The Hemingway Stories

As Featured in the Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on PBS

By: Ernest Hemingway

Narrated by: Stacy Keach, John Bedford Lloyd, Tobias Wolff

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

A new collection showcasing the best of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories including his well-known classics, as featured in the magnificent three-part, six-hour PBS documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick - introduced by award-winning author Tobias Wolff.

Ernest Hemingway, a literary icon and considered one of the greatest American writers of all time, is the subject of a major documentary by award-winning filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. This intimate portrait of Hemingway - who brilliantly captured the complexities of the human condition in spare and profound prose, and whose work remains deeply influential in literature and culture - interweaves a close study of biographical events with excerpts from his work.

The Hemingway Stories features Hemingway’s most significant short stories in chronological order, so viewers of the film as well as fans old and new can follow the trajectory of his impressive life and career. Hemingway’s beloved classics, such as “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber", “Up in Michigan”, “Indian Camp”, and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro", are accompanied by fresh insights from renowned writers around the world - Mario Vargas Llosa, Edna O’Brien, Abraham Verghese, Tim O’Brien, and Mary Karr. Tobias Wolff's introduction adds a new perspective to Hemingway’s work, and Wolff has selected additional stories that demonstrate Hemingway’s talent and range.

The power of Ernest Hemingway’s revolutionary style is perhaps most striking in his short stories, and here listeners can encounter the tales that created the legend: stories of men and women in love and in war and on the hunt, stories of a lost generation born into a fractured time. Featuring the voices of Mary Karr, Edna O’Brien, Michael Katakis, and other authors whose insights are heard in the PBS documentary, this audio collection is a perfect introduction for a new generation of Hemingway listeners and a vital volume for any fan.

©2021 The Hemingway Copyright Owners. All rights reserved. Introduction ©2021 Tobias Wolff. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Great selection

I get annoyed when the description of a short story collection doesn’t list all the stories included. So I made a list of the ones included here. It’s a good one. Each story is introduced by a brief comment from one or two other writers.

⦁ Up in Michigan
⦁ Out of Season
⦁ Indian Camp
⦁ Cross-Country Snow
⦁ The End of Something
⦁ The Three Day Blow
⦁ from In Our Time
⦁ Big Two-Hearted River
⦁ The Undefeated
⦁ In Another Country
⦁ Hills Like White Elephants
⦁ The Killers
⦁ Now I Lay Me
⦁ A Clean Well-Lighted Place
⦁ A Way You’ll Never Be
⦁ The Short Happy Life of Francis Macumber
⦁ Under the Ridge
⦁ The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Why the analysis BEFORE the story?

No one reads novels and short stories that way. Here, sadly, you dont come brightly and eagerly to the story as usual, but must first listen to some lame analysis by whoever. Tobias? Edna? Both brilliant on their own. But Fiction, even old Hem, should be experienced fresh and unadulterated. Also overacted here and there. Read it, dont act it. Please.

Stacy Keach is the best.

Would have been be a much better listen if they had let Stacy Keach narrate all of the stories.

Enjoyed the stories but chapters have no titles for any story!

So overall this is an excellent compilation of Hemingway short stories. I liked the introductions by the various authors just like in the Ken Burns documentary. My only issue is that neither of the Audible or the Kindle version seem to have bothered with providing titles for any of the chapters so you have no idea what stories are in each chapter. I have no idea why this was overlooked and I think they should re-issue this to everyone with the tiles. In the audible version I was able to use the clips to add the names of the titles but you couldn’t do that in the Kindle version.

As elusive and brilliant as moonlight on the sea

One measure of a great short story is how it impacts you over time. Stories I didn't much like decades ago ("Up in Michigan," "A Clean, Well Lighted Place," "The Killers") now seem exquisite. Stories that seemed exquisite then ("Big Two-Hearted River," "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber") have lost not a scintilla of luster.

This book possesses great narration, excellent intros and keen insights into an author who's been called everything under the sun, both good and bad. Was he bully or nurturer, misogynist or feminist, warmonger or war hater?

I'm convinced that no biographer or filmmaker has gotten Hemingway exactly right, not even Ken Burns and Lynn Novick in their acclaimed 2021 documentary. Hemingway remains as elusive as moonlight on the sea, and as brilliant.

Narrator too inconsistent

Excellent stories but the narrator's voice is too husky, soft, and low for each word to be easily understood. He'll often whisper words and then drag out the pronunciation, and then he'll boom unexpectedly. I had to always be ready to turn the volume up or down and I couldn't relax into the stories because the performance wasn't always clear.

Powerful and Moving Short Stories

These short stories, although written decades ago--some flawed with stereotypical machismo--are still some of the best short stories ever penned.

A Companion to the PBS Documentary

Some of Hemingway's best stories here. The comments come straight from the PBS Hemingway series. If you enjoyed that, you will enjoy hearing the full stories discussed in the series.

Profound Groundwork

I am a fan of Earnest Hemmingway and found these stories the best of his work. His life was tragic, but his ability to tell a story; lived or imagined, was remarkable. He is a man of the older generation, but a man whose stories were the basis of my American literature in high school. If you have not read his work, this is a great collection to get started with and to see the development of his craft throughout his life. Ken Burns developed a wonderful history that these stories complement so well, please enjoy both.

Voice

Although this “performer” seemed to personify Hemingway, it was undesirable to listen to. I listen while driving to stay awake and engaged. This is simply a matter of personal preference.

A good selection to accompany the Burns series

This short (7.75 hrs) collection is a good accompaniment and has short introductions for each story narrated by literary interviewees from the series. Its a good selection of his most creative and developmental period. I
I have added titles for the Audible Chapters below:
I would recommend aficienados to check out Selected Hemingway Stories"a very interesting and eclectic mix of lesser known work also available on Audible (and no duplication with this recording). Its a good way to listen but Hemingway I think is a very in your head experience where your brain has to translate the written words into your consciousness,for full effect so let these recordings be your portal to that other world...
The Hemingway Stories:
1. Intro Music
2. Introduction by Tobias Wolff
3. Up in Michigan 1923
4. Out of Season 1923
5. Indian Camp 1924
6. Cross Country Snow 1924
7. The End of Something 1925
8. The Three Day Blow 1925
9. from "In Our Time" Intro to Chapter 7
10. In Our Time - Chapter 7 1925
11. from "In Our Time - Big Two-Hearted River 1925
12. The Undefeated
13. In Another Country
14. Hills Like White Elephants
15. The Killers
16. Now I Lay Me
17. A Clean Well Lighted Place
18. A Way You'll Never Be
19. The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber
20. Under The Ridge
21. The Snows of Kilimanjaro
22. End Music

The Essence Of Hemingway

I chose this collection of Hemingway short stories, because I intended to watch the connected Ken Burns series, on the authors life and work. Having listened to the book and begun to watch the series. I can now see how personal these stories must have been to Hemingway. Reflecting in a fictional way, his life in the 1920's and 1930's, but also foreshadowing his own destiny, as in the final story of this collection, " The Snows Of Killimanjaro ".