Iberia by James A. Michener

>>>Even then Hemingway seemed to be falling out of favor. <<<

The pendulum is swinging back. Did you see the exhibit at the Morgan Library? The manuscripts showed the painstaking revisions he went through. At his best he was an extremely dedicated artist. At his worst . . . well, only the best matters.

Fra

I think modern sensibilities, especially his attitude women, drinking, and his general macho BS, will reduce him to an essential historical reference rather than a literary lion that he once was.
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We read Iberia during one of our extended stays in Spain. Michener made the exciting dull and many of insights in Spain proved to be wrong.

>>>I think modern sensibilities, especially his attitude women, drinking, and his general macho BS, will reduce him to an essential historical reference rather than a literary lion that he once was. <<<

I agree that he had those faults, and they sometimes mar his work. But I also think that a good number of his short stories and at least a couple of his novels will be read for a long time. I believe <i> The Sun Also Rises</i> turned 90 this year. I'm sure you know how rare it is for a novel to thrive for that long.

The worst describes exactly how I see the man. The artist though remains great. Same can be said of other artists. You usually need to be crazy to be a good artist.
It is just that Hemingway is indeed in the macho BS.

Fra---the second part of Don Quijote was published 400 years ago this year. Do you think Hemingway will still be read in 2326?

>>>Do you think Hemingway will still be read in 2326?<<<

Very doubtful, but that is taking an <i>extremely</i> long view! I suspect you couldn't fill a medium bookcase with works over 400 years old still in general circulation. Of course, many more survive, but mainly in the academic world.

This year commemorates the 400th anniversary of Cervantes’ death, who died the same year as Shakespeare, 1616. The second part of Don Quixote de la Mancha was published a year before his death. The first part was published in Dec. 1604.

Unlike Hemingway, who's works were all original, Don Quixote was said to be adopted from an earlier manuscript writen by a Moor, Cide Hamete Benengeli.

http://elpais.com/diario/2005/12/31/...19_850215.html

Robert--

Thanks for the correction on the date. Time is starting to fly by for me.

The text of Don Quijote states repeatedly that the novel was a translation of a work either written by, translated by, or discovered by Cide Hamete Benengeli (I forget which and Cervantes may have said different things at different places), but the very interesting article you link to says that "Hamete" is, in Arabic, loosely the same as "Miguel" and that "Benengeli" literally means the same thing as "Cervantes"--"the son of [the] deer." Therefore, according to the article, Hamete Benengeli is Miguel Cervantes himself!

Fra---the second part of Don Quijote was published 400 years ago this year. Do you think Hemingway will still be read in 2326?
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One of the great ironies of Don Quijote is that he fell out of favor in Spain and it was his popularity in the US that kept it alive.

I will try to find the attribution for that.

muchas gracias this should keep us going for a while (:

You can also put Javier Marias on your list. He is very, very hot right now.

A Heart So White
The Infatuations


Thin