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Hemingway manly badass... yeah what's a Hemingway?

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Alright here we go well it sure can get lonely up here [Glacier talking]

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chillin all alone fortunately I've had a lot of visitors over the years I can

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thank author Ernest Hemingway for a lot of renewed interest in me why? well

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allow me to explain well Ernest Hemingway was born in

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Illinois and had already kicked his writing career into motion by the time

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he was seventeen and working at a newspaper office in Kansas City in case

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you're wondering this is a newspaper it used to be the way people got the news [Arrow points to man reading a newspaper]

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before TV the internet apps downloads crazy uncles and so on well at eighteen

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Hemingway served with an Italian volunteer ambulance crew on the front

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lines in World War one he was injured by shrapnel and spent several months in the [Hemingway hit by shrapnel and appears in hospital]

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hospital where he fell in love with his nurse of course which would be fodder

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for what would later become one of his most famous novels a farewell to arms

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and more on that later after returning from the war Hemingway continued working

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as a reporter and was sent back overseas to cover international event he would [Hemingway sat in a chair]

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become part of what we know now as The Lost Generation a group of writers and

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artists who couldn't deal with life in America after the war they felt that

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Americans were morally corrupt so they packed up and headed to Europe where [Plane travels from US to Europe]

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Hemingway was already hanging they flooded European cafes and coffee shops

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talking literature and life all day long then they headed to the bars and

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brothels for nightlife most every night being around other authors like F scott

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Fitzgerald James Joyce and Gertrude Stein along with gallons of old rotted [Gertrude with a bottle of wine]

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grapes and/or potatoes ie vodka turbocharged Hemingway's

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creative juices and he started writing more fiction he had great commercial

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success during his lifetime publishing seven novels six short story collection

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and two non fictional works he was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for his [Hemingway celebrating the Pulitzer prize on stage]

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novel the old man in the sea and even won the Nobel Prize for Literature in

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his later life Hemingway was in two plane crashes that didn't end his life

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but left him in a lot of pain.. he got crazy depressed and his already

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substantial drinking habit got worse he removed himself from the public eye by

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retreating to a small town in Idaho where he eventually killed himself in [Hemingways grave appears]

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1961 though he couldn't find it in his heart to live any longer Hemingway sure

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knew how to write about his time on the planet he grabbed life by the hand and

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ran wild well of his seven major works three of the best-known are a farewell [Hemingway novels appear]

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to arms for Whom the Bell Tolls and the old man in the sea I can't read three

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novels in the span of well today so let's do a quick rundown of each one

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here we go a farewell to arms is the story of an American soldier who drives [American soldier driving an ambulance]

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an ambulance for the Italian army seems like we've heard this story line

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somewhere before see Hemingway's actual life anywho the soldiers wounded falls

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in love the nurse ends up deserting his post in the army and getting threatened [Soldier walks away with Nurse and officer threatens soldier]

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with being arrested runs off to Switzerland with the nurse who's

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pregnant with his child by this point and loses both the baby and his one true

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love in childbirth animated Disney musical coming soon not only is this

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book based on Hemingway's personal experiences it reaches a lot of readers

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because of the realistic way in which Hemingway discusses love that's right

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the l-word some readers don't love reading Hemingway stories because [Person picks up Hemingway book]

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they're kind of really depressing but it's what makes them so good too - life and

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love can be tough and Hemingway knew that his books aren't sunshine and [Kitten appears in the sunshine]

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fluffy kittens quite the opposite they're thunderstorms and rabid Leopards

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a farewell des armes became well-loved for its depiction of relationships and

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war and relationships in war while Hemingway having personally experienced

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as much wrote this story with great feeling in sensitivity [Hemingway writing a novel]

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he said all good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really

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happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that

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happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you if you can get so that

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you can give that to people and you are a writer an old Ernie was one heck

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of a writer a farewell to arms has been called the greatest American novel

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to come out of World War one the relationships Hemingway created are just [Glacier discussing relationships]

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so darn good readers devoured love stories and one set amidst a backdrop of war and

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strife are even better well next on the docket of Hemingway's

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major works is for Whom the Bell Tolls it's another epic wartime story in this

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one an American fighting in the Spanish Civil War is tasked with blowing up a [Bridge explodes and collapses]

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bridge as a surprise attack on the opposing side the fascists over the next

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couple of days the American meets up with different bands of Spanish

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militants falls in love and succeeds in blowing up the bridge and killing a few [Explosion and bridge collapses again]

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people in the mean time well this book stemmed from the time Hemingway spent as a

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journalist covering the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s it was so well received

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at the time it was published it was even nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1941 [Book nomination for Pulitzer prize sticker appears on book cover]

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but didn't win because one of the head committee members has sided with the

