Customer Reviews

In Our Time

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In Our Time is a great collection of Ernest Hemingway's early short stories, which he wrote when he was at his peak as a writer. I love the way he uses simple descriptions and dialogue to narrate them, giving a more natural feel to the stories. You can see his tough writing style beginning to show already at this point of his career. Most parts will be confusing to the novice reader because Hemingway really wants you to infer what the stories are about - he will not go right out and tell you. There really is no single theme to this whole book, but it basically shows how life was back in the 1920's. Many of Hemingway's works were based on his own experiences in life, which is very interesting. "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" was based on the author's own father, who was, in Hemingway's mind, a coward. "Soldier's Home" is an excellent story of a distressed soldier coming home from The Great War. "A Very Short Story" was based on Hemingway's own romance with a nurse while he was overseas during the war. "Indian Camp" and "The Battler" are two of my favorites. It has been said that the character Nick Adams was really Hemingway, and when you read the Nick Adams stories along with a biography on Hemingway's life, it is easy to see why. Each story in this collection has a meaning unto itself, and I highly recommend that you read all of them.

A number of reviewers on these pages seem upset because they cannot find one connecting theme that ties these stories and vignettes together. I can only suggest that you develop the habit of reading the entire book, cover to cover. If you did, you'd notice that Hemingway thanks SEVERAL magazines for permission to REPRINT some of the stories. Of course there's no overall theme. He wrote the stories at different times, for different audiences, and gave them the appropriate slant for the periodical he hoped would publish them. This is an anthology of his early works, each of which was meant to stand on its own. Even the Nick Adams stories can be read on a stand alone basis.

Some of the stories do, in fact, reflect his love of outdoor sports such as fishing, camping, hiking, skiing, etc. In these, along with his bull-fighting vignettes, you can certainly see the beginnings of the Hemingway style of terse, to the point writing which accounts for much of his later fame. Reading his A MOVEABLE FEAST, in which he discusses the early years of his career, might further clarify things for you.

I think this book was the best effort from Hemingway. Both the structure, with the stories interspersed with the bits of commentary, and the style seem far beyond any of his other work, in my opinion.

The Nick stories are particularly apt and the overall emotional impact of the book almost makes one forget Hemingway's irritating personality. Yes, this is not a socially-correct work but I think it defines the general American (and probably Canadian) mentality of the time.

McGuane has tried to revive the Hemingway tradition - see "To Skin a Cat" - but doesn't quite come to the same level as this book.

This book was published three quarters of a century ago and everything in it still is fresh and clean as morning rain. Each short story & vignette stands alone. Each can be read with or without regard to the whole of the book. Hemingway was just 25 yrs old. It clearly shows that sometimes genius springs forth whole, needing no further development.

I appreciate this collection for what it is: the beginning of an American literary legend. Some of the Hemingway stories are truly moving and timeless. Through this collection of stories, we see the Hemingway style of terse, concrete, powerful prose as already fully developed. We see inklings of what will become The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Green Hills of Africa, and his other longer works of prose through these short stories' focus on bullfighting, Italy, Spain, World War I, and other macho pursuits. It is these longer works, and not this initial offering of short stories, that makes Hemingway really worth reading.

reason number one: "indian camp." reason number two: "cat in the rain." two incredible stories that for sheer visceral force and crystal-clear prose surpass anything hemingway accomplished with his novels.

"~Ernest Hemingway captures the heart of the audience , by illuminating the life of himself as portrayed by the main character, Nick Adams in "In Our Time." This book is a collection of short excerpts from Hemingway's life ; intertwined by even shorter stories that convey the morals of our society ."~ For example in the story " Indian Camp" Nick learns about life and death from his father ,while he is aiding in the birth of a Native American child , and the father of the child commits suicide. Later in the book we see Nick Adams dealing with the endless learning experience known as life. Such as in the short story, " Big Two-Hearted River " Nick experience the elements of nature and learns to survive on his own . of his character's. For example in the story "Soldiers Home" we see the character say's " God has some work for everyone to do , his mother said there can be no idle hands in his kingdom. I'm not in his kingdom, Krebs said," Also he is able to paint a vivid picture in your mind telling how the characters are living life while using a minimal of description. In section entitled Chapter IX, " The second matador slipped and the bull caught him through the belly and he hung on the horn with"~ one hand and held the other tight against the place, and the bull rammed him wham against the wall and the horn came out, and he lay in the sand and then got up like crazy drunk and tried to slug the man carrying him away and he yelled for his sword but he fainted""~ from the main sequence of the short stories.

Please read this book on your own credence. Read this book because you are interested in "seeing" vintage Hemingway. Mr. Hemingway will take you on a brief journey through the relm of emotions- emotions that might not have stirred in you as of late, could soon be resuscitated by this accumulation of stories. This book can be thought-provoking or flat-out boring. Please don't look for corelations between the chapters and vignettes; simply relax and let Mr. Hemingway tell you a story; just like the Eskimo's did when it was snowing outside or when they had to stay in their igloo otherwise a polar bear would catch them, and eat them. This is a wonderful opportunity to delve into the psyche of Ernest when he was still ambitious, happy, and sober. Only AFTER you have read this story will you be ready for such happy stories as: "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro", and "Death In The Afternoon".

If you enjoy reading short stories, you should consider reading the book. This book had a lot descriptive imagery, and it is a well written and detailed book. This book didn't have one particular plot, character, or theme, though it was very interesting. In the book there were many problems that occurred to the various characters, each problem was even more interesting than the next. I could not put down the book though some stories were difficult to understand. The writing style of the book effected our opinion of this book.

If you enjoy reading short stories, you should consider reading the book. This book had a lot descriptive imagery, and it is a well written and detailed book. This book didn't have one particular plot, character, or theme, though it was very interesting. In the book there were many problems that occurred to the various characters, each problem was even more interesting than the next. I could not put down the book though some stories were difficult to understand. The writing style of the book effected our opinion of this book.