 | Book Reviews: The Garden of Eden (1987)- Ernest Hemingway |
  “….everything was changed and what was not changed was changing fast.”
The Garden of Eden is the first book of Hemingway that I have read (gasp) and I was curious as to what the big deal was. Now, I kind-a get it but I won’t be running out to buy the full collection.
The book opens in Grau de Roi, south of France, and centres on the relationship of a newly married couple, Catherine and David Bourne. David’s a writer and Catherine’s an heiress. David divides his time between writing and drinking while Catherine hangs out at the beauty salon and takes long afternoon naps. That is, until ‘she’ comes to town.
From the first page, I’m immediately hit with Hemingway’s style. Long paragraphs forged out of single sentences, casual innuendo and heavy use of the word ‘and’. His writing can be quite lyrical but I found his dialogue to be complete nonsense, that is, until I realised Catherine is unstable. Writing dialogue with the perspective of mental illness can be dangerous cliché but Hemingway does it brilliantly.
The Garden of Eden is Hemingway’s last work published posthumously. Because the manuscript was unfinished, the story was edited down and ‘modified’ to reflect his style. The book reminded me of The Great Gatsby. I didn’t enjoy reading that in high school, I doubt I’ll ever read it again.
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