Happy Birthday, Hemingway

It's no secret I've got a thing for Hemingway. Not only was he a brilliant writer, but he is also one of the sexiest authors there ever was. He was a man's man

Born on July 21st, 1899 he would be 112 today had he not shot himself passed away shortly before his 62nd birthday. His obituary, which ran on the front page of the New York Times states his wife claimed he "accidentally shot himself" while cleaning this gun.

In honor of Hemingway's birthday, I invite you to read an interview of his over at the Paris Review, circa 1958. It details his writing process, habits and hesitation to discuss writing.

Top Ten Sexiest Male Authors

I decided to mix it up for this week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. There are many reasons I love being a book blogger - mostly because I have "met" so many great people who share my love for books. But rather than get sentimental about that, I thought it would be fun to give you all a little eye-candy and highlight the best looking authors.

Enjoy!

Ernest Hemingway/ William Faulkner

Jack Kerouac/ Joshua Ferris

Galway Kinnell/ Paul Auster

Sebastian Junger/ Langston Hughes

Frederic Beigbeder/ John Irving

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's last book published in his lifetime. It is much different than his earlier works and details an old fisherman's three-day battle against a giant marlin. Hemingway's simple language and plot make this novella accessible. On the surface it's almost too simple, but after considering its ideas for a bit, themes of man vs. nature, humanity and compassion, allegories about the animals that live in the sea, and biblical imagery make this novel more complex.

After the old man hooks the giant marlin that is larger than his boat, it's a great struggle to bring the fish close enough to harpoon. The feat suggests the ability of man to overcome hardship and suffering in order to triumph. Hemingway also emphasizes the moral implications of killing or destroying nature, and whether or not the idea of the survival of the fittest holds it's weight:

You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?

This isn't my favorite Hemingway, but I can appreciate the importance of the novel. Hemingway might be the only writer who can hold my interest through a chapter-less book about fishing.

The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1952. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954.

Publisher: Scribner, 1951