free blog subject 1

Hemingway in Cuba

Hemminway himself:

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. After his death another three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published. Many of these are considered classics of the American literature.

Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. In 1918, he was seriously wounded in the World War I in Italy and returned home. Based on his war experiences he wrote his novel A Farewell to Arms. In 1921 he married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives. The couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's first novel, was published in 1926.

After his divorce from Hadley Richardson in 1927, Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War where he had been a journalist. Then he wrote 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. They separated when he met Mary Welsh in London during World War II. He was experienced the Normandy Landings and the liberation of Paris.

Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida (1930s), and Cuba (1940s and 1950s). But shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 (in Cuba), Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash. In 1959 he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961.

Havana:

Havana is the capital city and province of Cuba. The city has 2.1 million inhabitants which makes it the biggest city of Cuba and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. Havana consists of three cities in one: Old Havana, Vedado, and the newer suburbans. The city attracts over a million tourists annually and the historic centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it became the central stopping point for the Spanish treasure ships. King Philip II of Spain gave Havana the title of City in 1592. Directly afterwards walls as well as forts were built. 

Havana is famous for its old balconies which, every now and then, crumble down. Quite infamous are the hustlers who are really nice and take you out to a restaurant, have the most expensive food and then make you pay. 

I enjoyed being in Havana, because it has such a nice, relaxed and historical atmosphere. The thing I enjoyed the most was walking alongside the Malecon. Many people were sitting there, talking, making music, having fun, etc. I especially liked going for a stroll at sunset.

Hemingway in 'La Habana':

Hemingway first visited Cuba in 1928, while traveling to Spain. Hemingway next visited Cuba in the summer of 1932 with two friends Joe Russell and Joe Lowe. They went to fish during annual Marlin run. A year later, in 1933, Ernest Hemingway was fishing with a friend he had hired named Carlos Gutierrez. Carlos Gutierrez taught him how to rig baits at different depths for Marlin fishing, which was a new for Hemingway. The following year he also fished with two Americans who researched the Marlins in North America.

In 1940 Hemingway purchased a home outside Havana. He lived there for the next twenty years. The Hemingways named the site Finca Vigia, or “lookout farm.” 

When not fishing or traveling, Hemingway wrote in his Cuban home. Hemingway continued his war reporting during his time in Cuba. He and Martha traveled to China in 1941 to report on the Second Sino-Japanese war for PM Magazine, he also hunted German U-Boats in the Caribbean from Pilar, his boat. In 1944 Hemingway traveled to Europe to report on World War II. His first stop was in London followed by Paris, and later he traveled with American forces to Germany, before returning home.

Hemingway divorced Martha in 1945, and returned to Cuba in 1946. He married Mary Welsh, and she joined him at the Finca. Hemingway the started working for some time on The Old Man and the Sea. With this successful book Hemingway won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

The old man and the sea

The story begins with an old man called Santiago. He is a fisherman who hasn't caught a fish in 84 days and therefore he doesn't have much to eat. The dear friend of the old man is a little boy, Manolin, who enjoys fishing with the old man and often brings him some food. The old man taught him to fish when he was young.

So this old man goes to sleep dreaming of the lions he used to see back in the day in Africa. He wakes before sunrise and does what fishermen do; get in his boat and head out to fish. In contrast with earlier attempts to gather fish the old man hooks a gigantic marlin. Three days he struggles to fight the fish but the old man doesn't surrender to the fish. And finally he kills the marlin.

On the way, he is attacked by sharks, will he be able to save the marlin from the sharks? Will he come back safely to the city? Well, you have to read the story yourself, and it is by the way a very thin book.

For people who dislike reading here is a short animation of The Old man and the sea and the full audio book (in English of course):