Some folks were abuzz this week about the release of all 47 endings to Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms. That kind of commitment to a single story is impressive, and illustrates the author’s dedication to his work, but as Andrew O’Hagan points out in the London Review of Books, Big Papa loved no story so much as his own.
He Even Chose His Own Ending, In A Way
It’s the opposite of a happy ending fairy tale. It’s just hell.
Lauren Groff interviewed over at Full Stop about her novel Arcadia, which was a Millions Staff Pick in April.
●
●
American Gaze
“What does it look like to be the child of war? A product of war? What does it look like to be a queer child from a very traditional Confucian family? How does one feel to pay homage to a family but to also, in a way, betray those familial values?” Kaveh Akbar interviews Ocean Vuong about linguistic identity, syntax, and the American gaze for Divedapper.
●
●
Jesse Ball in Guernica Magazine
Guernica is running Pieter Emily, Jesse Ball's newest work, in three installments over the next six weeks. The first installment is now available.
Merry Plashing Sounds
“What a nice fire,” he said to himself. It certainly was. Kept him very warm, too." That inspired bit of writing was Jack London's short story To Build A Fire as summarized by someone who hasn't read the book. Don't worry, there are plenty more where that came from.
Longreads
This January, Penguin Random House, Goodreads, Mashable and the National Book Foundation are sponsoring National Readathon Day, a holiday which encourages Americans to join together for a marathon reading session. If you’d like to take part, you can start a fundraiser to help support reading education, or else enlist your friends and family to read with you on January 24th from noon to 4 p.m.
One comment: