Men without Women

Written by Ernest Hemingway

Narrated by Stacy Keach

Classic short stories from a master of American fiction exploring relationships, war, and sportsmanship.

First published in 1927, Men Without Women represents some of Hemingway’s most important and compelling early writing. In these fourteen stories, Hemingway begins to examine the themes that would occupy his later works: the casualties of war, the often-uneasy relationship between men and women, sports and sportsmanship. “In Another Country” tells of an Italian major recovering from war wounds as he mourns the untimely death of his wife. “The Killers” is the hard-edged story about two Chicago gunmen and their potential victim. Nick Adams makes an appearance in “Ten Indians,” in which he is presumably betrayed by his girlfriend, Prudence. And “Hills Like White Elephants” is a young couple’s subtle, heart-wrenching discussion about the future. Pared down, gritty, and subtly expressive, these stories show the young Hemingway emerging as one of America’s finest short story writers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743578110

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Some of his best-known works include For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, and A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway passed away in July 1961.

Reviews for Men without Women

[ostrom_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like using this book in undergraduate creative-writing classes sometimes because he wrote it when he was in his 20s, and the book is uneven in instructive ways.

[jaylehnertz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read more short stories in 2011 than I had read in all the past 30 years. Not only did I read more short stories, the ones I read were extraordinarily rewarding: Tim Winton’s The Turning and Colm Tóibín’s The Empty Family to name two of the exceptional. I could easily add Hemingway’s stories published in this early volume to that list.

Men Without Women was Hemingway's second published collection of short stories (1927), appearing after In Our Time (1925) and his novel, The Sun Also Rises (1926) . Even given its early publication date (1927), I found the 14 stories to have all the breath of modernity, realism and relevance that I have enjoyed from the short stories written by Tóibín and Winton.

Hemingway’s stories, many set in Spain or Italy, deal with themes that marked Hemingway as a writer: infidelity, war, aging, loss of innocence, competition, masculinity, death, bullfighting. They also are written in his deceptively sparse, compact style in which sometimes much of the actual story rests almost unperceptively beneath the written words.

In “An Alpine Idyll”, for example, the narrator relates a story told to him and his companion while dining at an Alpine inn. The story involves a peasant whose wife died in a valley closed off by heavy snows. Unable to bring the body into town for burial because of the heavy snows, the husband stored the corpse for months in a shed. When eventually he did bring the body into town, the priest interrogated him about the body’s condition. The peasant confessed:

“’Well,’ said Olz, ‘when she died I made the report to the commune and I put her in the shed across the top of the big wood. When I started to use the big wood she was stiff and I put her up against the wall. Her mouth was open and when I came into the shed at night to cut up the big wood, I hung the lantern from it.’”

But there is a subtle hint in the story that the husband may have used the body for more than a lantern holder—a hint that the husband may have used the cadaver for other purposes.

Five of the stories, including “An Alpine Idyll”, involve Nick Adams, one of Hemingway’s enduring characters. We encounter Nick in those stories at various times in his life from youth to adult and begin to see him emerge in growing complexity. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Hemingway treats the issue of abortion; in “A Simple Inquiry”, the topic in homosexuality; in “Fifty Grand”, the topic is honor.

One of my favorite stories is “The Undefeated”, the longest in the collection. It describes an aging matador in his last encounter in a bull ring, foreshadowing “Death in the Afternoon in regard to Hemingway’s masterful descriptions of the actual encounters between matadors and bulls and complimenting the bull fight described in The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway captures in the story much of the drama and worn pageantry of the fiesta brava. In “Banal Story”, the next to the last story in the collection, Hemingway hones his deeply satirical vein as he presents his eulogy to a fallen matador, Manual García Maera.

