Jacob

Men Without Women is an anthology of short stories that are often ironic and dryly humorous. They're about boxers, bullfighters, and old prize fighters or reflect Hemingway's own experiences in WW1 and the Spanish Civil War. I really enjoyed the man's man material, but behind Hemingway's machismo subjects there are simple observations of humans and how they interact. In old fiction this gives a nice look into what kind of lives people lived (the early 20th/ late 19th century in this case). I personally enjoy getting the historical insight and parsing through what I call artifacts, which are just words or phrasing I don't understand because how they're being used no longer make sense in my modern senses.

About Hemingway's writing, I think he's very skilled at giving just enough information to make a scene work. I would even describe his writing as terse. It's also heavy on dialogue, and an interesting feature of his dialogue is that he puts in repeated phrases or utterances that aren't usually included in writing. I suppose that conflicts with my claim that he has terse prose, but Hemingway's repetitive and circular dialogue feels like it's used as a literary device rather than any kind of bloat.

This book is set on mars but has very human stories, often dealing with loneliness and loss. The chapters almost read like an anthology and were tied together by the setting and passing of time. Overall I enjoyed the book, but the anthology-like structure had some chapters feeling experimental and often disrupted the momentum of the story.

On another note, I enjoy the artifacts an author leaves behind once their work is aged by a few decades (or more). Whether it's Martian wives serving in their gendered role as household caretakers (on mars!), or the overall theme of war always being an inescapable, close thing. It's obvious to see the influence of 1950s America on Bradbury. I've started looking up authors before I read their books so that I understand where they're coming from, and it's always gratifying to see how the world may have been influencing them from that time.

I think anyone who lives in a large or growing city (Nashville/Knoxville!) should read this book. In her criticisms of mid 20th century city planning, Jacobs provides some rigor as to how a city street, park, or people can thrive. This information allows city residents to understand their environment while also creating a foundation of knowledge that ensures they'll be able to discern when their representatives might be making city planning decisions not within their interest. Poor city planning can exasperate crime, inequality, and poverty so it's important to stay informed!

Wow, this has gotta be peak Stephen King. My jaw literally dropped multiple times while reading this.

The main thought I have post reading this is, how much does King relates to the protagonist, Paul Sheldon? They're both authors and Paul has some interesting thoughts about his writing that I could see King having.