Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22646 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Synopsis
Harry Morgan was hard, the classic Hemingway hero, rum-running, gun-running and man-running from Cuba to the Florida Keys in the depression. He ran risks, too, from stray coastguard bullets and sudden double-crosses. But it was the only way he could keep his boat, keep his independence, and keep his belly full. "This active, passionate life on the verge of the tropics is perfect material for the Hemingway style, and the reader carries away from the book a sense of freshness and exhilaration; trade winds, southern cities and warm seas all admirably described by the instrument of precision with which he writes." - "New Statesman".

Customer Reviews

Fast and gritty
The pace of this novel was probably it's chief selling point - it moves like lightning across the Gulf Stream and is easily Hemingway's swiftest piece of storytelling. The experimental nature of the first and third-person perspective keeps things fresh, although it doesn't quite work all the time and is used almost too often for such a slim piece of work.

There are some effective stream-of-consciousness moments - stylistically very much of its time - and a very interesting page dealing with thoughts of suicide by pistol (knowing as we do that Hemingway would eventually shoot himself, this passage becomes all the more chilling).

Around the halfway mark, we stray from the gritty story of Harry Morgan and focus on a cast of wealthy characters vacationing in Key West. Although this provides a necessary contrast between rich and poor - and provides Hemingway with his central theme - I found that I simply wanted to return to Harry Morgan's plight rather than read about the marital problems of a troubled writer...or the infidelities of spoilt American yachtsmen.

This is perhaps one of the least structured novels in Hemingway's entire collection. You get the feeling it's almost two different novels clumsily fused into one - but it's consistently buoyed up by some masterful storytelling...and that's why it gets three stars.

Flawed but worth a read
Probably the weakest of Hemingway's novels stylistically, this book as ever has valuable things to say about the fragmented situations 20th century man finds himself in.

The American rich are often a target of Hemingway's invective, and nowhere will you find this more starkly illustrated in a tale set between pre-revolutionary Cuba and the Florida keys.

Complex morals are again at play here: Harry Morgan steals, smuggles and murders almost indiscriminately yet emerges as the most attractive character in the novel as his hand-to-mouth quest to support his family is juxtaposed with the behaviour of wealthy American expats as an animal is to a disinterested human.

Alongside the story and the characteristically sensitive dialogue there is some interesting play of narrative perspective here that makes the structure slightly lumpy but ultimately doesn't detract unduly from another valuable piece of 20thC literature.

A Tale of Remorse and Falsely Maintained Human Dignity
A word of warning is appropriate before going into the book. Most of the book speaks from the perspective of a person who uses highly prejorative terms about people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This use of the terms is consistent with the story, and advances the story, but will not be welcomed by some readers. I found this aspect of the book offensive and graded it down one star as a result. If the use of such terms is very offensive to you, I suggest you skip this book. It will cause you pain to confront this prejudice in undiluted form.

This lesser-known novel by Hemingway looks at what the cost of false pride in status is. The book has some of the most eloquent statements of remorse that you will ever read, in the context of a love story about two happily married people.

Be sure to understand that the novel is quite different from the movie. If you liked the movie, you may not like the novel. The book is much more complex and darker emotionally.
Harry Morgan has his own fishing boat, and makes a living taking wealthy people fishing off Florida's Keys until the Depression knocks the skids out from under normal economic times.

The book opens with Morgan in Havana turning down three Cubans who want him to smuggle them into the United States illegally for a very substantial sum. The negotiations are quickly followed by a hail of gunfire, and one of the Cubans is killed. Morgan is warned to keep his mouth shut by the survivors.

Like most small businesspeople, he wants to provide for his family, be respected for his profession, and enjoy what he does. All of this is put at risk when he fails to collect from a wealthy customer who skips out on him. Morgan had avoided dunning Mr. Johnson, his customer, for the money, worried about upsetting the customer. That false pride in pretending that Morgan isn't concerned for the money is expensive. The result is temporary economic ruin. He's left in Havana without even enough money to refuel the boat to go back to the Florida Keys.

Now, he has to scramble to do anything, and quickly takes on a job of illegally transporting Chinese. Survival comes before ethics now. In the process, Morgan tries to keep his morality intact as best he can, and does an immoral act to avoid doing a worse one.

Soon, Morgan is taking other risks and routinely operating as a criminal. His ethical standards keep slipping in order to maintain financial appearances. This trade-off proves to be his undoing.

In each case of economic hardship, Morgan has avoided taking other actions that would have solved his problem, at least temporarily. He owns his boat, so he could have sold it or borrowed against it. He owns his home, and could have sold it and rented. He could have rented other peoples' boats when he could get a charter. The government has subsistence work available for the unemployed, but he prefers to maintain his life style and appearances as though he has no problems. He also has tried to keep from getting caught in breaking the law, but that hasn't worked either.

Morgan ends up taking on more than he can handle. He feels remorse as a result. He's tried to be too self-reliant, as a way to reduce his risk. That was the wrong route. Getting help was the right way to get the risk down.

His wife, Marie, captures the challenge of the modern world this way, "You just go dead inside and everything is easy. You just get dead like most people are most of the time." This suggests compromising your pride and principles to keep up appearances, which is what most people do.

Hemingway makes good use of the haves, those who charter and own the yachts, to show that they have compromised with self respect. They have money, but they do not have honor and decency. Often, they lose other benefits that matter to them, such as the chance for close human connection.

His have nots are crushed by the intent and the carelessness of the haves. The have nots are also undermined by their willingness to let the ends justify the means, and abuse of alcohol. Those weaknesses compromise them, and they are destroyed as a result.

So the lesson is that you should uphold what is important to you (not appearances) and make the necessary compromises to guard the important (such as your family, your health, and your survival). The worse the conditions are, the more important this lesson is.

After you finish contemplating what you would have done, I suggest you also think about where today we find similar compromises occuring because of prosperity. Where do we sacrifice what is important to have more prosperity or to appear to do so? I think Hemingway's tale still applies. How should you change, as a result?

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