A Moveable Feast: A Review of Hemingway’s Classic Novel

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

I have read a few Hemingway books and loved them but never really thought much of him as a person (I tend to be a bit moralistic about serial marry-ers, daters, etc.). Still, I had such a pleasant surprise reading A Moveable Feast that I think I have to revisit my notions about him.

A Moveable Feast focuses on Hemingway and his first wife’s early married life in the 1920s when Hadley and Hemingway were in Paris as a newly married couple and moving among the members of the “Lost Generation” — people like Gertrude Stein, the Fitzgeralds, Ezra Pound, Ford Madox Ford, John Dos Pasos, and Picasso.

The book is a series of anecdotes about Hemingway’s encounters with all these luminous personalities, and sometimes these encounters are flattering to them and sometimes not. What they are is very interesting. All these people are so vividly drawn that they almost come to life as a reader.

Just as interesting is the book’s setting – Paris is always a dream destination for me, and reading about all his haunts and pastimes was such fun. If you are planning to visit Paris and love books, you absolutely must take this book on your trip. If you don’t believe me, check out Chasing Bawa’s post. I would love to track down and visit some of his hangouts someday.

My copy of the book also had some lovely photos of him with his friends and family, and it added to my pleasure in this book.

I was surprised by his tender and affectionate relationship with his wife, Hadley (although it is not the book’s focus); he comes across as such a macho man that this side of his character came as a surprise. Towards the end, though, I suspect there were some significant edits about what happened. He conveniently leaves out his entire trip to Pamplona in Spain (where he first starts an affair with his wife’s friend. Eww!), and his last few pages deal with the breakup of his marriage too superficially. Still, I guess he is entitled to keep some privacy for himself and Hadley. I did find his last words on his marriage very poignant:

When I saw my wife again standing by the tracks as the train came in by the piled logs at the station, I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.

But then, of course, this was a path he had chosen, so I didn’t feel thaat sorry for him!

This book has whetted my curiosity to know more about Hadley, and I am planning to do that by reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. Although it is not a biography but a retelling, I would love to hear the story from the wife’s point of view.

Have you read The Paris Wife? What did you think of it? It’s recently published and got much attention in the blogosphere. Did reading it make you want to read A Moveable Feast?

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  1. Charlotte Reads Classics

    I read this after reading ‘The Paris Wife’. I definitely would recommend it, I think Paula McLain did an excellent job of telling the story from a different side. I loved both books and even though I read them a few months ago they have stayed with me ever since… And make me want to go to Paris again!

    • Nish

      @Charlotte Reads Classics: Thanks for the recco. I do want to pick up a copy now. I visited your blog and love your reviews of the classics. Am now an email subscriber.

  2. Amy

    This book sounds terrific. I definitely want t read it! I read several of Hemingway’s novels years ago, not long after I graduated law school and then, sadly. got caught up in other things and pushed him aside, I want to read this book and Paris Wife to know a little bit about Hemingway himself and his relationships.

    This a great review! Thank you!

  3. Meghan

    Actually, directly related to your last question, I did read THE PARIS WIFE and it made me buy A MOVEABLE FEAST. I’d highly recommend that one – I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to Hemingway’s point of view. Especially now that you liked it!

  4. Carol N Wong (@Carolee888)

    I have an ARC of the Paris Wife sitting on my shelf! I am so glad about winning ‘A Moveable Feast.” Can’t wait to get ypur e-mail about my mailing information. Now I am planning to read them together. I don’t know that much about his pesonal life yet but one of my favorite books was “The Old Man and the Sea”.

    Carol Wong

  5. sakura

    Oh, and Woody Allen’s new film, Midnight in Paris, is all about a young American writer stumbling upon this very crowd. I can’t wait to see it!

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