I had
vaguely heard about Hemingway, knew he was a great writer, but never read any of
his work. I hardly read anything other than spy, espionage thrillers and have
very limited knowledge about literature. A couple of months ago, I happened to
watch Midnight in Paris, a film by Woody Allen. It’s a fantasy rom com, which travels
back in time to the 1920’s, to the world of Ernest Hemingway and his celebrated
luminaries from the literary world. The character which stood out for me in
this film was Hemingway’s, such an inspiring personality.
I’m currently reading one of his non-fictional books, and yesterday I read a passage from it.
Now, I just can’t get past it. For an Amateur writer (I know "writer" is too
strong a word for a guy who doesn't know the basics of grammar :-)) but still these
words are so beautiful and inspiring.
Read on …
A Moveable Feast:
Chapter 7: “Une generation Perdue” A Lost Generation
When I was
writing, it was necessary for me to read after I had written, to keep my mind
from going on with the story I was working on. If you keep thinking about it,
you would lose the thing that you were writing before you could go on with it
the next day. It was necessary to get exercise, to be tired in my body, and it
was very good to make love with whom you loved. That was better than anything.
But afterwards, when you were empty, it was necessary to read in order not to
think or worry about your work until you could do it again. I had learned
already never to empty the well of my writing; but always to stop when there
was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at
night from the springs that fed it.
~ Ernest Hemingway
Cheers
Pradeep Kumar
