I've read a good deal of Hemingway. I rest on my opinion of him as a genius, and an American dreamboat writer. However, I can tire of him. I tire of his unapologetic chauvinism, the way that he and his characters opine without self-doubt. And yet, I love him. I'm drawn to his characters and their lack of judgement.
This time, I'm really enjoying A Farewell to Arms. I like the youthful, yet manly quality of Henry, the main American character. I like the romance of the Italian people, with their joking and their friendly kissing. I love Henry's way of never feeling the experience that is in front of him, but only liking it from a distance. Henry's insistence at being at the front lines to assist the wounded contrasts his almost total inability to feel the emotions in the moment. I like how his character is in love whether he likes it or not, or whether he choses to or not. For now, I just like it. And I just love Hemingway again.
Hemingway reminds me that the sensory experience of everyday life is magical in prose. His story also reminds me that you can enjoy being part of a diverse group in times of great stress without imagining that everything is about you, even though you are having the experience.
There is a great deal about Hemingway's version of masculinity that I admire, even as I am jealous of it, as it is quite hard to enact in reality. Perhaps that is why Hemingway once wrote something to the effect that if a man lived by a lie he should die by it. His versions of masculinity are so often unrealistic, and remind me more of sociopathic behavior patterns. His masculine emotions are often transformed into heroic selfless actions or patient inertia, with tragedy and emotional breakdown between the lines, in the avoidance instead of the confrontation. I'm envious of these male (and sometimes female) characters who show stoicism and fairness in the face of heartbreak. Sometimes I like a little more meltdown, as I'm reminded that I tend to turn things up to eleven in the emotions department.
I'll write more as I finish the novel.
