Ernest Hemingway and The Soul

I am half way through Ernest Hemingway's 'For Whom The Bell Tolls'. This book is about a soldier of Republican Army (Americans and British) in Spanish Civil War (1936-39) who goes behind enemy lines to blow up a supply bridge. The whole book describes his two day stay among the native rebels who were hiding in jungle and fighting against Germans.

I did not start reading this book for knowing about Spanish Civil War or because I like to read about World War II. But I am reading it because it is a Ernest Hemingway novel. When I came to US about nine months ago, I happened to read his 'The Old Man and The Sea'. The short novel instantly became my most favorite. Though it is not a self-help kind of book, the novel should be an inspiration to the people who live alone and want to make most of their lives, goals and struggle. The novel was the culmination of Ernest Hemingway's literary career and gave him both Pulitzer (1953) and Nobel (1954) awards.

I got introduced to Hemingway not through 'The Old Man and The Sea' but through 'To Have And Have Not' about 5 years back through my friend, Pavan. I also read Hemingway's collection of short stories. The 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' will be my fourth Hemingway book.

Hemingway is the writer of human soul - a soul isolated and strong. The three novels, 'Old Man...'., 'To Have And..' and 'For Whom..' describe the internals of three highly professional men. Ernest Hemingway never talks about deep psychological questions of mind, that many authors tend to write when they want to talk about a human mind. Instead, he writes in very simple words the working of mind of these men. His characters are not philosophers. His characters do not think just one issue that is bothering them. Instead their mind is shown to move from one task to other at random, but somehow giving a final conclusion on each task. Just like any normal mind. While reading those pages of no-dialogue-but-just-thoughts in his books, you feel like your mind is going through that roller coaster rides of the minds of these men, taking you very high in some space and then abruptly turning you in a random direction, and finally taking you back to where you started, rejuvenated.

It is highly unfortunate that the author of 'the Old Man and the Sea', an unexemplary story about the struggle and survival of an old man on a boat in the rough sea among sharks, should die by committing suicide. The greatness of the soul of these characters in his books seemed to have sucked the soul out of himself.

I also came to know of one thing about reading. One should always read the work of authors in the reverse order. Read their last work first, then second last and so on. The reason is that all the good authors have a particular style of writing. And by the time of their last work, they have solidified their styles. The style becomes most visible in the last books. These books could make one decide whether he/she likes the author or not. If one does not like the author, it is no use to read more of that author. If one likes the author then reading backwards gives another pleasure too. It could show the process of crystallization of that style from a solid state to embryonic nascent state, and that is a revelation in itself.