Monday, April 5, 2021

This is a blatant advertisement ....

Ernest Hemingway and his fourth wife, Mary Welsh

"Liberated" word-for-word from the internet:

From the man who brought us Country Music and The Civil War comes a penetrating look at the complicated life of America's greatest novelist, Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway, a new three-part, six-hour documentary series from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the life and work of the legendary writer largely through the lens of the women in his life: his mother, sisters, and four wives.

Meryl Streep shines as the voice of Hemingway's third wife, war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. The writer's other wives are given voice by Keri Russell, Mary-Louise Parker, and Patricia Clarkson. Hemingway himself is voiced by Emmy-winning actor Jeff Daniels.

Speaking at the PBS Winter Press Tour session in February, Burns told Deadline that the series deconstructs Hemingway's image as a "hyper-masculine" archetype.

"We were drawn at trying to get at a real Hemingway and I think the persona of the wild man, the drunk, the bar guy, the big game hunter, the big sea fisherman is sort of what we inherit, the baggage we carry," he explained. "But almost immediately we began to see how thin and frail that was, not just for him but in fact."

Episode one of Hemingway, titled "A Writer," premieres on PBS on Monday, April 5. The two-hour episode covers the first 30 years of Hemingway's life, including his childhood in Chicago and his work as a reporter at the Kansas City Star.

Episode two, "The Avatar," premieres on PBS the following day, Tuesday, April 6. It examines Hemingway's life between 1929 and 1944, as he becomes the most famous and successful author in America and takes up residence (and deep-sea fishing) in Key West, Florida.

The final episode, "The Blank Page," which airs on Wednesday, April 8, chronicles Hemingway's final two decades, marked by worsening alcoholism and severe depression.

All three episodes will be available to stream at PBS.org/Hemingway starting April 5 at 8 pm ET.

Now, a few words from me, myself and I:

Over the course of years since embarking on the sea of blogs, I have written some posts specific to Hemingway. My master's degree work largely centered on him and the naturalistic elements to his writing. I just might republish a couple of those posts and, possibly, after the PBS series has concluded, print a few more of my own words about it.

As I sometimes say: We shall see what we shall see ....

As maestro Hemingway wrote: "It will either happen or it won't" ....



8 comments:

Kelly said...

I believe I've only seen one Ken Burns documentary, but I'm thinking he usually does a pretty good job of things?

I know very little about Hemingway, but from what I do know, I've always thought he was a bit of a tortured soul.

Fram Actual said...

I believe I saw all the episodes in the Ken Burns' Vietnam and Lewis & Clark films, and, maybe, a few other odds and ends episodes. I thought he did good work in those two and actually watched the Lewis & Clark series twice. Point of fact, though, I was living in Lewis & Clark country at the time and watching and reading anything and everything associated with their journey. As managing editor of the newspaper, I had a key role in establishing the first "Lewis & Clark Days" celebration in that community. Most of his other shows have involved topics which did not particularly interest me .... and, we both know how valuable time is ....

Ernest Hemingway's Nick Adams stories are very autobiographical and offer much insight into his persona and psyche, in case you are in the mood for reading. I especially liked, "The End of Something" and "A Clean, Well Lighted Place." Some people will argue that "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is the "best story" ever written from any angle it is approached. Of course, "The Old Man and the Sea" is absolutely marvelous .... to me, anyway.

When I lived in Michigan, I kept going to Hemingway haunts. I walked across the railroad bridge in Seney reading the opening description from "Big Two-Hearted River." Hemingway changed the name of the river for the story. The actual setting was the Fox River. On the far side of the sea, I had a few drinks too many in Harry's Bar in Venice.

If this sounds like "hero worship," undoubtedly it was, but today I recognize he was a "tortured soul" -- but, we all are to one degree or another, I am quite sure .... "human, all too human," as a German philosopher and writer once wrote in the form of a book ....

Thank you, for coming and for commenting, Kelly .... I hope you watch the Hemingway series ....

Kelly said...

Hi, Fram :) Happy Easter! I trust you had a nice Sunday! Thank you for posting this. I will definitely watch the series...something worth watching on the television for a change. Hemingway is such an interesting character and one of our great authors for sure. He is a man's man and most definitely a ladies man too as evidenced by his many wives :) Or perhaps too many wives indicates a difficult husband or then again, difficult wives :) Maybe the documentary will shed some light upon these mysteries of the man and his heart.
Stay well and happy, Fram.
Big hug across the moon <3
Kelly

Anita said...

Goodmorning from snowy Norway!

Fint å lese denne posten.Jeg har ikke lest noe av forfatteren men jeg har hørt via Alex, "The Old Man and The Sea" er veldig bra dog, litt trist

Det blir spennende å lese din Master!Håper du publiserer det

Desverre kunne jeg ikke se den andre videoen, den er ikke tilatt i Norge

Håper du har det fint og takk for at du deler

Anita

Fram Actual said...

