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VOICE 1:
I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I’m Frank Oliver with Peoplein America, a Special English program about people who wereimportant in the history of the United States. Today, we tell aboutthe life of writer Ernest Hemingway.
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VOICE 1:
“A Writer is always alone, always an outsider,” Ernest Hemingwaysaid.
Others said that, of the many people he created in his books,Hemingway was his own best creation.
Ernest Hemingway was born in eighteen-ninety-five. He grew up inOak Park, Illinois, near the middle western city of Chicago. He wasthe second child in a family of six. His father was a doctor. Hismother liked to paint and play the piano.
Each summer, the family travelled to their holiday home innorthern Michigan. Ernest’s father taught him how to catch fish,hunt, set up a camp and cook over a fire.
At home in Oak Park, Ernest wrote for his school newspaper. Hetried to write like a famous sports writer of that time, RingLardner. He developed his writing skills this way.
VOICE 2:
In nineteen-seventeen, Hemingway decided not to go to auniversity. The United States had just entered World War One and hewanted to join the army. But the army rejected him because hiseyesight was not good enough.
Ernest found a job with the Kansas City Star newspaper in KansasCity, Missouri. He reported news from the hospital, policeheadquarters, and the railroad station. One reporter remembered:”Hemingway liked to be where the action was. “
The Kansas City Star demanded that its reporters write shortsentences. It wanted reporters to see the unusual details in anincident. Hemingway quickly learned to do both.
He worked for the newspaper only nine months before he joined theRed Cross to help on the battlefields of Europe. His job was todrive a red cross truck carrying wounded away from battle.
VOICE 1:
The Red Cross sent him to Italy.Soon he saw his first wounded when an arms factory in Milanexploded. Later, he was sent to the battle front. He went as closeto the fighting as possible to see how he would act in the face ofdanger. Before long, he was seriously wounded.
The war ended soon after he healed. Hemingway returned to theUnited States. Less than a year had passed since he went to Europe.But in that short time he had changed forever. He needed to writeabout what he had seen.
VOICE 2:
Ernest Hemingway left home for Chicago to prove to himself, andto his family, that he could earn a living from his writing.
But, he ran out of money and began to write for a newspaperagain. The Canadian newspaper, the Toronto Star, liked his reportsabout life in Chicago and paid him well.
VOICE 1:
In Chicago, Hemingway met the writer Sherwood Anderson. Andersonwas one of the first writers in America to write about the lives ofcommon people. Hemingway saw that Anderson’s stories showed life asit really was, the way Hemingway was trying to do.
Anderson gave Hemingway advice about his writing. He toldHemingway to move to Paris, where living was less costly. He saidParis was full of young artists and writers from all over the world.
In return for Anderson’s kindness Hemingway wrote a book calledthe torrents of spring. It makes fun of Anderson and the way hewrote. There was something in Hemingway that could not say “thankyou” to anyone. He had to believe he did everything for himself,even when he knew others helped him.
VOICE 2:
Hemingway decided to move to Paris. But before he did he marrieda woman he had recently met. Her name was Hadley Richardson.
Paris was cold and gray when Hemingway and his new wife arrivedin nineteen-twenty-one. They lived in one of the poorer parts of thecity. Their rooms were small and had no running water. But theToronto Star employed him as its European reporter, so there wasenough money for the two of them to live. And the job gave Hemingwaytime to write his stories.
VOICE 1:
Hemingway enjoyed exploring Paris, making new friends, learningFrench customs and sports. Some new friends were artists and writerswho had come to Paris in the nineteen-twenties. Among them werepoet, Ezra Pound, and writers Gertrude Stein, John Dos Passos, andF. Scott Fitzgerald. They quickly saw that Hemingway was a goodwriter. They helped him publish his stories in the United States. Hewas thankful for their support at the time, but later denied that hehad received help.
As a reporter, Hemingway travelled all over Europe. He wroteabout politics. He wrote about peace conferences and borderdisputes. And he wrote about sports, skiing and fishing. Later hewould write about bull fighting in Spain. The Toronto Star waspleased with his work, and wanted more of his reports. But Hemingwaywas busy with his own writing.
He said: “sometimes, I would start a new story and could not getit going. Then I would stand and look out over the roofs of Parisand think. I would say to myself: ‘all you have to do is write onetrue sentence. Write the truest sentence you know. So finally, Iwould write a true sentence and go on from there. It was a wonderfulfeeling when I had worked well. “
VOICE 2:
Hemingway’s first book of stories was called in our time. Itincluded a story, called “big two hearted river,” about the effectof war on a young man.
It tells about the young man taking a long fishing trip inMichigan. Hemingway had learned from his father when he was a boyabout living in the wild.
The story is about two kinds of rivers. One is calm and clear. Itis where the young man fishes. The other is dark. It is a swamp, athreatening place.
The story shows the young man trying to forget his past. He isalso trying to forget the war. Yet he never really speaks about it.The reader learns about the young man, not because Hemingway tellsus what the young man thinks, but because he shows the young manlearning about himself.
“Big Two-Hearted River” is considered one of the best modernAmerican stories. It is often published in collections of bestwriting.
VOICE 1:
After the book was published in nineteen-twenty-five, Hadley andHemingway returned to the United States for the birth of their son.They quickly returned to Paris.
Hemingway was working on a long story. He wanted to publish anovel so he would be recognized as a serious writer. And he wantedthe money a novel would earn.
The novel was called the sun also rises. It is about youngAmericans in Europe after World War One. The war had destroyed theirdreams. And it had given them nothing to replace those dreams. Thewriter Gertrude Stein later called these people members of “The LostGeneration. “
VOICE 2:
The book was an immediate success. At the age of twenty-fiveErnest Hemingway was famous.
Many people, however, could not recognize Hemingway’s art becausethey did not like what he wrote about. Hemingway’s sentences wereshort, the way he had been taught to write at the Kansas city starnewspaper. He wrote about what he knew and felt. He used fewdescriptive words. His statements were clear and easily understood.
He had learned from earlier writers, like Ring Lardner andSherwood Anderson. But Hemingway brought something new to hiswriting. He was able to paint in words what he saw and felt. Inlater books, sometimes he missed. Sometimes he even looked foolish.But when he was right he was almost perfect.
VOICE 1:
With the success of his novel, Hemingway became even more popularin Paris. Many people came to see him. One was an American woman,Pauline Pfeiffer. She became Hadley’s friend. Then Pauline fell inlove with Hemingway.
Hemingway and Pauline saw each other secretly. One time, theywent away together on a short trip. Years later, Hemingway wroteabout returning home after that trip:
“When I saw Hadley again, I wished I had died before I ever lovedanyone but her. She was smiling and the sun was on her lovely face.”
But the marriage was over. Ernest Hemingway and Hadley separated.She kept their son. He agreed to give her money he earned from hisbooks.
In later years, he looked back at his marriage to Hadley as thehappiest time of his life.
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VOICE 2:
This People in America program was written by Richard Thorman.I’m Frank Oliver.
VOICE 1:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for the finalpart of the story of Ernest Hemingway in Special English on theVoice of America.