Title: To Have and Have Not

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Genre: Classic Literature  

Publisher: Arcturus Publishing

Format: Paperback

Pages: 219

Rating: 3/5 stars

*Warning: Strong Language and racial slurs. Parents please be advised*

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Anyone coming to To Have & Have Not after seeing the Bogart/Bacall film should be forewarned that about the only thing the two have in common is the title. The movie concerns a brave fishing-boat captain in WWII-era Martinique who aids the French Resistance, battles Nazis & gets the girl. The novel concerns a broke fishing-boat captain who agrees to carry contraband between Cuba & Florida in order to feed his wife & daughters. The novel is by far the darker, more complex work.

We meet Harry Morgan sitting in a Havana bar watching a gun battle in the street. After seeing a Cuban get his head blown off with a Luger, he reacts with typical understatement: “I took a quick one out of the 1st bottle I saw open & I couldn’t tell you yet what it was. The whole thing made me feel pretty bad.” Still feeling bad, he heads out in his boat on a charter fishing expedition for which he’s stiffed by the client. With not even enough money for gas, he agrees to smuggle illegal Chinese for the mysterious Mr Sing. From there it’s a small step to carrying liquor–a disastrous run that ends when he loses an arm & his boat. Once he gets mixed up in the brewing Cuban revolution, however, even those losses seem small compared to what’s at stake: his very life.

Hemingway tells most of the story in 3rd person, but, significantly, he brackets the whole with a section at the beginning told from Harry’s perspective & a short, heart-wrenching chapter at the end narrated by his wife, Marie. In between there’s adventure, danger, betrayal & death, but this novel begins & ends with the tough & tender portrait of a man who plays the cards that are dealt him with courage & dignity, long after hope is gone.–Alix Wilber

Review:

I don’t know what it is but I just can’t seem to get into Hemingway. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the writing style, because I feel like I should be able to love his stories and I just don’t. I like them but I don’t love them.

This book revolves around Harry, who has a boat and takes people out fishing in Cuba. During he Depression Era, he starts starts to run illegal items back and forth between Cuba and the United States and this gets Harry into a lot of trouble! A lot of terrible things happen to Harry and to other characters in the book, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for all the people struggling in this book! Especially Harry’s wife who is afraid for him and doesn’t know what’s going to happen!

One thing I want to point out with this book is there is vulgar language and the use of the N word, so if this is something that you would like to avoid in books, then this may not be the book for you! Overall I liked the story, it just didn’t grip me the way I wanted it to. Which is surprising because I expected myself to be fully immersed in this story! Oh well!

Happy reading!