By: Anton Massopust III

There are many great writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Isaac Asimov just to name a few, but Ernest Hemingway is probably one of the most famous men of literature that most people know. Hemingway changed literature forever by making it seem real and basing his literary characters on real people and real events. In a new mini-series from PBS, Ken Burns who is famous for his documentaries such as “The Civil War”, “Mark Twain”, “The War”, “Baseball” and “The Vietnam War”. Ken Burns gives us the complete man in this wonderfully done mini-series.

Hemingway

Episode 1 “A Writer (1899-1929)”. We go through Hemingway’s childhood and his relationship with his, siblings, mother, and father. His father had a troubled life. He was a doctor and had tremendous grief when he tried to save mothers and babies with C-sections with terrible results.

Burns discusses Hemingway’s adulthood when he joins the Army in the Ambulance Corps in his “World War I” miniseries and what happened to Hemingway including his affair with a married nurse.

Hemingway eventually marries Hadley Richardson (married 1921-1927) and moving to Paris with her and becoming a short story writer. Hemingway would have discussions with literary giants including Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hemingway and his wife eventually go to Spain and Hemingway discovers his long love of bullfighting. He begins to write “The Sun Also Rises,” a story in which he discusses all that happens to him while in Spain. The character he creates reflects his obsession with bullfighting. 

Hemmingway goes on a trip to Africa to go big game hunting and falls in love with the continent. He takes his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer (married 1927-1940) and his friend from Key West Charles Thompson. The trip inspires his short story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”.

By the end of part 1 we also find out that his other literary classic: “A Farewell to Arms,” about a young deserter who falls in love with a nurse and their troubles.

Episode 2 “The Avatar (1929-1944)” Hemingway leaves his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer and stays in Key West, Florida in his home there, and enjoys going deep sea fishing. When the Spanish Civil War begins, Hemingway goes to Spain and falls in love with his third wife, Martha Gellhorn (married 1910-1945). He covers all the action going on in Spain. The communists fail to defeat the fascist government. With all this material, this inspires him to write his next book “For Whom the Bell Tolls” a story about an American volunteer who helps the Communists were fighting against the fascists in the Doom Mission in order to blow up a bridge.

Hemingway eventually moves to Cuba and during the times of War he patrols the coastline of Cuba in his boat, “The Pilar” sails back and forth looking for Nazi U-Boats, but he was really just partying with his friends. His third wife wants him to come with her to cover the invasion of Normandy, but Hemingway doesn’t want to do it at all because he feels his luck has run out. She eventually convinces him to do so. She ends up on a steamship which is very dangerous, and he boards a RAF plane and arrives in Great Britain. 

Episode 3, “The Blank Page (1944-1961)”. Hemingway suffers several head injuries during this time. Hemingway helps liberate Paris with the French Resistance Fighters and then goes with a group of American soldiers to fight in a forest on the border of Germany. The battles are tough and brutal. Hemingway has enough and returns to his other house in Cuba. 

We go towards the ending of Ernest Hemingway’s life. He returns to Africa and he survives two plane crashes with his third wife. He even reads his own obituary.

His mental health deteriorates, and he is depressed because it is difficult for him to write. He goes to the Mayo Clinic where he received electric shock treatment. He was allowed to do pretty much what he wanted to do.

In between living in his house in Cuba and failing mental health, he manages to write the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Old Man and the Sea”.

Fidel Castro’s Revolution against occurs and Hemingway loses his house, all his possessions, and all his notes and much of unfinished work.

after losing his house in Cuba because of Fidel Castro’s Revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista. Hemingway moves to the mountains of Ketchum, Idaho with his fourth wife, Mary Welsh (married 1946-1961) 

Hemingway’s mental health continued to decline, and he ended up in the locked ward of the Mayo Clinic. Once again, he received shock therapy which damaged his brain, and he slowly lost the ability to write. He would stare at the blank page not knowing what to do next. He does write “The Movable Feast,” which was published after his death.  

If you know nothing about Hemingway, this will surprise you. It will intrigue you and might make you a little angry in some spots. The documentary also talks about the myth of Hemingway and now that myth is dispelled. The documentary is told through voice overs and authentic photographs and film footage. Burns also talks to experts on literature and contemporary authors who were inspired by Hemingway. It is narrated by Actor Peter Coyote and Hemingway’s writings are brought to life by Actor Jeff Daniels, so you’re in for a wonderful lesson in history. It’s Ken Burns – you can’t go wrong.