My Tributes to Ernest Hemingway

On this day, May 4 in 1954, Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and The Sea secured the famous Pulitzer Prize. This tribute to the great American author commemorates this achievement.

Born in 1899 in Illinois, The author “for whom the bell tolls” is one of the greatest writers in American fiction. Like Charles Dickens and George Orwell, also deserves high esteem. His no-nonsense, plain, rich writing style is a perfect example to the budding writers. Read Old Man and The Sea, for instance.

Hemingway started his career as a press reporter in Kansas City at the tender age of 17. Soon enough, Hemingway, who volunteered in the First World War, was wounded in the war to spend long period in hospitals. On returning to the US, he continued his profession as a reporter for various newspapers.

His writing is almost a standard in American literature of the 20^th century. In 1921, he married Hadley Richardson, when he was still a reporter; together, they soon moved to Paris, where he still worked for The Toronto Star newspaper as a foreign reporter.

In Our Time, a short story series that appeared in 1925 is the first work of fiction penned by Hemingway. Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, released in 1926, was a slightly autobiographical novel, and it’s writing style and touching scenes made it soon enough a highly popular work.

Another important work, A Farewell to Arms was published in 1929, telling the romance of an American soldier and a British nurse. And as you guessed, it is highly autobiographical, as Hemingway himself worked in the army.

The most important work from Hemingway’s pen happened in 1952, Old Man and The Sea. The novella was hugely popular, and established the Hemingway’s fame.

In 1962, following the publication of his article, The Dangerous Summer on bullfighting, Hemingway was bedridden for depression, paranoia and certain other mental disruptions. He also had lost his memory significantly due to shock treatments. All these might have caused it: Hemingway committed suicide on July 2, 1962. We lost a marvelous writer.

Hemingway’s influence on literature in America and outside is highly appreciable. There may not be another writer in America, who more influenced creative writing. He stands out as a great exponent of his writing style, simple, and rich in visual sense.

Here are some of Ernest Hemingway’s greatest works.

The Sun Also Rises

The Old Man and The Sea

A Farewell to Arms

For Whom the Bell Tolls

A Movable Feast

In Our Time

Copyright © Lenin Nair 2008