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fascist well the novel has stood the

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test of time though since it's got a really humanistic element to it look at

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the ugliness yet one has a feeling within one that blinds a man while he

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loves you you with that feeling blind him and blind yourself then one day for

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no reason he sees you as ugly as you really are and he is not blind anymore

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and then you see yourself as ugly as he sees you and you lose your man and your

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feeling after a while when you are as ugly as I am as ugly as women can be

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then as I say after a while the feeling the idiotic feeling that you're [Passage in novel]

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beautiful grows slowly in one again it grows like a cabbage and then when the

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feeling has grown another man sees you and thinks you are beautiful and it is

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all to do over.... Hemingway's theory is that people need other people in order

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to have a meaningful existence so instead of just being

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about blowin stuff up and murdering people for whom the bell tolls is

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actually a tale of compassion and the bonds we can make with others in life

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it's about what life can be living was a hawk in the sky living was an earthen [Another passage from novel appears]

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jar of water in the dust of threshing with the grain flailed out and the chaff

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blowing living was a horse between your legs and a carving under one leg and a

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hill in a valley in a stream with trees along it and the far side of the valley

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and the hills beyond yeah... Hemingway went there well the old man in

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the sea is the last of Hemingway's biggies on the list this is the story of

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an old man and the sea too obvious okay so an old fisherman hasn't caught a fish [Old man fishing in the sea]

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for 84 days he'd likely starve to death if it weren't for a young boy who gives

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him food he takes off and finds the biggest fish ever

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then wrestles to catch it for three straight days he finally bagged the fish

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and starts back to the shore but gets attacked by sharks by the time he

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reaches land while the great fish is just bones you know the reason this book

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is awesome is because it reminds us how cruel the world can be especially when

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you get older yep older people aren't exactly valued in American culture there [Old man driving a car slowly]

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are a lot of really harsh stereotypes about the elderly but when it comes down

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to it people are people no matter what the age we all have basic needs food

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water companionship a sense of belonging all right well let's look out the book....[book opens]

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right from the word go we've got some

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characters a serious situation a setting in a problem all in just one paragraph

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we're hooked and ready to dive into the depth well in addition to all of his

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incredible fictional tale Hemingway came up with this cool notion called [Iceberg theory folder on a fishing line in the sea]

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the iceberg theory in his own words he described the theory like so if it is

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any use to know it I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg there is

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7/8 of it underwater for every part that shows anything you know you can

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eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg it is a part that doesn't show

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If a writer omits something because he does not know

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it then there was a hole in the story and then he says if a writer of prose

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knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows

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and the reader if the writer is writing truly enough we'll have a feeling of

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those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them the dignity of

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the movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water

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a good writer does not need a reveal every detail of a character or action

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alright let's break this down what do we know about icebergs well they're wicked [Polar bears appear]

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cold they serve as homes for polar bears at least before global warming and

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according to Hemingway we can only see about one-eighth of them above the ocean

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surface which means 7/8 of the icebergs are hidden below the ocean surface and

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we can't see them it's the essence of Hemingway's theory he posited that the

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best writing only shows the reader about 1/8 of the whole story the other 7/8 of

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the story is not explicitly stated but can be implied by the reader because of

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that 1/8 thing well this theory also goes by the name of the theory of [Theory of omission on a fishing line]

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omission any guesses as to why well that's because Hemingway advocated for

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writers to omit crucial details and allow readers to you know figure things [Man reading book]

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out for themselves well there's a pretty bold move on the part of an author

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putting a lot of trust in an intelligent reader and their ability to understand

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what the author trying to convey but that was Hemingway and the iceberg

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method shows up in most if not all of his major works for instance Hemingway's

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short story Hills like white elephants seems to be about discussing abortion [Novel appears and hill transforms into white elephant]

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with a woman but the actual term abortion is never mentioned the reader

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is only given snippets of conversation between the two characters, is left to

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make his own decisions about what's actually going on in the story

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well the iceberg theory is a big deal because it changed the style of

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contemporary writing it rests on the concept that information not

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specifically stated in a story actually strengthens the story as a whole well

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yeah there were plenty of other reasons that ol' Ernie won so many Writing [List of Hemingway awards appears]

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Awards in his life another of Hemingway's short stories the

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killer's definitely uses this concept the iceberg theory

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pause the video and read it for yourself now so we can discuss when you're back....

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now go ahead and pause we're not kidding here....

