Monday, July 27, 2015

Style of the Day & Books



It's been quite hot these days; sleeveless tops are much appreciated!
I returned the books that I borrowed three weeks ago. The best part in Hemingway's "A Movable Feast", to me, was the episode of "F. Scott Fitzgerald", the author of "The Great Gatsby". They were close friends but Hemingway learnt a lot about Fitzgerald when they took a trip together. The way Hemingway described his friend's habits and personality made me laugh. He also mentions about the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, pointing out that Zelda was always so jealous about Scott's talent that she wanted to distract him from work all the time. Hemingway didn't like it as a friend. This book is just so personal and frankly written that interested and inspired me a lot.
My next book was going to be another one by Hemingway but I decided to take a break. So here are the choices: "Madness in the Family" by William Saroyan & "The Roominghouse Madrigals " by Charles Bukowski. Just as Hemingwayway and all his fellow writer friends, Bukowski is known for a drunkard... I'm not so crazy about that aspect but excited to read his poetry. I wasn't familiar with Saroyan, but my dad recommended. According to Wikipedia, he's Armenian American, born in Fresno, lived in San Franscisco and traveled a lot. He and Hemingway made a little sparks fly at one point... Oh one more thing, he had a trouble drinking too, of course.. Ok, my reading will start tonight.

ここのところけっこう暑く、ノースリーブが活躍です。
今日は3週間前借りた二冊を返しに行きました。ヘミングウェイの『移動祝祭日』で好きだったエピソードはF.スコット・フィッツジェラルドについて。かの有名なグレイトギャッツビーの著者です。二人は親しい間柄だったものの、旅を共にした際にヘミングウェイはフィッツジェラルドのことをさらに知ることになり、、。フィッツジェラルドの癖や性格の描写がなんともおかしくてついつい笑ってしまいました。フィッツジェラルド夫妻の関係についても触れていて、妻ゼルダはスコットの才能にいつも激しく嫉妬していて、彼の仕事の邪魔ばかりしていたとのこと。友人としてはそのことを快く思ってなかった様子。こんなかんじでなんとも個人的かつ率直な内容なのでとても興味深く感化された一冊でした。
次もヘミングウェイの本にしようかと思ったのですが、一拍置くことに。ウィリアム・サローヤンの『Madness in the Family』とチャールズ・ブコウフスキの『The Roominghouse Madrigals』(どちらも邦題見つからず) にしました。ヘミングウェイとその作家友達たち同様、ブコウスキも大酒飲みで有名。その点はまああまりよろしくないですが、、詩集は楽しみ。サローヤンの方は実は知らない作家だったのですが、父の勧めで。ウィキペディアによると、フレズノ(カリフォルニア)生まれのアルメニア系アメリカ人。その後サンフランシスコで暮らしながら、色んな所へ旅もした。ヘミングウェイと火花を散らしたこともあるそうで。。因みにこの方もお酒方面が問題だったようです。やれやれ。さて、今夜から読み始めるとします。

2 comments:

  1. hey, i found your blog because my fave film is midnight in paris and you blog seems really cool. Ive always wanted to really get into hemmingways work and fitzgeralds, what books would you recomend to read first ?

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  2. Thanks for the comment. I wasn't really familiar with any of Hemingway's books. I go to library and just randomly pick whatever seems interesting. "A Movable Feast" was one of the choices, no reason but it turned out to be a great one. It did remind me of "Midnight in Paris", so you might enjoy it. My next pick would probably be his short stories.

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