I'm currently reading Islands in the Stream, and I'm not liking it much. The book is boring the hell out of me. All thaaat happens is people swear and order another whiskey. Hemingway spent 40 damn pages just describing getting a fish into a boat, and then the damn thing escaped. Having already bought it, I read somewhere it's a bad book for newcomers to Hemingway.

I have a school project to analyze a piece of American literature and write a literary criticism on it. 1970 is just about the cut off date for this, and it has to be by a "well-respected" author. So Stephen King, Tom Clancey, and John Grisham don't cut it apparently.

Well, I decided to do Hemingway, and after some research chose this book. Which seems to have been a mistake, probably because it was published posthumously. My teacher doesn't want me doing A Farewell to Arms, because she says she's bored to death of it. What other good Hemingway's are there out there? Do you have another author you'd recommend over him such as Mark Twain or Nathaniel Hawthorne?

I've also considered For Whom the Bell Tolls, is that any good?

Thanks.

[17:32:26] <@Vinny> I've had iced tea out of a fountain, and a sip of crappy hot tea at an "Importance of Being Earnest Tea Party" in english
[17:33:36] <&Ach> If it were an "Importance of Being Ernest Hemmingway Tea Party," you'd all be drinking hard liquor and headbutting the doors of flaming planes open.

"The Old Man and the Sea" kicked ***.

Maybe.

[QUOTE=Vincent Valentine][17:32:26] <@Vinny> I've had iced tea out of a fountain, and a sip of crappy hot tea at an "Importance of Being Earnest Tea Party" in english
[17:33:36] <&Ach> If it were an "Importance of Being Ernest Hemmingway Tea Party," you'd all be drinking hard liquor and headbutting the doors of flaming planes open.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for a good laugh!

However, my situation has not improved... >_>

None. Hemingway has that gift along with Charles Dickens to bore me to tears. I can read any other novel, but if it was written by these two men I cannot find any interest in them.

Hemmingway is probally one of my favorite authors, his style is terse and direct, yet his sparse details somehow paint a vivid picture of everything.

The Old Man and the Sea is the quintessential Hemmingnay novel, and, by far, my favorite of his. Again, the story is direct, but if you think about it as more than just a man against a fish, and see the depth portrayed by the man's struggle in all aspects of life (Again, not just about the fish), the story becomes alive in a way that isn't first apparent. It's also short (About 90 pages, big font, few words on a page).. which is a plus because it's simpler to digest and analyze, especially for school.

You could do Vonnegut, he's well respected, and all of his novels are amazingly awesome, especially Slaughterhouse Five, Hocus Pocus and Cat's Cradle... although if you don't like his style, his books are a real chore if not painful to read..

Hmm, I did consider this one when I was researching his books, but I'm worried that it will be a bit too .... simple? the short length is very enticing, but I do want a good chunk of content for this paper, which needs to be 4-6 pages typed in MLA format. After what I've read of this last book, I'm a little bit wary. Maybe Hemingway's not my kind of litereary style, I don't know. What did you get out of this book, did it really hold your interest?

Read Cat's Cradle. I read "To Have and to Have Not" and wanted to commit suicide.

-Not my favorite.

Maybe now we know why he did. :p

The Old Man and the Sea is one of the few books I read straight through in one sitting. I don't read books like that, I like reading small snips of books at a time, often reading several books at once. (Im currently reading Return of the King, Vonnegut's A man without a Country and the Chronicles of Narnia, I read about a chapter of each a day) However, this book really kept my interest in a way no other book has.

I wrote a 4 page paper on The Old Man and the Sea, you can quickly derive so much from the story, from the allegories, the style, everything about it, and some teachers will be impressed on how deeply you analyze the book, and you can get much more into the paper because of the short length, not having to sacrifice some parts to include others. You can analyze the whole book, and come to an actual conclusion based on all aspects because of the length, and your attitudes will be neatly wrapped up.

Interesting, I'll have to consider that. I'm just not certain if my teacher will allow it due to the short length.

On another possiblity, what about The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck?

If there's any book that DOES bore me to death, it's The Grapes of Wrath.
I love Hemingway though.

Now Steinbeck... he's got something there. I've read some of his stuff.

-Actually, if it's not before the cutoff (I can't rmember the publishing date), try reading Salinger's classic "Catcher in the Rye". Not exactly allegorical, but still awesome.

Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

I liked that book a lot. You won't probably be disappointed if you decide to read it.

STEINBECK IS THE SINGLE MOST BORING AUTHOR I'VE EVER READ.

In the end, you get the message, and the books he writes come together, and he's a good author, but good CHRIST the man draws it out to no end. East of Eden was such a horribly slow and boring read.

I suggest Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. It takes a while to read your first time through, but it's hilarious and awesome.

You could also do some of Asimov or Bradbury's stuff. Both well-respected authors who write very interesting sci-fi.

The Old Man and the Sea is my favourite Hemingway, I'm currently reading it again.

The Sun also Rises was pretty good too.

I didn't think Grapes of Wrath was that boring. It was a like depressing (pun not intended) at the end.