“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.”
– A Farewell to Arms, 1929
Born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, the influential American literary icon changed the style of novel writing by creating prose that was straightforward and concise, without sacrificing the emotional impact and lyrical prose of the story. Hemingway has always captured me with his thoughtful, melancholy observations of life’s struggles. To me, his prose rips the reader’s heart open and recognizes its own pain, describing it so beautifully that for a moment the reader feels as seen as his words on the page. That is the magic of a superior author.
Hemingway’s third wife, Martha Gelhorn, is one of the inspirations for my main character, Sarah Kraft, in The Byzantine Cross. Hemingway recognized Gelhorn’s naked bravery and exceptional journalistic skills, at first admiring those qualities before eventually becoming jealous of them.
Because of his power and privilege in the world of journalism, Hemingway attempted to prevent Gelhorn from covering the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach, but she was not deterred. She snuck onto a hospital ship and was near the front lines throughout that long and difficult day.
While Hemingway had a tumultuous life and struggled with his romantic relationships, his passion for life and skill in crafting moving and meaningful narratives led him to reinvent the American writing style that we continue to use today.
I wrote a piece about Ernest Hemingway for work that explores three of his most famous novels and the real-life events that influenced them. You can read the piece here.
