i purchased
Several of the Ruark books. The old man and the boy. The old mans boy grows older. Use enough gun. I’ve been reading them one chapter at a time, different book each sitting, shuffled together like a deck of cards, and it has not had a moment I didn’t enjoy.
Forty-five or fifty years ago I read those books for the first time. Horn Of The Hunter is another good one. A word of warning, in case you haven’t already discovered this: Ruark’s fiction is quite bitter, with very little of the warmth and respect and self-deprecating humor that fills his reminiscences. I’m interested in your opinion: I also think that it helps, in appreciating Hemingway, to ignore almost everything written about the man.
I meant to say “similarly” about Hemingway.
The Old Man books are triple-distilled nostalgia, aren’t they? Once you finish those, The Lost Classics contains a few of the Old Man stories that aren’t in the books, plus other writings from his career.
I’d love to see the Old Man books made into a miniseries with Sam Elliott playing the Old Man, he’s the perfect age for it now.
John I have read excerpts from “The Honey badger”, and I kind of understand what you mean. I will read more, and I am willing to take it all on it’s own merits. And yes, if you separate the man from his work, and take the work as standalone, it does feel a little different. I am lucky in that I knew very little about Ruark to begin with, and it is making this all very enjoyable.
Robert: I can’t but agree. And that way I could get the wife to go see it with me, as Elliot is her ‘Freebie’.