"A Moveable Feast" is a book of memoirs by the American writer Ernest Hemingway about his life in Paris. The book describes the first literary experiences of the young writer and his life with his first wife Hadley in the 1920s. The idea to write an autobiographical book about the Parisian period of his life came to Hemingway in France, and the discovered notes, which he considered irretrievably lost, pushed him to resume work. In August 1956, Hemingway with his last wife Mary Welsh Hemingway, having traveled across Europe, visited Paris on the way back. There, the writer returned two small suitcases, which he had forgotten in the basement of the Paris Hotel Ritz back in 1928. Among other things, they contained notebooks in which Hemingway described his life in France. The unexpected find delighted the writer, and he decided to continue this work. It is known that the writer worked from the fall of 1957 to the spring of 1958 on the last chapters of his memoirs, called "The Holiday That Is Always With You".
In addition to autobiographical notes, the book contains portraits of many writers and artists: Aleister Crowley, Ezra Pound, Francis Fitzgerald Scott, Ford Madox Ford, Hilar Belloc, Jules Pascin, Dos Passos, Percy Lewis, James Joyce and Gertrude Stein.
"They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure." ― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
The newlyweds settled in Paris, and there Ernest, encouraged by Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and other writers, decided to become a writer. There is a widespread point of view that the choice as a place of residence and work in Europe was due to the difference in exchange rates; in those years life in Europe was much cheaper for Americans, and many of them settled there, forming whole "colonies". The idea to write an autobiographical book about the Parisian period of his life came to Ernest in France, and he decided to resume work after his notes from the 1920s, which he considered irretrievably lost, were discovered. In September 1956, Hemingway with his fourth wife Mary Welsh Hemingway, went from New York to Europe, where they visited Paris, and from there went to Spain, after which they returned to the capital of France on November 17.
There, the writer was returned two small suitcases, which he had forgotten in the basement of the Paris Hotel Ritz back in 1928. Hemingway's friend and biographer Aaron Edward Hotchner, who was with him then in Paris, later described the history of the discovery of suitcases and manuscripts. According to Hotchner, in 1956 he and Hemingway dined at the Ritz in Paris with Charles Ritz, the owner of the hotel. During the conversation, the latter asked the writer if he remembered that his suitcases were in the basement of the hotel. It turned out that Hemingway forgot about it, but remembered that in the 1920s he had a Louis Vuitton chest. When the forgotten things were brought, it turned out that the suitcase contained all sorts of things (clothes, menus, receipts, accessories for hunting, fishing, ski equipment, letters, etc.). Most of all, Hemingway was delighted that at the very bottom of the suitcase he found his manuscripts: two stacks of notebooks in a ruler, like those used by Parisian schoolchildren in the 1920s. These notes were filled with the neat handwriting of the writer, which he wrote, sitting in his favorite cafes, and dedicated to his Parisian period of life: "They described places, people, events of those times when he was poor." “He went through his old papers, drafts, and they reminded him so much of a life long gone,” wrote one of the writer's biographers. This happy find made the writer very happy and excited, and so much so that he felt bad and he had to call a doctor. According to the recollections of Dr. Louis Schwartz, he found the patient in bed: he was very lively, behaved like a "good child" and was eager to immediately start tidying up his notebooks. The Hemingway couple celebrated Christmas in Paris and went to New York at the end of December. From there Mary went to her parents, and Ernest went to Havana. Following the recommendations of the doctors, he tried not to drink and was in a bad mood, in addition, the work on the notes was not progressing well. Gradually, however, he again became carried away by the memories, and the creation of the book began to advance better. During this period, the editorial staff of the Atlantic Munsley magazine, preparing for the release of the anniversary issue, asked Hemingway to prepare memoirs about Scott Fitzgerald, whom he was closely acquainted with in Paris. Hemingway agreed, and by May 1957 he had completed the passage, but he had never delivered it to the client. According to Hotchner, this was due to Ernest's decision to finish the Book of Paris.
It is known that the writer worked from the fall of 1957 to the spring of 1958 on the last chapters of his memoirs, which later received the name "The holiday that is always with you". During his work on Summer Dangerous, Hemingway used these notes in the final draft of the book.
The book presents memories of Hemingway's early life in Paris from 1921 to 1926. In American literature, "The Feast That Is Always With You" is regarded as a memoir: "The post-humous A Moveable Feast, 1964, is a memoir of Parislife."
However, in The Brief Encyclopedia of Literature, Hemingway's book is defined as fictionalized memoirs. BA Gilenson also notes that the book, "called 'The holiday that is always with you," was close in form to memoirs, contained both documentary and artistic elements. " And KK Andreev believes that “... this book is not a memoir or a diary. This is a lyrical story, outwardly restrained, but imbued with inner passion, pure and light, like youth, regained after the cruel years of war. "
The author himself, in the preface, reserves the right to determine the genre of the book to the reader: “If the reader wishes, he can consider this book to be fiction. But a literary work can also shed some light on what is written about as real facts. "
This article was sponsored by Lilit Azizbekyan
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