Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Review: The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
Final Verdict: 4.0 out of 4.0
YTD: 44
Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful (socially, academically, etc.)
It is no surprise that it took Hemingway fifteen years to write The Garden of Eden; nor is it surprising that the book was not published until twenty-five years after he died. This story is like no other Hemingway work. It is dark and dangerously bold. Hemingway described this book’s theme as “the happiness of the Garden that a man must lose.” It is about the loss of innocence and a shedding of naivety – the realization that the world is much more complicated and uncontrollable than one imagined. At the center of the book are four relationships: one between David and Catherine, newlywed Americans honeymooning in Europe; one between Catherine and Marita, a young woman she discovers and begins a romantic relationship with; one between David and Marita, whose own relationship is encouraged by Catherine; and the final one, a ménage-a-tois between the three – simultaneously necessary and destructive.
Characterization:
4 – Characters extraordinarily developed.
Catherine and David are two of the most compelling characters from Jazz Age literature. They are, by far, the most rounded and interesting of Hemingway’s works, particularly Catherine. Hemingway is often criticized for his (mis)treatment of women in literature (specifically the absence of any primary females in his literature). Catherine, and even Marita, should push Hemingway miles away from this argument. Catherine is tragically beautiful – she is written with a deeply-felt honesty that one can imagine was truly painful for Hemingway to put in print. The evolution of her character and devolution of her sanity were impossible to look away from, even when the character turned petty or when the subject matter became bizarre. Hemingway’s development of Catherine and her development throughout made it clear that she was not strange just to be strange and, similarly, that the husband David was not just passive or acquiescent, but truly loving and sadly lost. The minor characters, such as David’s father who is present only through David’s stories, and the hotel keeper, are well-written and important to the plot, as contrast characters and biographical presences.
Prose/Style:
4 – Extraordinary Prose/Style, enhancing the Story.
Typically, I am appreciative of but never over-the-moon about Hemingway’s prose. Anyone familiar with Hemingway knows what we mean when we say “Hemingway-esque.” Simple, plain, mild – made up of short sentences, sparse dialogue, and little creative expression. Sometimes (usually) this serves the purposes of the stories quite well. What is different about The Garden of Eden, is that Hemingway keeps his signature style, but adds two things: one, a character (David) who is a writer and who, as a sort of Hemingway projection, explains why he writes the way he does; and two, adds a certain level of emotion to the same sparse style: drama, disappointment, fear, passion, eroticism. Hemingway typically leaves the emotional side of his stories sub-service, to be inferred. The Garden of Eden is similar in that respect, but not exactly the same – it breaks the mold and adds an interesting dynamic to the writing style of one who is already considered to be a master craftsman – further supporting the fact that Hemingway was groundbreaking in his prose.
Additional Elements: Setting, Symbols/Motifs, Resolution, etc.
4 – Additional elements improve and advance the story.
Had it not been for the novel’s style and prose, which is clearly Hemingway, it would have been difficult to believe that he had written this book. There is a great deal of sentimentalism and raw emotion, which is typically sparse in Hemingway’s novels. Much of this book reminded me more of Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night than anything else. It is strikingly modern in comparison to his other works, and it tackles serious exploration of gender roles and “taboo” sexuality, including reversed masculinity/femininity and bisexuality. The primary relationship in the book is a ménage-a-trois, the presence of which is rather sparse in literature to date, and the major conflict is Catherine’s mental degradation and psychosis – a psychological instability which becomes more intrusive and violent as the story progresses. All of this, coupled with the meta-fictional aspects, wherein Hemingway talks about his own writing process through his own story’s writer, David (who finds himself evaluating his own process), manages to create a work which is highly dangerous and incredibly ahead of its time.
Suggested Reading for:
Age Level: High School +
Interest: Sexuality, Gender Roles, Expatriate American Literature, Psychology, Open Relationships, The Writing Process, Identity & Co-Dependence
Notable Quotes:
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”
“When you start to live outside yourself, it’s all dangerous.”
“Everybody has strange things that mean things to them.”
Roof Beam Reader 
I read this one a long time ago and it is the only Hemingway I have read. I think it is probably something I should have waited on, and perhaps read something else of his first.
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Oh, wow. I just read A Moveable Feast and I loved it. I’ve read The Old Man and the Sea and Farewell to Arms and wasn’t crazy about either of them, but it reading A Moveable Feast finally made me realize that I love Hemingway. The Garden of Eden looks like something I would love, especially because of the female characters. (One of the big reasons why I didn’t like the Old Man and Farewell)
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It is definitely a different side of Hemingway. Although, A Farewell to Arms was and is still my favorite. If I had to list favorites thus far it would be: A Farewell to Arms, The Garden of Eden, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Old Man and the Sea, Islands in the Stream, and in a distant last – The Sun Also Rises. lol
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Ahaha, that bad huh?
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Fantastic review, you’ve intrigued me – I’m curious especially to see what I think of Catherine. It’s been a while since I’ve read any Hemingway, though I’ve been occasionally revisiting his stories. Every time I talk to my father he starts talking about Islands in the Stream, which he read a few months ago. I think I need to, first, tell him to read this one…and then read it myself.
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This book is one that has stuck with me for years after reading it.
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I can definitely understand that. I believe it will be the same for me. This year has been rather sparse on perfect-score reviews, so that’s saying something.
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Brilliantly written review. I am visiting your site for the first time and I find it wonderful. You have got great selection of genres for book reviews. I also love the way you dissect the book taking one dimension and then another, from plot to symbols etc. I will be coming back to read more, as among so many similar book blogs, this one looks strikingly different and sucked me right in!
Komz@The Review Girl
http://komzreviews.blogspot.com/
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Well, gosh, what a great way to start the day! Thanks very much for stopping by and commenting – I’m glad to have ya! 🙂
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Just to say I really enjoyed this review and am glad you enjoyed the book which I haven’t read. I like Hemingway and his prose style, though his constructions of masculinity are sometimes jarring as you say. I think his prose style is actually very poetic in places and he lets the imagination fill in the gaps. It works very well in short stories as well as his novels. I think the problem was that he was imitated too much by inferior writers and that tarnished the image of his succinct but often subtle style. Grateful as ever, John. (it is funny in UK nobody who isn’t old or middle class says gosh- but I have seen several ‘ordinary’ Americans using it- something for linguists to get their teeth into, perhaps.)
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Hi-your BBAW Mr Linky link did not work for me
Hi, I am stopping by to visit your blog via the list of posts for Day one
Please Stop by My Blog if you Like
I have read I think two Hemingway short stories in the last two years-I hope you have a great BBAW
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Thanks for stopping by! The link won’t be active until 12:01am (6 minutes from now) – I just wanted to be sure to get it linked-up before I went to bed. 🙂
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I have a love hate relationship with Hemingway mainly because of the way he writes women characters, I think. This book doesn’t sound like his style at all.
Any reason why the book remained unpublished for so long? Is it because the story is controversial?
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I would have to research it more thoroughly to be able to say for sure – but my understanding is that it was quite controversial, and also that the publishers actually abridged the book by about 66% (which may have taken some time). Eliminating that much of the book and keeping the rest of the story in tact was probably quite a challenge – and could be why I was a bit underwhelmed by the ending. It’s also interestnig that Hemingway wrote a number of his other best-known works while in the process of writing this one (which, in Hemingway’s final draft was something like 800 pages lnog). The main character in the book is also in the process of writing other stories, while involved in the two-woman romance… something similar to what Hemingway had been experiencing (he started a relationship with his second wife before having actually divorced his first).
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