The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway (4)

Ernest Miller HemingwayJun 2024

Rating 4.5
Word count
48K words
Chapters
9

Tags

Foreign Literature Natural ImageryAdventure JourneyDeath ThemeShort StoriesHardboiled Style

Summary

This book is a collection of Hemingway's short stories in English, suitable for English-language readers. It includes the classics "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," as well as previously unpublished stories. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" was first published in 1936. The book is a remarkable portrait of a man near death and one of Hemingway's finest works; it centers on death and dying, yet its deeper theme is Harry's journey back through the past into the present. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" was written in the 1930s. In a small café just before closing, two waiters discuss an affluent old man who drinks there every night and has unexpectedly killed himself, and they reveal their attitudes toward him as he stays out late. The story reflects on a world in which God is dead, moral and religious certainties have vanished, and people have lost their goals, faith, and values—a world steeped in despair, disillusionment, and emptiness, where people wander in a dazed void and undercurrents of nothingness run beneath daily life. Following Hemingway's usual principles, the story is simple in plot and spare and polished in language, yet deeply suggestive, carrying his reflections on the philosophy of life.

Editor's review

The fourth volume of this English-language story collection follows the editorial approach of the first three, gathering such celebrated pieces as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" alongside previously unpublished stories. Hemingway uses a spare narrative style to explore deathbed retrospectives, lost faith, and moral emptiness; the stories seem calm on the surface, yet beneath them run undercurrents of disillusionment and nothingness. The rhythm of the English prose and the silences in the dialogue are especially worth close reading, making this suitable for readers already familiar with Hemingway who want to appreciate his control of style. Because the contents overlap heavily with the third volume in the series, check the table of contents before buying to avoid duplicate purchases. Read the unpublished pieces alongside the classics to observe how Hemingway handles similar themes differently—this reveals the stability and evolution of his style better than reading single stories in isolation.

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Reading tips

  1. Before buying, compare the table of contents with the third volume in the series, and read this volume's unique unpublished pieces first.
  2. Read each story twice: first for plot, then to mark dialogue and recurring images and sense what is left unsaid.
  3. Read "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" alongside "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," comparing how the two treat death and failure.
  4. Keep brief notes on how each story ends to build sensitivity to Hemingway's use of omission.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. Nobody Ever Dies
  3. The Good Lion
  4. The Faithful Bull
  5. Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog
  6. A Man of the World
  7. Summer People
  8. The Last Good Country
  9. An African Story

FAQ

Does this volume differ from the third? Available descriptions list the same classics in both the third and fourth volumes—"The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and others—and both mention previously unpublished stories. The exact differences require checking the actual contents; confirm before buying to avoid duplication.
Can I read this without having read the first three volumes? Yes. The stories stand alone and do not depend on any order. Still, to gain a systematic view of Hemingway's short fiction, starting with the classics is safer; the unpublished pieces here can serve as supplementary reading with no continuity issues.
Are the themes of nothingness and death too heavy? The themes are indeed heavy, but Hemingway writes with restraint, never heightening emotion and letting dialogue and scene speak for themselves. If reading many stories at once feels oppressive, intersperse lighter reading or take one story at a time with time to absorb it.
Is the English edition suitable for translation practice? Yes. Hemingway's sentences are short and his vocabulary everyday, but the omissions and implications in dialogue are an excellent test for translators. Try translating a passage, then compare it with a published Chinese translation, focusing on how short-sentence rhythm and unspoken tone are handled.

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About the author

Ernest Miller Hemingway Author · American · 1899–1961

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American novelist and journalist, born in Oak Park, Illinois. He served in World War I and was wounded, later living in Paris, where he became one of the representative writers of the Lost Generation. His works often deal with war, adventure, and human endurance, and his prose is known for its spare, restrained style, using understated dialogue and plain description to convey deep feeling. His major works include The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954, and died in 1961. Our catalog holds 22 of his works, including novels, selected short stories, and bilingual annotated editions, commonly classified under foreign literature and classic works.