[endersreads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my first experience with Hemingway. I remember reading of how Hemingway and Faulkner fought over writing styles. I sided with Faulkner, due to word extinction. I was yet shocked at the simplicity of Hemingway's prose; and yet, I could not deny there was something there, some dark force just under the surface that led you along.I think people have fun reading Hemingway and adding their own conclusions about that darkness just under the surface. For instance, in "On the Quai At Smyrna" was it the most humane thing for the Greeks to break the forelegs of all the animals they couldn't take with them and let them drown in shallow water? Was it a pleasant business? It was a way of coping with experience.In "Indian Camp" I found two things of interest: (1. Nick's father, the doctor, said he doesn't hear screams because the aren't important. This is not a doctor I'm not sure I would like to be under the care of. Does empathy play a part in being a good physician? On the other hand, I rather have a cold but sure hand rather than an empathetic one. Both would be nice. Something is lacking in the former. (2. Why did the Indian father kill himself when it was that the doctor was there to deliver his baby? Perhaps his foot-wound was something he felt would not heal properly. Can we be sure it was suicide? How many people kill themselves by cutting their own throats?"The Doctor And The Doctor's Wife" reveals that the doctor isn't keen on fighting, is a thief in denial, and that his wife is a Christian Scientist. The latter reveals the likely catalyst of much of Nick's problems."The End of Something" was the end of Nick's childhood and the beginning of the years of confusion."The Three Day Blow" shows us that Nick turns to alcohol for answers."The Battler" is Nick's initiation into manhood."Cross Country Snow" could be said to be a tale of freedom verses entrapment, which results in resignation."My Old Man" is another man not unlike the doctor—a good man, but dishonest—a paradoxical disappointment."Big Two Hearted River" was Nick, at home, in his own environment. It was, I believe, an attempt to disassociate, withdraw, and become self-sufficient. The swamps will be the undoing of Nick. It will be his greatest time of learning."

[smiler69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I believe this collection of stories is from Hemingway’s beginnings as a writer. There were a few moments, but overall I’d say it’s probably not his best work. Still, there is no such thing as ‘bad’ Hemingway so it’s well worth the read.

[ametralladoras · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely wouldn't have liked this book as much had I read it outside of an English class. There's so many more emotions and layers and interpretations that could be given beyond what is merely written on the page. Hemingway uses these stories to critique on war, relationships, home, modernity, maturity, family, etc. etc.

[deslni01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1925, a relatively unknown World War I veteran named Ernest Hemingway released a collection of short stories entitled In Our Time. This new author was a treat to the readers, as he wrote with a style very different than what the readers were accustomed to. Instead of long, flowing prose, Hemingway's stories were written in short, declarative sentences, with an oblique style of emotions for the characters. This new minimalist approach to literature would become one of the greatest changes in literary style, influencing the entire literary scene until - and much past - World War II. The book consists of many short stories, separated by short vignettes. Many of the short stories contain the character Nick Adams, initially a young boy learning about death in the company of his father who is a doctor. Then, he begins growing up. He has relationships with young women and great friends. These stories are divided by very short vignettes portraying the violence and emotions suffered in World War I. Very notable is Chapter VII,...he lay very flat and sweated and prayed oh jesus christ get me out of here. Dear jesus please get me out. Christ please please please christ. If you'll only keep me from getting killed I'll do anything you say...Please please dear jesus...The next night back at Mestre he did not tell the girl he went upstairs with at the Villa Rossa about Jesus. And he never told anybody.The Nick Adams stories come to a close at the end of the book with the two part Big Two-Hearted River, which shows an older, more mature Nick Adams, returned from the war and returning to the calming lifestyle of his youth by camping and fly-fishing in an amazingly described river and meadow.In Our Time set the stage for Ernest Hemingway to become one of the most influential writers (some would argue he was the most influential) of the twentieth century. His short, terse, masculine prose would set the literary world on fire and paved the way for Hemingway's other masterpieces, including The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. In Our Time is an excellent introductory work to the writing of Hemingway and is a classic sure to be enjoyed by many.

[andyray_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

These were the first collection of stories from the pen of the late, great, Ernest Miller Hemingway. They are known by Papa afficiandoes as "the Nick Adams stories" and are written in EH's characteristic sparse style. Although published by Scribner in the late 1920s, this title was first used on a limited edition published by Hemingway in Paris circa 1924. The best use of language herein comes with "Big Two-Hearted River, parts I and II," where he uses his verbal paint brush in a pointilistic manner to create the picture of the land Nick travels through. You are there, tasting the beans (at least until he puts ketshup on them), the trout, and the sharp country air. And you feel the ice coldness of the river water as Nick enters it to fly-fish. Of course, many knew there was something "different" about Hemingway's style, but they didn't know then that he was kicking off a whole school of 20th-century writing called "minimalism.," as well as contributing the literary version of the philosophy of existentialism."

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first published book by Hemingway. It features many Nick Adams stories and others from his youth.

[thegalaxygirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The trouble I have with Hemingway is that I'm just not interested in much of the subject matter, which makes for a tedious read. Bullfighting, boxing, yawn. And there's so much left unsaid, which works some of the time if the reader has knowledge or interest in the context, but not if she doesn't. "Hills Like White Elephants" is told without once naming the literal elephant in the room. But the bullfighting stories, I can't even picture what's happening, although I do get the gist. The stories all have male narrators, with women appearing as minor characters, if at all. But oddly, despite the fact that the story topics don't interest me, I can still feel the seriousness of Hemingway's intention. I can feel that he's trying to say something, even if I don't know what it is.

[chip1o1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great book of his short stories that was really inspiring and made me fall more in love with his extremely descriptive style of writing. His characters are somewhat dry, but I mostly enjoyed his descriptions of activities.

[tommcgreevy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A truly poor collection. Uninspired writing, pointless stories. There is one good one in the book titled "Fifty Grand", otherwise a total waste of time.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The short-story compilation called "Men Without Women" is one of Hemingway's earlier collections of short stories. These stories cover most things that were going on at that time in Hemingway's life. Covered in the stories, are things like bull-fighting, boxing, war, relationships between men and women and even a story about Chicago gangsters. There are 14 stories in this collection. Whenever I read a collection of short stories I like to pick my favourite of the bunch. Even though I don't like bullfighting and don't understand it, Hemingway's tribute to famous matador Maera, is the story that I liked the most. In his usual spare writing style, Hemingway describes what it must have been like for a famous and beloved matador to realize that he is too old to fight anymore. It's all he knows, so he signs up for a lesser fight, fully understanding in his heart that this will be his last. He does the best he can, and when the inevitable happens, he accepts the fate that he chose for himself. Hemingway says so much in so few words, but he always get his message across by the end of each story. My journey of wading through all of Hemingway's works is proceeding nicely with the addition of this book. I look forward to the next book from Hemingway's impressive backlist.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

These 14 short stories from Ernest Hemingway, first published collectively in 1927, are not entirely devoid of women, but they certainly are bent towards the masculine. There is a certain rugged pathos to stories about an aging bullfighter (“The Undefeated”), a boxer who decides to throw a fight (“Fifty Grand”), soldiers maimed in WW1 (“In Another Country”), a drug addict (“A Pursuit Race”), and hitmen terrorizing a diner while waiting for their target (“The Killers”, my overall favorite). Hemingway gets in a direct critique of Mussolini and the fascists effect on Italy (“Che Ti Dice La Patria?”), and more subtly given the era, also touches on homosexuality (“A Simple Enquiry”) and abortion (“Hills Like White Elephants”).

As with his other work, there is great economy with language, and I liked how what some of the stories were really trying to say required thought and interpretation. There are times when Hemingway provides contrasts without directly linking things, such as that between characters thinking of “Them Indians” as drunken trouble-makers, and a boy secretly loving one of them (“Ten Indians”). In another story, characters view peasants as “beasts,” whereas a couple of skiers had a carefree winter while a poor peasant was snowed in with his wife’s corpse in a shed (“An Alpine Idyll”). In a third, we get the lightweight reporting of a magazine on various topics which also seems like empty chatter, followed by the gravitas of a dying bullfighter known for his courage (“Banal Story”).

Overall, I don’t think there are any masterpieces here, but the quality level is uniformly high, and it’s worth reading.

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this collection of 14 short stories in part to compare it to Haruki Murakami's recent collection that borrowed the title. These are indeed primarily stories of men without women. I can see even a few bits to compare, probably coincidental, such as the story of the boxer in '50 Grand' who is off training and misses his wife every day and writes her letters. I enjoyed reading this, but this is not the best Hemingway and some of the stories are just little slips of things that didn't grab me. Still, it is Hemingway. There are enough good ones, thought provoking vignettes, in here to put this at the high end of an OK read so I'm giving this 3 1/2 stars.

Sometimes when I read Hem's stories I feel like a little kid again listening to my grandpa tell stories.

[madepercy-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've never been a fan of short stories, but Hemingway is surely the master. "Fifty Grand" is my favourite. I was reading it while walking around. I couldn't put it down.

[lisa.isselee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

nice collection of short stories.
They always left me wanting more !
fast, fun & easy read.

