Men Without Women

By Ernest Hemingway

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, sport and sportsmanship. In “Banal Story,” Hemingway offers a lasting tribute to the famed matador Maera. “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 Indian girlfriend, Prudence. And “Hills Like White Elephants” is a young couple's subtle, heart-wrenching discussion of abortion. Pared down, gritty, and subtly expressive, these stories show the young Hemingway emerging as America's finest short story writer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scribner
• Release date: May 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781476770178

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer of his time. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. His classic novel The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His life and accomplishments are explored in-depth in the PBS documentary film from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway. Known for his larger-than-life personality and his passions for bullfighting, fishing, and big-game hunting, he died in Ketchum, Idaho on July 2, 1961. 

Reviews for Men Without Women

[jonfaith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Most of this stunning collection was a reread for me. I borrowed the collected Nick Adams stories 20 years ago and never returned it: sorry Dr. Kennedy. The structure of In Our Time is a marvel. The pacing and economy have been canonized elsewhere.

Having spent most of Friday in the rain, I've been just outside the pale of a cold all weekend. The talons of infirmity appeared so close today. After United's victory at Stamford Bridge I retreated. This collection is a jewel.

[polaris4_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

His first published book. This is a very good collection of shorts by a young man clearly confident in his own style and with an ability to write stories that have a straight and clear voice, and that I think (with one or two cultural exceptions) has aged really well. The book's structure in itself has a modern feel to it - the stories alternate with very short bursts of what would probably now be called micro-fiction. There are tales here covering subject matter that would become especially familiar to followers of his writing: of soldiers returning home from battle; vagrants on the road; young Americans at leisure in Europe; assorted 'butch' pursuits that you'd wear a cosy plaid shirt for: hunting, fishing, skiing, boozing, etc. I enjoyed most of the stories, but the stand-outs for me were: "The Battler"(I wanted more of those characters!), "The Three-Day Blow", "Soldier's Home", and "Big Two-Hearted River" (both parts).Hemingway introduces his character Nick Adams in many of these stories. From boyhood to manhood we see the character grow, passing through the horrors of service in the First World War, returning back home to small town America. The writing is really very good. Hemingway's skill as a nature writer alone is remarkable - his ability to describe with such clarity - yet without verbosity - and so beautifully, precisely what the reader needs to 'see' in their mind's eye, has very few equals. Very hard to believe that this collection is not far off being a hundred years old! Well worth reading.

[brendanpmyers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If, like me, you'd never read Hemingway and are thinking it might be time, you can't go wrong starting with this collection of early short stories. Setting aside the stories themselves are damned entertaining, it's a wonderful introduction to Hemingway's spare prose style (which he was honing while writing them) and it's also a very short book, containing a number of themes that, should you continue reading him, you'll find he returns to again and again, such as combat on the Italian front and bullfighting.

The book also contains a number of "Nick Adams" stories, concerning a young man growing up in Michigan, that feel as fresh today as they must have when he wrote them.

I think the story that stuck with me the most was "The Three-Day Blow," and if you've ever gotten drunk with your best friend, I suspect it might stick with you as well.

Another cool thing about this book?

Some of the stories are as short as this review.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In Our Time by Ernest HemingwayDifferent stories of war times, helping the woman birth the children with the Indians, Stories of bull fights, fishing, skiing in the snow, jockeys and horse racing,I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[benkline · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad collection of short stories, but not a great one either. Hemingway is hit or miss for me. Some of his short stories just read as pointless to me while others read as very poignant.

[browner56 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In Our Time is a collection of short stories and vignettes written by Ernest Hemingway during his Paris years in the 1920s. (In fact, the book is dedicated to Hadley of The Paris Wife fame.) While the pieces in the volume vary in topic from war scenes to personal relationships between men and women to bullfighting, the connecting theme throughout is the author’s effort to make sense of his experiences in World War I. Deploying his legendarily terse Modernist writing style, Hemingway explores the nature of bravery and fear, love and loss, physical action and introspection. There is a melancholy feel that pervades the entire work as Hemingway comes to grip with the loss of innocence that accompanied the “Great War” in much the same way that Tim O’Brien chronicled his experiences in Viet Nam almost a century later in the equally compelling The Things They Carried. The stories themselves are all very brief—they range in length from just a single page to eight or ten pages—but they are, for the most part, all remarkably powerful. My favorites involved the exploits of Nick Adams, Hemingway’s alter ego, before, during and after the war. The strongest pieces were “Indian Camp,” “The End of Something,” “The Three-Day Blow,” “My Old Man,” and “Big Two-Hearted River, Parts I and II”. I know that Hemingway’s reputation has suffered in recent years as some of the more sordid details of his personal life have emerged, but there is no denying that he was an incredibly talented writer with a deep understanding of human nature. Although better known for his longer works, these short stories stand as great examples of a world-class author finding his voice. Indeed, this is the book that put Hemingway on the literary map and it was an absolute pleasure to read.

[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."

[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.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A literary sorbet for sure. Read this 30 years ago and needed some clean crisp writing to read after the mess that is 100 Years of Solitude. The Broken-Hearted River rings so true. It brings me back to the Maine north woods. Love the Nick Adams but the Italian stories were ok. Will read another EH for sure.

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a powerful work - an unconventional grouping of stories that marked Hemingway's first major success as a writer. I believe these are the stories he is writing in A Moveable Feast and this time in his life when he is writing these is well covered in Paula McLain's The Paris Wife. In some ways the success that started here doomed his marriage to Hadley Richardson. One can also see many elements of Hemingway's life so far within these stories and the creation of the post WWI 'Lost Generation'. Stuff like this is why Hemingway is one of my favorite writers.I thought that (roughly) the first half of the book was the strongest with some hard hitting sketches and stories. Towards the middle I felt there was a small slump, a fumble lets call it as well as a story or two where Hemingway lays on that Hemingway style just a little too thick, which on reflection keeps me from rating this higher than 4 stars. The Nick Adams stories in here were my favorites overall, but I like how Hemingway broke things up in a very interesting manner. A few of these stories might bother a sensitive reader for the language, topics and sensibilities of the times (1920's).This was a reread for me - first read sometime in the early to mid 90's.