Hemingways’s must-reads for writers
In 1934, a young aspiring writer by the name of Arnold Samuelson hitchhiked from Minnesota to Florida, looking for a mentor to help him level up his writing. The author he chose was none other than Ernest Hemingway.
Although Hemingway was not impressed with Samuelson’s writing, he respected his dedication to improving his craft. Unfortunately, Hemingway had plans to leave Florida on his boat, Pilar. But as luck would have it, Hemingway invited Samuelson to join as part of the crew.
Samuelson was thrilled.
While at sea, Samuelson had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pick Hemingway’s brain. In one of their interactions, Samuelson asked, “How can a writer train himself?”
Hemingway replied, “Here’s a list of books any writer should have read as a part of his education… If you haven’t read these, you just aren’t educated. They represent different types of writing. Some may bore you, others might inspire you and others are so beautifully written they’ll make you feel it’s hopeless for you to try to write.”
This is the list of must-reads Hemingway handed to Samuelson:
The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Dubliners by James Joyce
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
Hail and Farewell by George Moore
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Oxford Book of English Verse
The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Far Away and Long Ago by W.H. Hudson
The American by Henry James
There you have it. Some great titles to add to your to-be-read list (TBR) that will make you a better writer, storyteller, and intellectual. But I’d be damned if I ignored the fact that Hemingway’s list lacks the touch of feminine genius, with Emily Bronte being the one and only woman author on his list.
So, I want to leave you with a few literary classics written by women to make sure you get a well-rounded education.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Enjoy!