The Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway 1972-12-26

These are some of Hemingways best short stories. And are self biographical. Very good and interesting reading Read more

To me, this book is so eloquent I am reluctant to review it because it will be impossible to do it justice. It is a collection of short stories from earlier works of Hemingway. In each of them, a thoughtful reader can gain insight into Hemingway and him/herself. The following is from "Indian Camp." In it, Nick is a very young boy, and, with his physician father, he has been present at a difficult childbirth and found the victim of a suicide. Dawn is approaching and he is in the canoe with his father rowing back across the lake. Quote: "Do many men kill themselves, Daddy?" "Not very many, Nick."... "Is dying hard, Daddy?" "No, I think it's pretty easy Nick. It all depends." They were seated in the boat, Nick in the stern, his father rowing. The sun was coming up over the hills. A bass jumped, making a circle in the water. Nick trailed his hand in the water. It felt warm in the sharp chill of the morning. In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die. Unquote Regardless of how you feel about Hemingway, this is a poignant look into the soul of the man, and ourselves. Hemingway's family was plagued by suicide, including that of his physician father, and, like all of us, Hemingway was once a young child coming to grips with the idea of mortality, in a world still fresh and fascinating and frightening. Other stories deal with the joys of a life full-lived, an appreciation of the natural world around us, and our "quiet desperation," in love, life, and death. "The Nick Adams Stories" is high on my "Top Ten List." Read more

Hemingway's Nick Adam's stories in one book, it shows Nick at different periods of his life. Hemingway didn't write these stories in any straight line. The stories jump from one event to another. It doesn't give you a complete view of Nick's life. Read more

The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway offers a compelling glimpse into the life of a young man growing up in early 20th-century America. Through a series of linked short stories, Hemingway explores themes of adventure, personal growth, and the struggles of adulthood. Hemingway’s signature sparse prose and vivid storytelling make this collection both engaging and thought-provoking. A must-read for fans of classic American literature. Read more

What I liked about this book is I got all of the Nick Adams stories in one volume. There is a lot of the unique and beautiful Hemingway prose here. Like much of Hemingway these stories are mostly about the author painting his word pictures and there is minimal attention to plot. I believe this is largely intentional on Hemingway's part, and I am aware of his "iceberg theory". Still, a bit more attention to plot and less attention to the "iceberg theory" would have been welcomed on my part. Other than the primary character there is very little to connect the stories to each other and I think if he'd made such connections the whole result would have been much more than just the sum of the stories. Definitely worth reading though if you're a Hemingway fan. Read more

I liked the early stories best, when Nick was a boy. The later stories are more complex and challenging. A Big Two-Hearted River is strange tale of a young man by himself fly fishing. I have heard it described as an attempt at self-therapy. He has been through some sort of traumatic life episode and he is trying to heal himself by fishing and camping and being very methodical in everything he does. The Killers is good but not subject matter I am interested in. Read more

5 Stars. Thank You. Read more

That's Nick Adams, in conversation with his friend George, in Cross Country Snow, one of the 24 short stories assembled for this collection of Hemmingway's shorter work. Written in the early part of the 20th century, these stories are pervaded by a wistful and romantic vintage feel. Only 16 of the stories were published in Hemmingway's lifetime; the remaining eight were released posthumously and combined with their predecessors to make up a complete volume following the life of the Nick Adams character. The stories chronicle a series of rites of passage, initiation, and comings of age. Nick's character clearly incorporates many autobiographical elements, and provides insight into the inner life of the author. The stories are grouped into sections: The Northern Woods, On His Own, War, A Soldier Home, and Company of Two. The actual stories present vignettes from early life in northern Michigan, adolescence and early independence, wartime injury, peacetime recovery, and the uncertain resolution of family. My favorites are Indian Camp, The Last Good Country, and Big Two-Hearted River. In Indian Camp, Nick accompanies his father, a doctor, who delivers a baby by caesarian section in primitive conditions. The Last Good Country has him on the run from the law, and contrasts the corruption of civilization with the innocence and purity of the wild. Big Two-Hearted River is about recovery, healing, and cleansing, in the context of a solitary post war fishing trip. This is the first of Hemmingway's fiction that I have read since the mandatory exposure of high school English, and I'm eager to go back after all these years. Read more