The first introduction of Ernest Hemingway to the United States readers was with the collection of short stories called In Our Time. The collection of fifteen loosely tied short stories start with a short vignette, or scene for capturing a “single moment or a defining detail about a character, idea, or other element of the story” (Literary Terms).
(Ernest Hemingway wrote the book In Our Time, which when released made him famous in America).
Nick Adams serves as the fictional yet autobiographical object of many of the short stories contained within. Hemingway employed The Iceberg Theory of storytelling by omission in this, his introductory style of writing that simultaneously leaves much of the story under the water line, hidden from view. The notion gains particular expression in the short story format of this book, which leaves things out an leaves the essence of an experience behind. Through the stories in In Our Time, Hemingway aimed at stripping away detail while offering an emotionally powerful story that spoke to the feelings he meant to convey.
(The first short story included with In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway‘s Indian Camp).
Indian Camp opens the path where Nick joins his father in an Indian camp where a woman is giving birth. The symbolism of life beginning is placed against an existential teaching about the ending of life as well. The feeling Nick takes in being with his father upon visiting then leaving this place with his father is one safety and a life that, at least in this memory, will never end. Stories that follow are The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife, The End of Something, and On the Quai at Smyrna.
(The fifth short story included with In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway‘s The Three-Day Blow).
The Three-Day Blow moves the tale forward to a day where Nick has grown from being a young lad into an age where he wishes to drink. Nick Adams visits Bill Wemedge, and the two drink Irish whiskey with water. The two talked about baseball, fishing, and then Nick being the reason that a prospective wedding had ended. The essence of the story comes in the conclusion, when Nick comes to the realization that, despite the missed marriage, he can still party on a Saturday night. The Battler and A Very Short Story follow The Three-Day Blow in In Our Time.
(The eighth short story included with In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway‘s Soldier’s Home).
Soldier’s Home is the story of an Oklahoma lad from a Kansas church coming back from World War One as a marine. Harold Krebs returned from the Rhine in the summer of 1919. By the time Krebs had come home, he found it hard adjusting to life back home as the masculine appetite returning veterans had for a heroes welcome and the various degrees of telling war stories could bring little consolation. The girls back home were of no consolation for Harold Krebs, and finding work was beyond him. Harold avoided his father, could feel nothing but anger or indifference for his family. The essence of Soldier’s Home was that the war had taught Harold Krebs to make do with being angry, indifferent, and consoled by distancing himself from responsibility and love.
(The fourteenth short story included with In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway‘s My Old Man).
The Revolutionist, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, Cat in the Rain, Out of Season, and Cross-Country Snow each preceded the story of My Old Man. My Old Man itself recalls uses Joe Butler’s voice to first-person narrate direct recollection and conversation to show what he felt and remembered of his father, a jockey. The narrator shows admiration for the physicality his father and the sport of horse riding. The relationships among the athletes with ethnic slurs crept in along with some difficulty, along with Joe leaving Italy for France. The pageantry and romance of the horses in France fascinated Joe, yet that gives way when Joe Butler’s father died in a steeplechase accident. The essence of the story, and of his father in My Old Man, is that folks considered him a crook.
(The fifteenth short story included with In Our Time is Ernest Hemingway‘s Big Two-Hearted River, which is told in two parts).
Big Two-Hearted River closes the book In Our Time as the telling of a fishing expedition. The essence of the story, returning with the autobiographical Nick Adams at its core, explores the destructive qualities of war placed in comparison to the healing, regenerative powers of nature.
(Ernest Hemingway wrote the book In Our Time, which when released made him famous in America).
The stories of In Our Time show the movement of Ernest Hemingway from his influences into the clear voice on display with the novels that many have read. The themes, style and subject matter for what was to come in Hemingway‘s novels show clearly in this installment. My rating for In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway is 4-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Matt – Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Matt Lynn Digital 