Book Review: The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway
In anticipation for a solo camping trip into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula I wanted to pick up a book to read during my downtime in the tent. The obvious choice was a book from Hemingway since many of his writings are inspired from his early life growing up in northern Michigan. Grabbing a book about the place where you intend to visit may be a little much for some people, but I love to double-dip and there is no better place to do that than the deep woods of the U.P.
I first heard about the short story Big Two-Hearted River from a customer at the fly shop where I previously worked. That Estonian man spoke of the story with such high esteem that everyone who spoke to him felt the need to add it to their reading list. Although it took me about two years between learning about the stories and actually reading them, I was so exceptionally glad I did.
Originally, Hemingway wrote about Nick Adams in a series of short stories which were eventually compiled and published as a stand-alone book. The character, Nick Adams, is very widely known to have been created by Hemingway as a way to tell the story of his own life without labelling the writings as an autobiography. As a boy, the Hemingway family vacationed in Petoskey, Michigan every summer and that is where Ernest learned to camp, hunt, and fish. These trips into northern Michigan helped Hemingway form the character of Nick Adams.
The book gives a very interesting look into a part of the country, that although relatively close to civilization, was still a very wild place at the time. We get to see what life was like through the lense of a young man that is watching the world around him change. Even today, the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan have a certain wild feel about them that is hard to replicate in the Midwest.
Short Stories Favorites
While i believe that the collection is worth reading, there are some short stories that are better than others so here is a few that I recommend:
The Last Good Country - Nick is on the run from the local law and compares the corruption of modern civilization with the innocence and purity of the wild where he finds comfort.
Big Two-Hearted River - The most famous of the Nick Adams stories. A reflection in recovery, healing, and cleansing the soul after returning from The Great War.
Indian Camp - Our first introduction to Nick as he accompanies his father, a doctor, as he visits a local Indian camp.
Closing Thoughts
Setting up my tent alongside the Fox River, knowing that the man who would become one of the greatest American authors of all time was there 100 years ago, was surreal to put it lightly. Learning more about Hemingway reveals that both his father and his mother were prone to depressive episodes which may have made Hemingway genetically more predisposed to mental illness. Knowing these facts helps inform you where Hemingway may have been at the time of writing his Nick Adams stories.
Although this collection of the Nick Adam’s short stories is presented in chronological order which allows the reader to watch his growth, there is a bit of a disconnect in the headspace of Nick. The disjointedness of Nick can be explained quite easily though, while we are reading along chronologically, Hemingway actually published many of these stories years apart from one another and they frequently jumped around to different time periods of his character’s life. What would be interesting is to have more context about when each of the short stories was published, this would give the reader insight into where Hemingway was in his life and what his mental health was like at the time of writing. Doing so would allow us to better understand why the shifts in tone are happening to Nick.
As talented a writer as Hemingway was, he was incredibly burdened by depression, alcoholism, and his family’s history of poor mental health. These characteristics of Ernest permeate throughout his writing as we watch his character Nick Adams grow from a curious young boy to a father. Throughout the Nick’s journey we see him struggle and reflect on his own mortality, a subject that Hemingway personally dealt with in his life.
The book is thought to be a therapeutic way for Hemingway to reflect on his own life and the hardships that he had been through. He started the Nick Adams stories soon after returning home from the First World War, at a time where he was nursing his wartime injuries and trying to find just where he fit in this world. This is where I recommend the book to you because I believe that learning from another’s mistakes and reflections can help your own.
