A Moveable Feast

Additional A Moveable Feast Information

-- ERNEST HEMINGWAY TO A FRIEND, 1950

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. It is a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer in the twentieth century, and for his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Ernest Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. As part of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris, the former journalist and World War I ambulance driver began a career that lead to international fame. Hemingway was an aficionado of bullfighting and big-game hunting, and his main protagonists were always men and women of courage and conviction, who suffered unseen scars, both physical and emotional. He covered the Spanish Civil War, portraying it in fiction in his brilliant novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and he subsequently covered World War II. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. He died in 1961.

What Customers Say About A Moveable Feast:

Also Hemingway presents himself as such a good guy compared to all the other weirdoes lounging around the cafes of Paris that the book comes off as a series of pats on his own back for being such a swell chap. I was disappointed. It was all very exciting, and engagingly described by Hemingway in his signature style. He presents himself as a starving writer, living from hand to mouth. According to the Wikipedia article on Hemingway he had plenty of family money when he lived in Paris. The best part is Hemingway's descriptions of skiing in Austria. In any case, the best part of this book was not about Paris or major literary figures at all.

At that time the skiers had to climb up the slopes. Avalanches were a constant danger. Paris in the twenties may have been a moveable feast, but this book is not. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Beach, Gertrude Stein, and a few others. I question the objectivity of Hemingway's accounts, however. I have not read biographies of Hemingway, but I gather that he came from a wealthy family. Paris may have been, and still may be, beautiful, but the bohemians of that era were anything but innocent. Montparnasse in the 1920s was not a world of "beauty and innocence" (the words of another reviewer).

I strongly prefer other works by Hemingway. I also found the many many descriptions of eating and alcoholic overdoses to be uninteresting and a bit nauseating. Oddly this is in the final chapter "There Is Never Any End to Paris." That is the best chapter in the book and the only one that should have been published IMO. As an historical document A Moveable Feast might be valuable for those interested in the personalities of F. I don't think I'm a prude, maybe I am, but I don't find heavy drinking to be admirable and interesting. What emerges from this story is a world of mental illness, unhappiness, and alcoholism.

It is a shabby treatment of a great book. The Kindle edition of this great book is not worth a dime: almost ALL the illustrations are missing, at least in my copy, and the 2 that do appear, are hazy and smudgy, like poorly done mimeographed copies. Some chapter titles are mis-formatted: the two-sided text justification format is applied to the titles, resulting in ridiculous text placement. I do not believe I need to add anything to the many positive reviews of this immensely readable and enjoyable volume of (partly fictionalized) memoirs from Hemingway. But spend just a bit more and get the print edition, paper or hardback, of this work, please.

"A Movable Feast" offers a view of life in 1920s Paris through the eyes of a peripatetic American, Ernest Hemingway, who would later win the Nobel Prize for literature. More than drawing a distinct and clear picture of what it was like to live, work, and breath in life in Paris during the time leading to World War II, which this book does well, "A Movable Feast" offers a unique first-person account of life before fame and popularity.Hauntingly, Hemingway ends "A Movable Feast" with this quote: "All things truly wicked start from innocence." Hemingway walks the reader through the many nuances of eating and drinking through a life of yes, poverty, but also happiness and (as he would likely phrase it) "joie de vivre," or a general joy of life and living. He paints a picture of personal and world innocence, foreshadowing the coming War and the many changes to buffet his life and career.In the world of 2009, it is difficult to imagine living the life portrayed in this book (for example, living in a hotel in Austria for $2 a day for two adults and a child). That notwithstanding, this is an interesting and illuminating book that is worth reading for its educational and biographical aspects.

It communicates today, as it always has. I am very happy that amazon.com carries this book and books like it.

It's all about Hemingway and a couple of pages of Hemingway with F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Anyone interested in learning how to write needs to read The Movable Feast. This is an important book in the Hemingway collection and a must to read.

How funny. I never knew Hemingway to be this charming or delightful.

Think of the years that have past since the book first appeared. Each of Earnest Hemingway's works is available on amazon.com, and so easy to shop.

The ordinary people of Paris are his most wonderful memories. Bumby, and F. His self-discipline and his way of mixing writing and living in his younger days set an example worth following; he also wisely chose to quit betting on the horses to bring in money for the next meal. Of course he idealizes this time in his life, writing after he had lost Hadley and in many ways lost his own true path in life, palling around with the rich and famous. I have been avoiding reading Hemingway for years, after reading the classic novels in my college years. Evidently a new chapter has been added, placing Hemingway's love for Pauline in a stronger position. Hemingway, unlike Ezra Pound, was no saint, and he enjoyed skewering pretentiousness even when it came wrapped in talent.The Paris of the twenties and Tatie's daily life there with Hadley, Mr. All these people had strong personalities and it would've taken a saint to love them all.

The ending, obliquely reporting the beginning of his affair with Pauline which ultimately led Hadley to divorce him, is written with a deep self-reproach which makes his eventual choice of suicide emotionally comprehensible. One remembers Evan Shipman's habit going gardening with the waiter at the Closerie de Lilas - sometimes just because they both liked gardening but once to cheer him up about having to shave off his military mustache from World War I in order to keep his job at the Lilas. But I love the Hemingway of A Moveable Feast. Puss come to vivid life. Maybe this is a bit of a shtick, but who cares, I guess it's my shtick too. Of course one also remembers the famous parts about Gertrude Stein, Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, Ezra Pound, and Hemingway's genuine liking and disliking of them. This final chapter is the main part that is omitted from the publisher's "restored" edition, revised by Pauline's grandson Sean (who has an axe to grind). Read that one from the library if you're curious, but buy the original before it goes out of print.