The Snows of Kilimanjaro and other stories: personal remarks

I just finished The Snows of Kilimanjaro and other short stories by Ernest Hemingway and overall I was pleased. I have read many of Hemingway’s works over the past few years and I usually enjoy them. I must say that I haven’t gotten quite good yet at picking up imagery and symbolism so when I read fiction I tend to get absorbed in the story. That being said, I am trying to read more analytically and this will partly be my own attempt of going back into the stories to see what I can make of them after my initial read through. To start, I will be honest, the copy I picked up at a book shop in Shanghai didn’t write “other short stories” on the cover and I didn’t look into it beforehand so I was a little surprised to find the book to be a compilation of short stories when I plucked it from my shelf as opposed to a long novel as I would’ve preferred. It was my first new book in some months after I finished The History of Western Philosophy so I was hoping to become immersed in a long(er) story. Still, though, I enjoyed the short stories nonetheless. I think on some level I can relate to Hemingway as someone who is an expat and has succumbed to the wonders of travel. Though I marvel at how he did it so long ago and I think it makes it all the more spectacular to have enjoyed different cultures without the modern luxuries we have today. As I get older too, I also can follow in his appreciation for a good cafe as he writes about in one of his stories which I will elaborate on.
In this volume my favorites were, Big Two-Hearted River, The Three Day Blow, A Clean Well Lighted Place and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. I would include The Capital of the World as a strong contender as well.

Big Two-Hearted River takes first place for me because it reinvigorated strong feelings to return to the wilderness to backpack, camp and fish. It’s been a long time since I had the opportunity to really get out in nature. The wonderfully worded portrait of a man trekking alone through the woods to camp and fish made me feel the peace which these activities can bring. We find the character Nick already off his train in Seney. He is met with burned town and charred landscape but finds a stream close by where he stops to watch some fish. To me, it seems like the the burned landscape could resemble the normal life we live as barren and void of a something which was once there. The stream and fish then must resemble the persistence of nature and the ultimate indifference of life to human activity. Still, Nick finds a grasshopper which has been turned black from the fire so we see that still life in nature is affected by our way of life. There is a moment where Nick pauses for a break and ends up taking a short nap as he gazes up into some pine trees. I see this as a sort of rebirth as he escaped the barren landscape of mundane life and reached nature’s bosom. He feels glad, the river is silent representing peace and tranquility, trout leap from the river to eat indicating bounty. This is paradise in a sense which, maybe, he is indicating can be found when we go out of our comfort zone or the order that is typically in our day to day lives. But we should not go too far, as he hints at with the swamp which Nick contemplates but saves for another time. It fits into the framework that Jordan Peterson likes to emphasize regarding the idea of walking on the line between order and chaos with one foot in between on the path to live a more meaningful life.

The Three Day Blow was a short story I really enjoyed because of the rich dialogue and the respite we can find with a good friend. It made me nostalgic of the late nights I’ve had with good company and the chats we’ve had that were probably mundane but felt important. As the drinks were poured and the fire roared, the dialogue gained depth only as you can infer. There are many good lines in the story which I won’t spoil and I particularly like the end. Maybe, you can only enjoy a fire and whiskey for so long.

A Clean Well Lighted Place is an ode to the cafe. A place where you can feel at home away from home. A place where you can be treated to proper service which you typically can not enjoy otherwise. After all, who waits on us besides those we count on at the cafe? What makes a cafe good? Cleanliness should not be overlooked. Cafes are also frequented at night and thus should not be too dark or even too bright for that matter. I think these two were included in the title as ultimately the man in the story just needs a place to be. The drink and food, while important, are second to the cleanliness and atmosphere (given by the light) when you just want a comfortable place to pass time. At night the light may also represent a lighthouse aiding safe passage through the troubles of the night. Hemingway also touches on the impatience of youth and the limited understanding which comes with it. I won’t dig into this as the story is short but I believe it is something that you can readily pick up from it. I also liked the ending as I didn’t quite see it coming.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Capital of the World both deal with death as a theme in different manners. The former is brilliantly told (not to say that the latter isn’t) while the latter is built up artfully but devastatingly. I will be honest that The Capital of the World left me very uneasy but was powerful and poignant. You will have to read for yourself to feel it and experience the dangers of naivety.