[rosiers.nicole · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had to struggle through the book. It was the first time I read something of Hemingway and maybe my expectations were too high. I just pushed through just to finish the book, because I hate to stop in the middle of a book, even though these are short stories. But I thought it was nice that in the little history he comes back to the first story. Now I'm glad the book is finished and that I never have to read it again.

[frozenplums · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This compilation was more or less what I expected. I wasn't a huge fan of the first story, simply because the subject matter was not one I care much about and it was a little on the lengthy side, but it was still well-written, and I derived something from it, so I still consider it a success. Others of the stories in this book I liked very much -- particularly "Canary for One."

I would recommend this collection to just about anyone looking for a short read but pertinent read. 4 stars.

[amarendra-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was short. Rough on the edges at times. Not connecting mostly. As if few interrupted conversations where you yourself end it and walk away. Liked the Bullfighter it was most vividly written.

[malrubius · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully and intelligently written. Emotionally gripping.

[markfinl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my second or third time through these stories and I was surprised at how much the stories vary in quality. Some, like "The Killers" and "Fifty Grand" are among the best short stories ever written, while others, like "A Banal Story" are not even fully formed ideas.

[zachmontana · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Lots of short stories which were generally pretty boring and on the depressing side. I've read better Hemmingway!

[drfp_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The future influence Hemingway would have seems obvious in this collection. Yet too often many of these stories feel oddly soulless, like they're technical exercises more than anything else. However, the other half of the time Hemingway does manage to nail a mood or a feeling particularly well. For me the collection is split half and half.

Personally, I feel Raymond Carver would go on to write in a sparse style much more effective and heartfelt stories about the trouble between men and women. This collection isn't without certain merits but for something similar, but better, I'd prefer to read any Carver collection.

[amydross · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read a couple of Hemingway novels in high school and since, and I absolutely loathed them... so I was surprised to find I kind of like the stories here! The novels felt stiff and artificial, particularly the female characters -- perhaps this collection is saved by not having any. People think of Hemingway as an icon of indomitable machismo, but I see in these stories an overwhelming panic about masculine performance and the possible failures thereof.

[pingdjip · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

**spoilers**
The atmosphere in these stories is raw, without illusions and cynical. Most characters are not too upset about their disenchanted world. Ok, they’re grumpy or gloomy, but they give a shrug and carry on.
The narrator keeps from committing himself, delivering his sober prose stoicly like his characters. But between the lines he shows compassion. Every once in a while he abandons his short sentences for longer ones, more lyrical. This happens with Manuel the aging bullfighter (“The Undefeated”) who is in for a hopeless defeat. Before the bull tosses Manuel, Hemingway slows down the narrative to highlight Manuels competence, one last time. Manuel faces the bull and takes in every detail: ‘He knew all about bulls.’
A character resembling Manuel is Jack, the boxer in “Fifty Grand”. Jack is also heading for certain defeat. Not only is he old like Manuel and does he have to fight a young brute, but he also suffers from insomnia which makes it almost impossible to train. But the nice thing about these stories is that characters are never completely the same. Whereas Manuel is victimised by a commercial and cynical organizer of bullfights, Jack is commercial and cynical himself. He bets on his own defeat, putting in fifty grand. What a fright if he almost wins, against all odds, because his opponent commits an enormous ‘foul’, hitting heavily below the belt. Luckily Jack can persuade the referee that it’s insignificant, and the game continues. Afterwards he says: ‘It’s funny how fast you can think when it means that much money.’
The atmosphere is not always determined by sturdy men going about their crude business. In the anti-fascist story ‘Che Ti Dice La Patria?’ the first-person narrator playfully teases his traveling companion. In ‘A pursuit Race’ a just as playful (but also very drunk) racing cyclist gets into an absurd conversation with his coach. And in the famous ‘Hills like white elephants’, one of the few women in this collection utters the maybe not exactly playful, but certainly not sturdy or crude phrase: ‘Will you please please please please please please please stop talking?’
There are many sides to these stories and they all tingle with life.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't read much Hemingway in a long time when I found this sitting in a charity shop waiting to be rescued, so I thought why not and gave it a go. I read the first story painfully a couple of weeks ago, and put the book down after it - I'm not one for bull fighting at the best of times so you can imagine how I took to such a fully-developed short story about the sport. But I took it up again today and the rest of the stories didn't take long to work through at all. Hemingway has a keen eye for detail and his dialogue is sometimes of the highest order. I can see the genius in some of what he does, and at other times I can see why the critics attack him.