9 best books by Ernest Hemingway

*Overview of the best according to the editors of Healthy Food Near Me. About selection criteria. This material is subjective, is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The author gained fame thanks to rich stories and descriptions of his adventure life. His style is short, but at the same time contains many important points. The author wrote about 66 works. An interesting fact is that even an asteroid was named after him!

Ernest Hemingway is a true master of the word, who gave his works a wonderful long life. Our experts have studied them, as well as the opinions of readers and critics. From this variety, the most outstanding stories and novels were singled out, on the basis of which they made a rating of the best books by Ernest Hemingway.

Best Books by Ernest Hemingway

For whom the Bell Tolls

Rating: 5.0

Published in 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls surprised and inspired many readers. The plot of the novel is very exciting and makes you think about every sentence. The story takes place during a bloody and brutal civil war with Spain, when the protagonist Robert Jordan meets the girl Maria, depressed by the tragedy. Many experts claim that the book was created solely on the basis of documentary summaries and facts, but there is no exact evidence for this, so all assumptions are just guesses.

It is worth considering that the book took 8th place in the ranking of “100 books of the century according to Le Monde”. And the Metallica group released their own track, which has the same name as E. Hemingway’s book, which describes one of the episodes of the bestseller. Having appeared in the USSR, the work had very serious distortions and reductions. Many publishers did not allow the novel due to censorship and various scenes. Nowadays, the book is absolutely accessible to any reader.

A Farewell to Arms!

Rating: 4.9

Ernest Hemingway managed to touch the reader with episodes in the book Farewell to Arms! Written in 1929, the drama novel has exclusively autobiographical summaries and facts that significantly influenced the book’s rating. The main character Frederick Henry is Hemingway himself. The action takes place in Italy, where the First World War was taking place at that time. Frederick volunteered for the front, became the commander of the transport department of the sanitary unit. He is completely unaware of a chance meeting with a wonderful girl, Katherine Barkley, who will change his understanding of the world.

As hostilities unfold rapidly, our leader must immediately defect to his army, so as not to become a victim of condemnation. They decided to leave for calm Switzerland with the pregnant Catherine to start a new life. But his beloved dies during childbirth in a Swiss hospital. Despite the sad events in the book, the author painfully made a decision about the end of his creation. 47 times Hemingway rewrote the ending of the story in the hope of a joyful ending with a happy ending. But, judging by the ending, he did not succeed.

A holiday that is always with you

Rating: 4.8

Hemingway loved his memories and tried to embody them in his works. One such life story included in the book was his trip to Paris with his wife Hadley in the 1920s. Interestingly, the novel was written in 1964, and the reason for this was a lost suitcase, which, by a lucky chance, was found in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. The suitcase contained letters and notes that touched Hemingway and inspired him to write the novel.

But this process was not so easy. According to experts, the book was written by different people and at different times. At first, Hemingway himself processed all the notes and made a detailed plan for the book. After his death, the book was “recompiled” by his wife and released in 1964. The next person to change the book was the writer’s son, Sean. He also changed the order of the chapters.

The Old Man and the Sea. stories

Rating: 4.7

“The Old Man and the Sea” is an amazing story about courage, loyalty, courage and dignity. Old man Santiago is a very unlucky fisherman, he was at sea for 84 days and did not catch a single good fish. He begins to be tormented by doubts about his abilities, and he succumbs to despondency. But, having gathered his courage, on the 85th day the old man catches Marlin, however, he is also eaten by sharks. The story of “tragic stoicism” (as experts in the field of literature called it) is dedicated to a simple person who, no matter what, must show courage and confront the cruel realities of the world, while maintaining his dignity.

Hemingway’s works were often criticized, and this story was a response to the debacle of one of his creations – “Across the River, in the Shade of the Trees.” Despite this, the most popular work gained many new readers and remained in the heart of everyone, like one lived life. According to readers, the story is written in an unusual language, consists of many-sided reflections of the protagonist. It covers topics that are relevant at all times. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. After the release, many directors were so inspired by this story that they decided to create films and television shows that are still in the public domain to this day.

Fiesta (and the sun rises)

Rating: 4.6

Fiesta is one of Hemingway’s most famous autobiographical works. This is a kind of appeal of a whole generation of the 20s of the 20th century, who went through the war and do not understand how to behave in peacetime. Many events from the life of the author formed the basis: a passion for bullfighting, friendship with a Spanish matador, a divorce from his wife, which became a great shock for the writer. The characters in the novel are real acquaintances of Ernest Hemingway, with the exception of some personalities. With the help of the “telegraphic” style, it was possible not only to convey the whole atmosphere of post-war Paris, the Spanish bullfight, famous cafes, love, jealousy, disappointments, but also to achieve recognition of the plot by the majority of readers.

Based on “Fiesta”, film adaptations were released in 1957 and 1971. Thanks to these films and shows, the rating of the novel increased. It is worth noting that in the USSR he appeared only after 9 years. It was translated into Russian by Vera Maksimovna Toper, who accurately conveyed the true essence of Hemingway’s work.

To have and not to have

Rating: 4.5

Harry Morgan is a Florida fisherman who is in search of a job, agrees to transport illegal smuggled whiskey. After an unsuccessful transfer, he loses his boat and arm. But the money problem is still not solved! After some time, he is offered to transport a group of Cuban revolutionaries who robbed a bank. Morgan understands that after the end of the flight, he will be left without anything, as he will be killed. The hero decides to attack first. The novel ends with a description of the Coast Guard dragging Harry’s boat in tow to the marina, where the yachts of the rich are picturesquely located. Here, a fisherman from Florida meets another luxurious life – Hollywood directors, money and Harvard graduates.

During the existence of this novel, three Hollywood adaptations were released in 1944, 1950 and 1958. All of them were huge successes and had strong critical support, as well as acclaimed comments from viewers. Although the first film adaptation is very different from the novel itself.

Islands and sea

Rating: 4.4

The 1970 novel, like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, was conceived in response to negative reviews from critics. Whether it was possible to adequately answer them is unknown, but the novel “Islands and the Sea” became a real bestseller. The “sea” trilogy began to be written back in 1950 and was completed in a year.

The plot of the novel is very sad – it describes the life and death of the melancholic hermit artist Thomas Hudson and his sons. Throughout the story, the author’s thoughts about courage and morality, despair and loneliness, about duty to himself and loved ones are clearly traced. Like other Hemingway novels, Islands and the Sea evokes a sense of doom and empathy. The story, saturated with drama and feelings, addictive and read in one breath.

Garden of Eden

Rating: 4.3

Written in 1986, Ernest Hemingway’s novel is very unusual – the plot is based on the story of the honeymoon of the couple of writer David Bourne and his wife Catherine. Events take place in France and the Spanish coast. The honeymoon that began in the Camargue was supposed to be the happiest, but the plans of the newlyweds were not destined to come true. Unexpectedly, while on vacation, the couple met a woman named Marita, with whom David unfortunately fell in love.

This novel was released posthumously. Hemingway worked on the project for a long time – about 15 years. Starting in 1946, he was “finished” posthumously and released by one of the popular publishing houses.

Snow Kilimanjaro

Rating: 4.2

The novel had the highest rating and laudatory reviews from critics and readers. The action takes place in Africa, where the writer Harry Smith scratched his knee corny, but this led to gangrene, from which he slowly but painfully dies in a tent in Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro. Much to their dismay, the group’s truck is broken and Harry is waiting for a summoned plane while his mistress Ellen looks after him. The protagonist is always busy with memories of Paris and Spain, where he met true love, about the betrayal of the principles that ruined his talent. Remembering this, he asks questions: “What did I live for, who did I become, what good did I bring to this earth?”.

The story so sunk into the soul of the directors that in 1952 Henry King created a real masterpiece with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Susan Hayward in the lead roles. The film became popular and received many views on various video hosting sites.

Attention! This material is subjective, is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.