Essay/Term paper: In our time

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Book Reports

In Our Time

The Nick Adams stories were my favorite of the collection because I got to know
Nick through the reading. I started to understand Nick and I could anticipate
the actions and feelings that he was feeling. I am not sure if this is because I
became familiar with Nick or because I have done many of the things Nick has
done and was able to understand what he was doing.

"Big Two-Hearted River: Part I and II" were the most enjoyable short stories of
the ones I read. The language that Hemingway uses is ideally suited for
describing Nick's activities by the river. Hemingway's simple declarative
sentences are all that is needed to convey the wonderful scene of Nick
struggling with his pack, setting up his tent, and cooking his food. I have also
done all the things that Nick was doing by the river and I was able to
understand his satisfaction at pulling up a sound tent. Little sentences like
"He was careful not to let the hook bite into his finger" convey so much meaning
to anyone who has ever tried to tighten a fishing hook on a line that you can
only help but nod your head in agreement.

I must admit that despite not being at the center of your course I could not
help but think of how much Hemingway's content was influenced by his life. Many
of the stories like "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" were based directly on
personal experiences of Hemingway's life. Since it is not the focus of your
course, I am trying to just accepted the content and concentrate more on writing
style and the way Hemingway writes something. I have found it difficult to pay
close attention to both the story and the writing at the same time and have had
to reread several times.

"The Three-Day Blow" offered an interesting irony to the title "In Our Time",
but maybe it is just my jaded view of the television. Nick and Bill sit and
discuss intelligently on various topics like books and baseball, but I fear this
sophisticated discourse is becoming rare in "our" time of cable television which
has done much to dry up serious dialogue.