WAS HEMINGWAY A QUEEN? (OR DID HE JUST USE A LITTLE EYELINER?)
As any Papa-O-phile knows, the true nature of Hemingway's sexual orientation has been literary water cooler talk since the iconic author's suicide in 1961: the proverbial 800-pound pink gorilla in the room. Seems Mark Dery has once again raised the question in this week's Las Vegas CityLife.
Was Papa Hemingway truly a he-man who made Charles Bronson seem like the shampoo boy in a hair salon? Or was he secretly wearing lace bloomers under his khakis while bagging big game in Africa? I'll give you one avowed Hemingway aficionado's humble opinion: Doesn't really matter!
Whether Papa's swagger was the product of genuine machismo, or an attempt to suppress a deep-seated desire to be lead dancer in the Folies Bergere, is a moot point. The guy walked the walk -- both as a writer and a man. I wouldn't have squared off in the ring with him. (And you wouldn't have either!)
Was Papa Hemingway truly a he-man who made Charles Bronson seem like the shampoo boy in a hair salon? Or was he secretly wearing lace bloomers under his khakis while bagging big game in Africa? I'll give you one avowed Hemingway aficionado's humble opinion: Doesn't really matter!
Whether Papa's swagger was the product of genuine machismo, or an attempt to suppress a deep-seated desire to be lead dancer in the Folies Bergere, is a moot point. The guy walked the walk -- both as a writer and a man. I wouldn't have squared off in the ring with him. (And you wouldn't have either!)
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Jan 21, 2012 10:53AM
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That Hemingway proved his mettle as a writer and a man? Absolutely (in my opinion). About what he was wearing under those safari pants? Some things should remain a mystery.
Ah who cares. He had a classic case of PTSD that was never addressed. Another strike against the rich and their war mongering. I wonder if his glorification was to really to show his disdain of what the world had become.I remember some war correspondence about how Hemingway used artillery to blow out the doors of German Pill boxes. Some seemingly amazing stuff.
I am writing about the war stories my father had told about WW2 which were as amazing. Till you suffer injuries and live with PTSD you really don't know how to escape from it. It takes years of treatment. Probably Hemingway's only escape was his writing.
Killing himself after finding out he had cancer I think was more heroic than hanging about with tubes in his arms and morphine in his blood. I think he did nothing wrong by going the way he did. Who are we to judge his actions on this. Think the doctors lost out on all those insurance payments.
Since his father, younger brother and granddaughter were suicides as well, I think Hem offing himself had more to do with a genetic flaw (just as some are genetically predisposed to addiction) than heroics. I'm not fond of his inexplicable fondness for the subject of war; over-heated machismo, or thinly veiled (sometimes not so) pre-civil rights, Waspish bigotry, but hey -- no one's perfect.
He set a pretty high standard for himself and tried like hell to live up to it. Today no one seems to be trying. I give him props for that. Oh yeah, and as a stylist, profoundly altered the course of American lit.
I agree with you, Quinn. Hemingway was my hero as a young writer. I emulated his style while I was learning how to be a journalist and a short story writer. I admired his clean, lean, and mean sentences. I even enjoyed reading about the wars and the bull fighting. The only thing I found missing was intimacy in the interpersonal relationships. That he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder never occurred to me. I have a friend who suffers from the disorder and has shared how difficult it is to function in everyday life. If that's the case, it's amazing Hemingway accomplished as much as he did. As for his sexual-orientation, who cares? Would his genius be diminished if he was a bi-sexual? Or would he become a greater hero if he was gay? I don't think so.
