death in the afternoon

Ernest Hemingway -a new ongoing series of my favorite authors.

/ antonioyrocinante / 2 Comments

A few years ago, in an effort to professionalize my blog, I committed to publishing every Tuesday at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (11:00pm for my Spanish readers – my second biggest following). This is a healthy challenge: having to think of something to write, having some photos to go with it, writing something, and getting it published.

Mostly I write about the Humanities: literature, art, film, but I also write about the Camino (sorry I did not have time to walk this year), Education, food, wellness, and my life in general. Another quirk of my blog is that I choose not to have categories, as I prefer the chronological set up. Which I understand makes it harder if you only want to read what I write regarding a single topic – mostly the Camino, sorry.

At any rate, going back to Literature, one of my first loves. I realize that although I write a lot of book reviews, I rarely write about my favorite authors -wow, that was a long introduction! So this might be the start of a new ongoing series of my favorite authors.

I was blessed to have a great English teacher in High School. Mr. McGovern was also my track coach, but that is for a different blog. He actually looked a bit like Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms went a bit over my head, I did not have the maturity to appreciate it at the time. On the other hand The Old Man and the Sea really hit a chord with me, it has been one of my favorite books and one that I reread often. After that I read For Whom the Bell Tolls, Death in the Afternoon, and a bunch of short stories. And I loved them all.

Ernest Hemingway is out of favor in the 21st century. His toxic machismo, his destructive masculinity, But I wonder how many people who cancel Hemingway have read any of his work. (Yes, I did read the latest New Yorker profile)

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”

― Ernest Hemingway

What I love about Hemingway is his craft of writing, his ability of saying so much with so little, his emotions to words ratio. Like García Márquez (another one of my favorites), Hemingway was trained as a journalist, where every word counts, and that economy is visible in their work. Add to that solid narratives, and you get, well, a Nobel Peace Prize winner!

So put aside your hip and trendy 21st Century political correctness and go read Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea might be a good starting point, you are welcome.

Walking my first Camino, I met James, a genial brit who was also a Hemingway fan, and we talked about him for hours. We split in Pamplona as I continued, but when we bumped into each other in Puente la Reina, he gifted me a copy he had bought for me in Pamplona! (See photo)

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

― Ernest Hemingway

On Bullfighting

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Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor.

― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

Yes, I love the bullfight. Why? Because it boils down the most basic human emotions. Here is someone (the bullfighter) willing to dance with death with a 700 lbs. (at least) beautiful, noble animal. Although the bullfighter has the edge, he must use all his skill, and valor in a highly choreographed ritual to vanquish the bull. The bullfighter does not always win, and therein lies the excitement. There is a primary, primal relationship between life and death, between the fighter and the bull, between man and animal. And only a profound understanding of that relationship, of that beauty will lead you to understand why a man will stand in front of death, and dance with it.

Of course, bullfighting dates back to the Roman circus, and even before that, to the Greek and Cretan games. This is the very stuff Greek mythology is based on (partly). Humans fighting it out with amazing animals. In a hyper material world, we think we can live forever, bullfighting reminds you of your own mortality, you understand that death is part of life and that if you get to die with dignity and grace, all the better.

If you have not been to a bullfight -and had it explained to you- I am afraid you cannot opine. The centuries of tradition, the intricate ceremony involved, the part each person plays in and out of the ring. The whole thing is nothing less than amazing.

My dad was a big aficionado and he passed on his passion to me. I remember the first time he took me to the bullring; he would not let me go without socks, even when it was all the rage in the early eighties!! Although I have been to Las Ventas bullring many, many times (for bullfights and concerts: Sting, Prince, etc.) I had never actually visited the ring, nor had I visited the museum. A couple from Belgium recently booked me for a tour of Madrid and asked me to see Las Ventas. So, the day before I went to the bullring to do my homework with my niece, it was impressive! We walked around the ring checking out the bulls’ stables, the chapel, the stands, the museum, the obligatory gift shop, we even had a chance to try our hand at virtual reality bullfighting!! It was great fun!!

If you want to learn more I highly recommend Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon. Hemingway loved the bullfight and followed them for a full Summer, getting to befriend and hang out with great fighters like Manolete.

The bullfight is a Spanish institution; it has not existed because of the foreigners and tourists, but always in spite of them and any step to modify it to secure their approval, which it will never have, is a step towards its complete suppression.

― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon