In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway (April 1-8, 2004)
Published in 1925, In Our Time is a collection of Ernest Hemingway’s early short stories. The sharpness to his prose are unlike any other writer. I enjoyed the stories, but I am more fond of his novels. Each chapter begins with a short, turmultuos sketch. Then a longer short story follows.
This collection introduces Nick Adams, a character that Hemingway follows through life (and returns to in later stories). Many of the stories and one sketch feature him as the main character. Also, "A Very Short Story" contains the seed which germinated into A Farewell to Arms. My favorite of the stories was "The End of Something." One of the Nick Adams stories, this one rang true to life.
The joy of reading Hemingway is the simplicity of his presentation and the fact that he doesn’t tell you what he means. The meaning is there, but only if you put the pieces together yourself.
