A lively biographical portrait

Written in a lively way, as if the author were present for the events described, this is an enjoyable and evocative portrait of Hemingway, less dry and factually focussed than many, but benefits from this.

I'm no Hemingway aficionado, so I can't comment as to the accuracy of the writing. It's slightly sycophantic at times, the writer obviously being a big fan. Reynolds neatly places Hemingways development as a writer in historical and literary context, which I appreciated.

The reading is brisk and exciting and carries the listener along well. Even in the quieter sections I never found myself getting bored.

I have docked a star as there are many mispronounced foreign words in the audiobook ("Nietshee", "kway", "pont noof", "Sudd-express") that made me want to grab the narrator by the shoulders and shake him! If you're going to be a professional audiobook narrator you need to get this stuff correct or at least have an educated shot at getting them correct.

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Ridiculous narration.

I have only ever heard such mispronunciation of french in the comic sitcom 'Allo ‘Allo on UK tv
If it hadn’t amused me so much I wouldn’t have been able to keep listening. Why did nobody tell him how bad it was?

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Detailed, thorough, fascinating

This is the second part of Michael Reynolds long biography of Ernest Hemingway and in many ways is the most facinating episode
It deals with the years 1921 to 1926, when E.H. traveled to live in Paris to make himself into a writer with great determination, thought and hard work, and the book ends with The Sun Also Rises about to be published and to make his name.
Here we have Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein giving Hemingway invaluable advice about writing, Here he began to read widely, borrowing recommended books from the great Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company bookshop.
It is fascinating to watch Hemingway among the artistic and not so artistic inhabitants of the Paris left bank as he drifts and thinks, but most of all works at forging himself into a writer and embracing that craft he never deserted even when his life later on began to fall down around him.
Here is the writer as a young man, recently married to Hadley, finding himself, writing the early short stories and growing in confidence and sometimes meanness towards other Paris inhabitants.
I found the book fascinating. It is true that the reading errs on the fast side, but I got used to this as the book went on. If you are interested in Hemingway, especially as writer - there is not much hunting in this book, but there is the beginning of his love affair with the corrida de toros - Michael Reynolds book is highly recommended. I only wish the later books of this outstanding biography were available on Audible.

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