This slender book is only 180 pages, but achieves a lot in that space. It's the story of Harry Morgan who 'runs' (smuggles) rum out of Cuba and into FThis slender book is only 180 pages, but achieves a lot in that space. It's the story of Harry Morgan who 'runs' (smuggles) rum out of Cuba and into Florida, where he lives with his wife and kids. The opening sequence is a graphic and violent story, showing Harry in action in Cuba where he and his boat have been hired by an American to take fishing. On his way to meeting the man, he stops at a cafe where there's a shooting; when the man doesn't pay Morgan for the fishing trip, he's forced to take on illegal Chinese passengers to make up his losses.
In true Hemingway fashion, there's no introspective thoughts or reflection going on, only finely-detailed descriptions and a lot of dialogue. There are several more escapades that Harry is involved in, and the ending was a surprise to me because I'm so accustomed to the main characters 'winning' in the end. The story also switches from first-person narration, in the beginning (told in an anecdotal style, almost) to third-person, watching Harry from outside. The book is also very much a product of its time: if you're sensitive to the 'N' word (for African Americans), you'll have trouble here - personally, being Australian (where the N-word isn't as relevant), I did find it hard to hear the way the African Americans - young men hired by Harry to help on the boat, mostly - were referred to and talked about. They rarely had names, and a general sense of them as dexterous but unreliable animals came across strongly. But I often read with my English teacher's hat on, and on another level I find it fascinating how words so clearly convey - and betray - our attitudes, and how these have changed over time.
Towards the end, Hemingway went speculative and thoughtful, dipping into the minds and lives of several other characters on board their moored boats: again, my interest in them was focussed mostly on what they revealed about Hemingway's values and attitudes towards women, class, sexuality - there's never any point being offended, I tend to think, but you can learn a lot simply by having such attitudes rendered stark and plain.
While I've read Fiesta (or, The Sun Also Rises) twice, the only other book of his that I've read to date is one of his memoirs, True at First Light, which I really enjoyed. I think when you read Hemingway, not only can you delight in a distinctly 30s voice and style (truly, reading one of his books is like being immersed in an architectural style), but you are immersed in Hemingway, himself. There is a sense of sadness and fatalism here that surprised me, and a world-weary cynicism. Hidden beneath the laconic dialogue and unreliable characters is a more biting commentary on class, wealth, power and the effects of war. The fact that it's not very obvious makes his work more appealing to me, and reminds me that I really must read more Hemingway....more
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