Some people have it, others don't. Money. That is the main subject of this story. Harry Morgan belongs to the latter category and needs to find ideas to support his family.
Hemingway's love for Cuba is probably the reason for the main setting though this might have taken place in many parts of the world.
I don't think this is the author's greatest book and am glad it wasn't the first one I read. While the story itself is interesting, it goes all a little higgledy-piggledy, especially towards the end. You can't help but wonder whether Mr. Hemingway just wanted to finish this one. Apparently, he considered it his worst one.
He was still a great author.
Comments from the discussion:
- Most people agreed the characters were not likeable, but we had a lot of thoughts on the settings and time and place in history, as well as about Hemingway's writing style and how it was formed and how it influenced writing of the future.
- His writing was not really to my taste, nor his characters, I can see how he is well regarded as an author while he just isn't a great fit for me personally. Still I am now able to say I have read something by him, and it will be a good reference point while reading similar genres in the future someday.
From the back cover:
"Hemingway's Classic Novel About Smuggling, Intrigue, and Love
To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of the wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.
Harshly realistic, yet with one of the most subtle and moving relationships in the Hemingway oeuvre, To Have and Have Not is literary high adventure at its finest."
Ernest Hemingway received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in 'The Old Man and the Sea' and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style".
I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.
I don't love Ernest Hemingway. I think some of his books are very over-rated.
ReplyDeleteI guess this one certainly is, Lark. I am glad it wasn't my first book by him, I might not have carried on.
DeleteI've only read a couple of Hemingway's novels. I was put off by his writing style and felt his writing was overrated. In terms of American writers that have won the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature, I like John Steinbeck so much better!!
ReplyDeleteWell, Steinbeck certainly is on the top of my list there, Lisa. But I think Hemingway has his good points, as well. Not this book, though.
DeleteI read this at the end of 2018 and thought the plot was all over the place. I liked some of it but enjoyed the movie *much* more. I'm glad he thought this was his worst novel! It's the only one of his I've read so far, so I'm hoping the others are better!! My review is here:
ReplyDeletehttps://cyberkittenspot.blogspot.com/2018/11/just-finished-reading-to-have-and-have.html
I have not seen the movie, Kitten, though after what you said, I might have to try it. I have read three of his books so far, For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favourite.
DeleteI really liked the movie but the only connection between the two is the title and the main characters name... oh, and that Harry has a boat.
DeleteIsn't that often the case, Kitten? ;)
DeleteI have this on my ebook app and want to read it. I think we are all mesmerised by the fact that Bogart and Bacall made the movie. I think have seen the movie, but was not too convinced. I will nevertheless give the book a try.
ReplyDeleteAs you might have read above, the book and the movie have little connection, as happens so often. And if you don't put your hopes up too high, you might even like the book, Lisbeth. As I said, not my favourite by him but if you like his style, you could still like the book.
Delete