>no objective measurement
Nah, but seriously, read Nabokov's essay, "Good Readers and Good Writers". Though some thoughts in that essay are pretty arrogant and disproven by others, his argument on subjective and objective judgement is pretty sound

I haven't read it, I don't believe it, but yeah I'll give it a try. I like Nabokov.

Read the famous novels and all the stories.

I didn't like Old Man much either.

I think he's novels are better, especially The Sun Also Rises, but he is definitely overrated.

Why the fuck do people not read his early short fiction first? They read and talk and talk and talk about his novels all the time, while it's completely obvious that those are a matter of taste.

In Our Time is a perfect collection of short stories. Start here please.

the first book of his i read was old man and the sea, didnt think much of it, so read the sun also rises. A great observation of what italy at war from a view point of someone who suffered the chaos, but writing from experience is similar to drawing from a picture - talent wise, i felt little, but maybe thats the appeal. a dry novel from a dry man. the romance is authentic too

His short stories are masterpieces, anyone who calls him overrated has obviously only read a bare minimum of his work.

It's a damn shame that Old Man & The Sea is most peoples entry point into Hemingway, since you can't really understand how important it is to his oeuvre until you've grasped his style through other works.

I personally don't think so, he probably the single biggest influencer in modern literature, his style is the the most emulated. His minimalism just seems to come so perfect, it leaves you to put the pieces together

The old man and the sea is amazing, but I can see why some people wouldn't understand it and would miss the point of it

For whom the bell tolls is pretty good, yet again some minimalism could be overlooked by some people

A farewell to arms is average, comes off as a bit like a modern best seller

The sun also rises probably his easiest to enjoy, you can get so much out of the book, it's pretty much up to the person to get what they want and enjoy most out of it as opposed to the others. I tended to more focus on the lost generation aspect more while my brother more focused on lady Ashley and the state of modern women

This, to be honest.

I also thought TOMATS was the worst work I read by him. Those books about bells, balls and bulls are much better.

Also that one short story about the well lighted place is great.

>writing from experience is similar to drawing from a picture
Wut. Shirley writing from experience is like sketching from life? The equivalent of drawing from a picture would be historical fiction or something.

I haven't read The Old Man and the Sea in probably 20 years, but Hemingway's first short story collection is god-tier writing. It's those stories that had a huge influence on American prose. There are a lot of lessons one can learn from those short stories in terms of style besides the fact that they're great fun to read. As far as the novels are concerned, I preferred The Sun Also Rises to A Farewell to Arms.

I agree with the previous poster about not starting on the old man. Yes, it seems like a stupid story of an old man just fucking fishing. But you have to read his previous word and understand it as his last work before he ate a bullet. Read the sun also rises, his short stories, and a farewell to arms. He is a fantastic writer.

i almost killed my self reading "for whom the bell tolls" so yes he is overate.

I personally prefer his short stories to his novels, but I don't think he's overrated. He's considered one of the greatest American writers, and I think he is.

le Americans are so stupid everywhere is amazing and cultured meme

As if the average Euro reads. Pffft.

**Everywhere else

More like Memingway.

What the hell don't people like about The Old Man and the Sea? It's a fucking book. It has literally everything it needs and nothing it doesn't.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is great if you can get over the writing style

Not liking the subject matter for one, I mean that's a big one.

his best book by far imo

Should I read farewell to arms Veeky Forums? I've read old man and the sea, and for whom the bell tolls, both of which I thought were fine yet didn't make me really want to keep reading him.

He is very much over rated. Every English class I have ever had tried to push the idea that his writing is like an iceberg in so much that he only presents the reader with a bit of information and hides most of the substance in between the lines. This is a load of crap. Don't get me wrong, Hemingway is a great author. However, what "substance" his books have fail to make up for the sub-par writing quality and dreadfully boring stories. Maybe I'm just being picky but I don't think that he deserve the reputation that he has.

but its writing style IS great, user

How come no one ever talks about To Have and Have Not? I found it the most entertaining out of any of his work.

IF you know castillan spanish.

GOD TIER
>Sun Also Rises
>Short Stories

PASSABLE TIER
>Farewell To Arms
>Across the River and Into the Trees

BAD TIER
>For Whom the Bell Tolls
>The Old Man and the Sea

WHO CARES? TIER
>Torrents of Spring
>To Have and Have Not
>Everything else

Does anyone know any other book that delves into Lady Brett's character? Or her and Jake's relationship? I'm going to have to write one if there isn't...

Dude it isn't about an old ass guy on a boat. It isn't even about fishing. Beneath it all is the battle we all face and will eventually lose. The battle with time, with age. It's about trying to show one last time that you were and are worth something.

I found a farewell to be one of my favorite works. It is awesome in it's writing and the authenticity because he was there man. All of that is based on his actual experiences in ww1.

Top tier:

The Sun Also Rises
Short Stories

Mid Tier:

For Whom The Bell Tolls
Old Man and the Sea
Farewell to Arms
Green Hills of Africa
A Movable Feast

Low Tier:

Garden of Eden

Lets pretend this didn't happen tier:

To Have and Have Not

It should be mentioned more that A farewell to arms is his biggest contribution to modernism and the lost generation. Even the title is ironic. Its based of a jangoist poem called "A farewell"

Maybe read an autobiography if you're a tremendous faggot; Sun Also Rises is a roman-a-clef.