The Why of Hemingway
In my last post, I talked briefly about Hemingway's travels and books. I forgot to mention his connection to Cuba (mentioned in
S. as the last place V. M. Straka was seen alive).
In 1939, Hemingway took his boat to Cuba, staying at the Hotel Ambos Mundos. From the accounts I can find on the internet, Cuba became his winter home in the 1940's and 1950's. Hemingway stayed in Cuba for the last time in 1960 leaving manuscripts and art in a bank vault.
Politically, Hemingway leaned left, often supporting communist and socialist causes. He covered the Spanish Civil War as a journalist, and while there finished the screenplay for the leftist propaganda film,
The Spanish Earth, directed by Jori Ivens when the screenplay was abandoned by his friend John Dos Passos. Hemingway supported Castro's overthrow of Batista.
I've mentioned John Dos Passos before; by chance he was one of the threads I picked up and followed. Dos Passos was a friend and contemporary of Hemingway. In later life, the friendship soured, perhaps in part by Dos Passos changing political views. Originally left leaning, he went on to campaign for Richard Nixon in his presidential bid.
Dos Passos and Hemingway met in Italy around the time that Hemingway helped with the munitions plant disaster near Milan. Dos Passos, as part of a larger group of writers (Theodore Dreiser, Lester Cohen, Charles R. Walker, Adelaide Walker, Jessie Wakefield, Sherwood Anderson, Anna Rochester, Arnold Johnson, Bruce Crawford, and Boris Israel), went on to cover the Harlan County War, a movement by miners fighting to unionize that became a bloody struggle. Originally supporting the left in the Spanish Civil War, Dos Passos left Spain after the execution of his friend, the activist Jose Robles. The tactics used by the Stalinists in Spain appear to have completely disillusioned Dos Passos to the communist and socialist movements of the early 20th century.
Dos Passos died in relative obscurity in 1970, but his
U.S.A trilogy is considered by some to his greatest work of fiction. The trilogy comprises of the novels:
- The 42nd Parallel (1930)
- 1919 (1932)
- The Big Money (1936)
Of note is Dos Passos' use of newsreel excerpts, newspaper headlines and short clippings in his trilogy. Not unlike the footnotes and extras found between the pages of
S.. And of course, the number 19 figures prominently in the second title of the trilogy; we all should know by now how important that number is.
So is Straka and his circle in part a meditation on the
Lost Generation? I think it is highly plausible. Many of the
Lost Generation writers were left leaning. The writing of the period is defined by a sense of futility and disillusionment with the world. The relationships between the
Lost Generation writers were complex and mutable.
But this is the wonder of
S.: wagtails and rabbit holes, references that are found on the internet and literary works, threads and spider webs. When Doug Dorst posted the fictional review of
The Ship of Theseus, an ad for Rose & Blatt publishing caught my eye. Louise Rosenblatt is known for her transactional theory of literature; that meaning is not found within literature, but found within our interaction with it. No two people will have the same interaction with any given text as their interaction will be defined by the scope and breadth of their personal experiences. A concept not unlike the concept "parallax view" discussed in the blog
The Monkey Dance. I can't think of a better explanation for
S.; it is what you want it to be. It can be enjoyed simply as a work of fiction, or you change the very nature of the book by exploring all of the avenues hidden within. We are given the ability to make that choice, and perhaps in this, lies the whole point.
(edited 7/31/14 for grammar and tags added)
