Day 16

This week's book

Love & Ruin by Paula McLain

This is the story of the relationship between renowned war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn and the writer, Ernest Hemingway.

I tend to be rather wary of novelisations based on real people’s lives, especially, if, as this one is, they are told in the first person. Trying to work out what makes me dislike them, I have come to the conclusion that it’s because the author’s voice and viewpoint are dominant rather than the character’s and they tend not to develop over the book.

This, emphatically, is not the case here. The action takes place between 1936 and 1945. At the start, Martha is in her late twenties, not very mature and very self-absorbed. Over the nine years she matures and develops into an outstanding and sensitive reporter of the effects of war on ordinary people. At the start of the book, I didn’t like her very much; by the end, I admired her greatly. The character of Ernest Hemingway is also very well drawn. His reputation is already larger than life - the ultimate man’s man, sailor, bull fighter, sportsman, war reporter, but he also wrote novels that transformed the way modern writers work. To create someone real out of that icon and deal with his relationship with Gellhorn is a monumental feat, but MacLain has managed it. She shows us the full course of the relationship from the initial attraction to the embittered end. By their actions we see the shifting patterns of their relationship and she shows how the very things that each found so appealing about the other held the seeds of what destroyed their relationship.

I was totally convinced by the narrative, so much so that I thought it must be heavily based on Gellhorn’s writings, but having seen an interview with MacLain, it obviously isn’t, but it feels as though it is Gellhorn speaking to us directly, not a novelist.

It is an absorbing book on so many levels - not just the love story. The Spanish Civil War and the Second World War figure largely, but they are the background to the story and they don’t take centre stage. As a result we get a very vivid picture of what it was like to be there, muddling through.

An excellent and fascinating book.

After I had read this, I read Paula McLain’s book about Hemingway’s relationship with his first wife, Hadley. I didn’t like it as much. I think this is because I found Hadley such a difficult character to empathise with. It is interesting because we see Hemingway evolving into the monster he eventually becomes. Part of me, the less sisterly part, wonders what would have happened if Hadley had venerated Hemingway’s ‘art’ less, had put her foot down and not tolerated his behaviour. How far did her acceptance of his abuse contribute towards creating the monster?

Although I enjoyed both these books, I feel ambivalent because I am reminded what a loathsome monster Hemingway was, yet, despite that, he has written some wonderful books. Difficult.

 

More than just music today:

A tango plus Al Pacino

(For those of you who don't know the film, Pacino is playing a blind veteran.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2zTd_YwTvo

 

 

Food

Hemingway was a fisherman, so here is a fish recipe:

Fish in Crazy Water

I am quite a puritan when it comes to fish. I like it as fresh as can be and cooked simply in butter, served with herbs and lemon – or fish and chips, hot from the shop. This recipe is one of the exceptions (the other is fish au gratin)

Ingredients for 2

·      4 large ripe tomatoes (or 8 small) —coarsely chopped, juices reserved or a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

·      2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil

·      2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

·      2 tablespoons chopped parsley

·      1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped, seeds and membrane removed (adjust the amount to taste)

·      Salt

·      500ml water

·      2 fillets of a firm white fish (traditionally it’s a snapper, but sea bass, bream even cod fillet will do) skin on

·      4 slices of grilled sourdough bread

Method

Step 1   

In a deep frying pan that’s large enough for the fish fillets to lie flat without overlapping, combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, parsley, chilli, a large pinch of salt and the water. Cover and bring the water to a steady simmer over moderate heat; simmer for 45 minutes.

Step 2   

Remove the lid and boil the liquid until it has reduced by half. Add the fish, skin side up, and cook for 2 minutes. Using two spatulas, gently turn the fillets. Season the fish with salt and simmer until just cooked through. This will only be 2 or 3 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet.

Step 3   

Put the grilled bread in shallow bowls and arrange the fish on top. Spoon the broth all around and serve.

Serve with a chilled dry white wine.

 

Today’s image

Picasso's Bull Series, an Experiment with Form

In the winter of 1945, Picasso created a collection of images, called The Bull. It is eleven lithographs which shows how to develop a motif from classical or realistic, to abstract. We see how Picasso gradually dissects the image of the bull from basic forms to a minimalistic, linear outline of its shape.