Ernest Hemingway: The Most Interesting Man in the World

    As I described in my previous blog, my interest in this topic stems from my new found obsession with Ernest Hemingway. It begun last week as I told my mother I planned on running with the bulls in Pamplona on my trip to Europe next summer. She told me I had to read Hemingway's account of the event. I did that and then I started reading a novel by Paula McClain about Hemingway and his first wife. However, my links to Hemingway have really go back farther than I ever realized. As I began reading about life I found that he vacationed every summer of his childhood at Walloon Lake near Petoskey, where I have been many times. Two years ago I also went to Key West and saw Hemingway's house, the Hemingway cats, and the library where many of his works are stored. At the time I cared very little about any of it, but now I wish I had payed closer attention.
    Hemingway as a person is fascinating. For those of you who are more familiar with popular culture than history or literature; the character "The Most Interesting Man in the World" on the Dos Equis commercials is based off of Ernest Hemingway. He was an ambulance driver in WWI but fought with the Italian army for a short stint. He studied art and writing from some of the finest minds in the world while in Paris in the 20s. He lived in several countries all over the world. He was a competitive boxer, a prized sport fisherman, hunted lions and rhinos in Africa, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. During WWII, Hemingway went to battle cites and "unofficially" participated in the war effort claiming to have killed many Nazis. My favorite story about Hemingway comes his time living in Cuba where he won several big game fishing awards. According to the story, the locals were upset that he was winning all of their awards. Hemingway offered to give the awards back as long as anyone could last 3 rounds in the boxing ring with him. He kept all of the awards.
    Despite his amazing life accomplishments and writing genius, Ernest Hemingway was a tortured mind. He burned bridges with many of his best friends because of his temper. He was extremely chauvinistic and was married four times. He was a raging alcoholic and dealt with serious depression issues. Eventually, at age 61, Hemingway took his favorite shotgun into the woods and took his own life.
    Hemingway as a writer is in my opinion one of the best. My favorite pieces I have read by him are "The Old Man and the Sea" and "A farewell to Arms". His literature is timeless and classic. Some of the stories about his life have been proved to be a bit embellished. However he did accomplish so much and his portrayal of his life just shows how talented of a story teller he really was. He has left the world with his legacy of bringing the new style of writing to the 20th century as well as being a icon for machismo and what a legend truly is.