Torrents of Spring

By Ernest Hemingway

First published in 1926, The Torrents of Spring is a hilarious parody of the Chicago school of literature. Poking fun at that “great race” of writers, it depicts a vogue that Hemingway himself refused to follow. In style and substance, The Torrents of Spring is a burlesque of Sherwood Anderson's Dark Laughter, but in the course of the narrative, other literary tendencies associated with American and British writers akin to Anderson—such as D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and John Dos Passos—come in for satirical comment. A highly entertaining story, The Torrents of Spring offers a rare glimpse into Hemingway's early career as a storyteller and stylist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scribner
• Release date: May 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781476770260

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His novels include The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1899, he died in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, 1961.

Reviews for Torrents of Spring

[madepercy-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I need to read more of the British and American literature of the times to understand the burlesque nature of this work. Looks like I will have to re-read this one at a later date.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I heard this book was written as a satire of the style at the time. I’ve also heard that Hemingway wrote it to fulfill a contract with a publisher he didn’t want to work with anymore. I’m not sure what all is truth, but the end result isn’t great. The book is short, but still manages to feel disjointed. Its main focus is a man who loses his wife and then marries a waitress. There’s not much meat to the story and it wasn’t memorable in any way. Taken in the context of when it was written, I'm sure there's stylistic elements to be admired, but it hasn't stood up well with age for the general public.

[srboone · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hemingway's first novel. This is Hemingway publicly mocking his friend and mentor, Sherwood Anderson. It is a harsh thing to insult the person to which you owe your first publishing deal, as well as much of your writing style, but if you have read much of the biographical material on Hemingway, you will know that he was a hugely selfish and egotistical person. It's all very humdrum, but, in fleeting moments, it's Hemingway's version of humdrum.

[g026r · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While there are a few amusing moments in Hemingway's first novel — particularly in the Author's Notes, where Hemingway speaks directly to the reader, namedropping authors he's lunched with, asking how the readers are enjoying the book, and even offering to read or rewrite anything they care to bring him — for the most part this parody fell flat for me.Perhaps it was the unfamiliarity with Sherwood Anderson's Dark Laughter and the Chicago school in general, but for the most part I can't help but think that the majority of it just missed its target with me.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hemingway's first novel is rioutously funny; it runs quick and loose with a wit that he rarely displayed afterwards. A man's wife is late home - two minutes late - and suspecting her lost, he goes in search of her. Throughout his minor odyssey, he meets wild and unique characters; Hemingway himself narrates the writing of the story, pausing occasionally to ask if it is sufficiently enjoyable.