1936 • republished by Charles Scribner's Sons
154 pages / SL 32
Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, left behind an extensive canon of short stories that are varying in quality. This variation is no better realized than in 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories,' a collection of ten shorts written during the 1920s and 30s that are amongst Hemingway's most popular. The best-known is its title story 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro,' which was adapted into a 1952 motion picture with Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner.
'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' pairs with 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber' as outstanding stories of this volume and are accordingly first and last. Published in 1936 by Esquire Magazine, 'Snows' tells the story of Harry, a well-traveled American author, who is dying of an untreated infection on the African plains. 'Snows' is a poignant tale about the onslaught of death and how man inevitably leaves this world with unfinished business. The story makes excellent use of flashback that transports us to France, Austria, and Turkey while reminding us that Harry will leave his experiences unrecorded.
'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,' published in 1936 by Cosmopolitan Magazine, has an existential feel and seems impelled by Hemingway's always-lingering depression. The story takes place during an African hunting trip in which Macomber and his wife, both middle-aged Americans, join a British gun-for-hire while their marriage is on the verge of collapse. The story is a fine commentary on human sexual impulse and devotes much attention to the thought processes of its characters. 'Short Happy Life,' which features hunting scenes, also proves Hemingway's uncanny knack for describing wildlife, their habits, and their surroundings.
The middle stories have their highs and lows. Seemingly the best is 'Fifty Grand,' a boxing story that furthers Hemingway's unheralded gift for sport. There are well-developed themes in stories like 'A Day's Wait' (realizing your mortality) and 'Fathers and Sons' (sexual awakenings), but other stories such as 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,' 'In Another Country,' and 'The Killers' come off as self-pitying flatulence. Every good writer has bad days and Hemingway certainly had them, as this volume proves.
Aside from the first and last stories being set in Africa, this is a loose volume whose only unifying theme is melancholy. As usual, Hemingway's stories are male-driven, an exception being 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.' Women have little or no impact on the action (if seen at all) and narration is overwhelmingly from a male viewpoint. Sarcasm often breaks into the picture with such tales as 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,' set in between-war Spain, and 'A Way You'll Never Be,' one of three stories using character Nicholas Adams. Hemingway repeatedly casted men like Adams, whose lives have peaked and are now in a stage of reflection.
Hemingway is at his truly best in novels such as 'A Farewell to Arms' and 'For Whom The Bell Tolls,' which gave him breathing room for his long-winded prose. He also excels in much of his short fiction - 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' and 'A Very Short Story' are two examples. Hemingway's main flaw is a whipped-up, neurotic style that misuses stream of consciousness and tends to bury his ideas. Certainly, Hemingway sat down to write his fiction with a particular goal in mind, but his blabberings obscure the underlying message. The Nobel Prize winner was a major talent, yet a raw one; The 'Snows of Kilimanjaro' collection reveals both sides of his fence.
Still popular amongst readers is the Scribner Library edition of 'Snows' that was printed in 1961 (SL 32). This edition is 154 pages and has clear, easy-to-read type. If you don't want the spine to crack, however, I would find a newer printing. Hemingway is one of the twentieth century's 'must-have' writers, probably for more good reasons than bad ones.
