Vintage novels from the great American author that you need to read now.

The flipside of being universally acclaimed for a certain thing is the fact that people tend to ignore everything else you do. We’re sure this truism never really bothered Mr Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), a man who is generally credited with changing the face of American literature, and who The New York Times Book Review dubbed in 1950 “the most important author since Shakespeare”. But still, it’s undeniable that the greatest of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s works – his exhilarating 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises; 1929’s war epic A Farewell To Arms; 1952’s poignant novella The Old Man And The Sea – tend to overshadow the other, lesser-known ones.

Seeking to readdress this situation – and, perhaps, for the sake of comprehensiveness – this July, Vintage is reissuing three such works – To Have And Have Not, Across The River And Into The Trees, Islands In The Stream – making its attractive series of paperback editions of the novels almost complete. (It’s still missing Mr Hemingway’s satirical debut The Torrents Of Spring and the posthumous novel The Garden Of Eden). The important question here, of course, is: should you read them? And the answer is: yes. Why not?

Certainly, fans of Mr Hemingway’s more famous novels will find a lot to appreciate in these minor works – the poignant depictions of locales from the Florida Keys to Venice, the powerful economy of his language and the knack he has for creating conflicted, damaged and drunken male protagonists. Granted, these are not the very best of the Mr Hemingway oeuvre, but often their missteps and peculiarities are more interesting than frustrating. Scroll down for our thoughts on why.

(1937)

This follow-up to the hugely successful A Farewell To Arms tells the story of Harry Morgan, a Florida-based depression-era sailor who, after being ripped off by a wealthy client in the opening chapters, finds himself having to make a living by smuggling risky contraband – alcohol, immigrants, revolutionaries – between Cuba and the United States. It had its origins in a series of short stories, published in Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and retains an episodic, somewhat disjointed quality as Morgan’s situation deteriorates.

What’s good about it?

The New York Times called it “an empty book” upon publication in 1937, mostly out of a disdain for the protagonist’s morals – why doesn’t he try and find proper work? – but also because it didn’t seem like much of a step forward from A Farewell To Arms. Neither of these criticisms will bother the reader of 2017. This compact, arresting work showcases Mr Hemingway in masterful control of both his bullet-like language and the brutal theme – how desperation makes people do awful things. But it’s also funny. Particularly good are the secondary characters, a bunch of awful, but colourful tourists, barflies, writers and yacht owners who, as Morgan becomes more desperate in the final pages, begin to chaotically overrun the narrative.

Best quote:

“The whiskey warmed his tongue and the back of his throat, but it did not change his ideas any, and suddenly, looking at himself in the mirror behind the bar, he knew that drinking was never going to do any good to him now. Whatever he had now he had, and it was from now on, and if he drank himself unconscious when he woke up it would be there.”

(1950)

Beginning and ending with an early-morning duck hunt, this slim novel follows the exploits of Richard Cantwell, an ill and shell-shocked colonel who, while battling the trauma of his experiences in WWI, conducts a desperate, impossible relationship with a 19-year-old countess in Venice. Mr Hemingway himself fought in Italy in 1918, and this book is often thought to be based upon his personal experiences of dealing with old wounds, both physical and mental.

What’s good about it?

Across The River… is not always an easy read. It was savaged by critics upon publication, despite topping the bestseller lists, and it still has its problems. A large part of the book is highly repetitious dialogue, in which Cantwell and his teenage paramour reassure each other of their love, and he struggles to articulate the horror of his memories. At the same time, it’s a rather direct approach for Mr Hemingway, whose so-called Iceberg Theory of literature dictated that the most overt emoting must be buried in subtext. The deep, but rather confused sadness of the protagonist is undeniably touching – Mr Hemingway famously explored the pain of ageing in his next novel, The Old Man And The Sea – but the setting of Venice (seen through a hazy, and typically boozy Hemingway filter) is also poignant.

**Best quote: **

“‘What happens to people that love each other?’

‘I suppose they have whatever they have, and they are more fortunate than others. Then one of them gets the emptiness for ever.’”

(1970)

Another book set in and around the Florida Keys, where Mr Hemingway owned a house and lived between 1931 and 1939. The protagonist, Thomas Hudson, is a painter who juggles an adventurous life of drinking and travelling (between Bimini, Cuba and the open sea) with caring for and loving his three sons from previous marriages. It was begun in 1950 but first published posthumously in 1970.

What’s good about it?

A quote in the book’s frontmatter, from The New Yorker’s Mr Edmund Wilson, hits the nail on the head: “This book contains some of the best of Hemingway’s descriptions of nature.” As a painter, Hudson is continually examining the world around him with an incredibly sensitive eye, creating nuanced portraits of everything from his alcoholic friends to the subtle differences between his sons and how they think, to the colours and shapes of the water he is surrounded by. A particularly exhilarating set piece early on in the book concerns one of Mr Hemingway’s other great passions – fishing – and describes an epic six-hour struggle as Hudson’s middle son David tries to land a giant swordfish.

Best quote:

“Happiness is often presented as being very dull but, he thought, lying awake, that is because dull people are sometimes very happy and intelligent people can and do go around making themselves and everyone else miserable. He had never found happiness dull. It always seemed more exciting than any other thing and capable of as great intensity as sorrow to those people who were capable of having it.”

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