I "see" the mermaid has swum from the Sea of Magellan to the Sea of Blogs to discover what may have emerged since her last visit. I am happy beyond words to find you here, California girl.

Ernie Hemingway has (at least) one thing in common with Willie Shakespeare in that his popularity rises and falls like the tide. The last time I recall some notoriety regarding Hemingway was upon the publication of A.E. Hotchner's book, "Hemingway in Love," in 2015.

I cannot help but wonder if that stirred the fires within Ken Burns to come up with his "documentary" about "the life and work of the legendary writer largely through the lens of the women in his life: his mother, sisters, and four wives."

May I say .... hmmmm ????

I think Hemingway's problem was that he was Earnest Hemingway and, especially with a few drinks under his belt, could not find his way down from Mount Olympus. He should have thought of himself as Odin, rather than as Zeus.

Yes, Easter was nice and the weather even cooperated with a perfect day in that regard. It was a mild winter overall, and I am hoping to be utterly spoiled by the time the year ends. I hope the same has been true for you -- in terms both of the course of your life and the weather.

Thank you, California mermaid, for coming and for commenting and, as I always say, do not be such a stranger. I enjoy your company .... later ....

Fram Actual said...

Good morning, Anita, from sunny and warm Minnnnneeeeesoootaaaaa ....

This has been a winter and a spring of bouncing weather. The temperature is predicted to reach 81 today and, only a few days ago, the thermometer read 13. These temperatures are in Farenheit. It was a mild winter, too. I wish they all could be like that.

My suggestion would be to find a book of Ernest Hemingway's short stories. I would wager significant money there are Norwegian translations available, and you could try one in English if you are in the mood for it. "The Old Man and The Sea" is a relatively short novelette. In what language did Alexander read it? Does he still have a copy?

Hemingway wrote about real people and life for real people always is "a little sad." He said he wrote about real people and rejected the concept of creating characters: ".... when writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature." Those words came from "Death in the Afternoon," a book which is essentially a guide book about Spanish traditions of bullfighting. I would not suggest it as the first Hemingway book to read.

It is not unusual for me to find a video which states it is not available in "your (my) country." Usually, I can find another copy of the same video which will play.

Thank you, Anita, for finding your way back to my blog and for writing a comment for me. Although I have sunny days now, there is no guarantee winter is done with us. I have seen measureable snow the last week of May and the first week of September. Make a few snowballs and put them in your freezer for use in July ....

Take care, Norwegian girl, be safe and lese litt av Hemingway ....

Anita said...

Hi again.
Alex says he read it in English .
It was a part of an exam in English many years ago .
He still remember it very well .No he dont have a copy of it .You know students ,they share and lend books,cheaper that way

I did see the movie Hemingway & Gellhorn on Hbo yesterday (at work mobileversion)but the cast with Nicole Kidman I did not like.
She was pretty good actor in many good movies as Australia ect, ect, before
,
But I think that the more popular one becomes ,the more sexy you think you are and wants to be and very dull and more boring one becomes..
So no, I did not watch the movie to the end because of bad acting,
also bad story of the Spanish war,totally fun made.
I know .
But I will read the book "For Whom the Bell Tolls" I think that one will be great,for me.

Now about your master .
I think you should show us something from it.
I like very much to study articles and so does Alex,
He is on with his master now .
Well, there is much to read .

So it is a dilemma girlfriend /studies hah hah

Ok see you around ,as you always say

Være en god gutt nå :)

Kose deg!

Hilsen fra Hjemlandet!

Fram Actual said...

I am afraid the thesis for the master's degree will never see the light of day, Anita. It is not on computer. All I have are a few hard copies which are buried in a box somewhere in this house and it could take hours stretching into days to find a copy. Then, too, it consists of a few hundred pages which would have to be manually typed into the computer, a task which would require days stretching into weeks.

Even if I stumbled onto a copy through "dumb luck," I would not consider taking the time to enter the material into a computer at this point. Sorry .... such is life ....

I would recommend Ms. Norway and everyone read Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls." In terms of the story's ending, I think it is the best of his novels. I also think I would rank "A Farewell to Arms" ahead of it. The writing is exquisite and I have had a few similar experiences to "Tenente" Frederic Henry, the central figure in "Farewell," and can closely identify with the emotional aspects of his story because I have known them.

I never have seen "Hemingway & Gellhorn." I will not look for it, but I will watch it if "dumb luck" brings it my way.

Thank you, for coming around again, Anita. I will be a good boy and you vær en god jente nå .... see you here and see you there, as I sometimes say ....

Something special ....