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all right let's talk killers so this is the story of two rude strangers coming [Al and Max appear together in lunchroom]

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into a lunchroom bullying everyone and taking off try the person here looking

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to whack then one of the guys who was bullied goes to find the unlucky guy

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who's about to get killed tells him what's up and then returns to the

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lunchroom defeated and now that's the whole story [Nick sits down at a table]

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talk about omission well there seems to be an entire story that isn't being told

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here and that was Hemingway's goal what we do know is that the bullies al and

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Max are hired killers and are after a Swedish guy named ole Anderson who's

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also a heavyweight prizefighter we also know that Nick Adams one of the men at [Nick Adams sitting down with pizza for lunch]

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the lunch counter doesn't get down with all this violence and when he tries to

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warn Anderson that men are looking to kill him

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Anderson mostly says he doesn't care which makes Nick frustrated he says he's

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going to leave town well these are all key facts in the story but what's left [Key enters into keyhole]

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out of the story is even more important like who hired Al and Max to kill Ole

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Anderson and why and why doesn't he care we have to guess that Ole did something

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pretty awful even though the lady at the boarding

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house insists he's super sweet which just complicates things even more and [Woman shrugging shoulders]

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why is Nick the one who's concerned about these guys just randomly showing

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up saying how they're gonna kill somebody everyone else seems to accept

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it and would prefer to mind their own business but for Nick he's had it he's

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packing his bags and heading for the Caribbean at least we're going to assume [Nick with suitcase at an airport]

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that's where he's going since it's not actually stated in the story we're free

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to imagine that Nick is off to wherever you want to go except Mars...

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....One of the most fascinating things about this story is

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Hemingway's ability to combine elements of the mundane with a serious danger [Shark circles old man]

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lurking just below the surface of the action ever seen a Quentin Tarantino

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movie how about anything with mobsters in it yeah these films are usually super

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violent but people watch them not just because they're going to be people [Girl watching a movie]

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getting killed in gory horrible ways though this also happens but because the

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directors and screenwriters have skilfully combined violence with

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everyday conversation while Hemingway did it in the killer's and it was

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clearly a recipe for success additionally this is a pretty short [The Killers novel appears in the oven]

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story but there's a lot going on take Nick Adams the protagonist or main

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character of the story Nick's doing okay at the beginning of the story just

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enjoying a typical meal around people he knows and

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sees almost every day of his life then Al and max come in and rock everyone's world [Nick eating lunch and Al and Max appear together]

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well after confronting Anderson, Nick returns to the lunchroom dejected what

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makes matters worse is that the other characters don't even share in his

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little defeat there it's as if Nick's innocence has been

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tested or maybe even lost he's so upset that he's going to run away and leave [Nick walking in an airport]

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that town behind him all this loss of innocence is one of the themes in the

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killers all right another theme is that of appearances nothing is quite what it

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seems in this little story The Killers come on to the scene as well dressed but

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offensive out-of-towners their lunch counter banter brands them as more silly

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than serious which lies in the face of what we normally think of in terms of [Wanted poster of Al and Max on a lamp post]

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the personalities of murderers for hire well then we have Ole Anderson the

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prizefighter by all accounts he should be tough and ready to throw down but

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when Nick goes to see him he's literally lying down admitting defeat [Anderson lying down]

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He appears mighty but is shown in the story is weak well all of these

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instances of irony contribute to the overall theme of appearance and link

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back to Nick's loss of innocence since what he believes to be true about people

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based on appearances ends up being entirely false and we can talk for one

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second about the o'clock as a symbol here in the story yeah well first of all [Iceberg discussing themes]

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the fact the clock is fast and no one bothered to change it tells us the

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lunchroom workers Sam and Al are pretty much content with accepting the status [Sam and Al stood at a desk as clock ticks forward]

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quo you know the way things are it's used in this way as both a divisive

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characterization and to help set the mood of the whole piece the clock as

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fast as it is its ever present in the story creating dramatic tension

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throughout well Nick Addams is most affected by the ticking clock and we can

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safely assume that if he had things his [Nick punches a clock] way that clock would be set to the right

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time down to the second Nick is juxtaposed against the older men who are

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fairly set in their ways about the state of things and don't get all worked up

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when Anderson isn't going to run away or fight back against his killers well the

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killer's is a brief tale but there's a lot there to explore some literary

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criticism experts have written entire dissertations on what the story actually [Dissertations on the Killers novel shown in library]

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means and that once again is the beauty of the iceberg theory when Hemingway

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omitted details from this story he opened the door for readers to come on in and

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interpret it any way they please while some speculations about the story [People walking into a house]

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are more on target than others well who's to say if they're right or wrong

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Hemingway he's unavailable for comment today you've gotten to know me

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and my innermost secrets while there's 1/8 of me in front of you right now the

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bulk is hidden from view you can only guess what's going on below the seas top

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layer Hemingway understood that icebergs are mighty strong stand-ins for writing [The Killers novel and iceberg lands on the page]

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techniques and I'm writing novel myself it's called the old bird in the tree and

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it's a work in progress...

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