To be published on the centenary of Hemingway's birth, this is the fictionalized account of Hemingway's time living and hunting in Kenya. The single draft made was discovered and edited by his son Patrick.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Ernest Hemingway's final posthumous work bears the rather awkward designation "a fictional memoir" and arrives under a cloud of controversial editing and patching--but all of that ends up being beside the point. Though this account of a 1953 safari in Kenya lacks the resolution and clarity of the best Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms) it is "real" Hemingway nonetheless. Let scholars work out where memoir leaves off and fiction begins: for the common reader, the prose alone casts an irresistible spell.
In True at First Light the glory days of the "great white hunters" are over and the Mau Mau rebellion is violently dislodging European farmers from Kenya's arable lands. But to the African gun bearers, drivers, and game scouts who run his safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, Hemingway remains a lordly figure--almost a god. Two parallel quests propel the narrative: Mary, Hemingway's fourth and last wife, doggedly stalks an enormous black-maned lion that she is determined to kill by Christmas, while Hemingway becomes increasingly obsessed with Debba, a beautiful young African woman. What makes the novel especially strange and compelling is that Mary knows all about Debba and accepts her as a "supplementary wife," even as she loses no opportunity to rake her husband over the coals for his drinking, lack of discipline in camp, and condescending protectiveness.
As usual with Hemingway, atmosphere and attitude are far more important than plot. Mary at one point berates her husband as a "conscience-ridden murderer", but this is precisely the moral stance that gives the hunting scenes their tension and beauty. "I was happy that before he died he had lain on the high yellow rounded mound with his tail down", Hemingway writes of "Mary's lion", "and his great paws comfortable before him and looked off across his country to the blue forest and the high white snows of the big Mountain."
Passages like these--and there are many of them-- redeem the book's rambling structure and occasional lapses into self- indulgent posturing. Joan Didion dismissed True at First Light in The New Yorker as "words set down but not yet written", but this fails to acknowledge the power of these words. The value of True at First Light lies in its candour, its nakedness: it provides a rare opportunity to watch a master working his way toward art. --David Laskin
"Captures the beauty of the African landscape and the thrill of the hunt, in true Hemingway style" (Red)
"This is writing of a high order; sympathetic, luminous, hypnotic, humane" (Caledonia)
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Destination, rates & speedsSeller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. To be published on the centenary of Hemingway's birth, this is the fictionalized account of Hemingway's time living and hunting in Kenya. The single draft made was discovered and edited by his son Patrick. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003032763
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Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # GRP69559852
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Seller: Black Box Books, ASHFORD, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. His last book, edited with an introduction by Patrick Hemingway Seemingly unread Fine copy. Head page edges a little darkened. Seller Inventory # 003637
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Seller: The Blue Penguin, FRODSHAM, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Dustwrapper, pp.320. Introduction and edited by Patrick Hemingway. The last novel, written when he returned from a 1953 safari in Africa but only edited by his son and released some 46 years later. A little but very minor bumping to cover leading edge. Small split to rear lower corner of dustwrapper. Text a little browned. Overall VG in wrapper. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 005044
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Seller: Amazing Book Company, Liphook, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. This copy is in new, unmarked condition bound in black cloth covered boards with bright gilt titling to the spine. This copy is bright, tight, white and square. The unclipped dust wrapper is in new condition. International postal rates are calculated on a book weighing 1 Kilo, in cases where the book weighs more than 1 Kilo increased postal rates will be quoted, where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. The book opens on the day Hemingway's close friend Pop, a legendary hunter, leaves him in charge of the camp. Tensions have heightened among the various tribes and news arrives of a potential attack on the hunters, forcing Hemingway not only to take on his new role of leader but, equally important, to assist his wife Mary in pursuing the great lion she is determined to kill before Christmas. Passionately detailing the African landscape, the excitement of the chase, and the heartfelt relationships with his African neighbours, Hemingway, a master of dramatic fiction, weaves a tale that is rich in laughter, beauty and insight. Written when Hemingway returned from his 1953 safari, and edited by his son Patrick, True At First Light is a rich blend of autobiography and fiction, a breathtaking final work from one of this century's most beloved and important writers. Ref QQQ 2. Seller Inventory # 034640
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