Overview

A new and provocative analysis of ""The Snows of Kilimanjaro"" Hemingway's short story, ""The Snows of Kilimanjaro,"" has secured a place among the greatest works in that genre—the story is widely considered Hemingway's greatest. To explore the richness of this work, David L. Anderson returns to a somewhat unusual approach, that of archetypal criticism, which allows us to examine the story in more universal, rather than strictly historical, ways. Anderson emphasizes the story's theme of hospitality, which dramatizes topics of community and human interdependency, and notes that this illuminates a fundamental human impulse to shelter or aid those in need. Borrowing from Jack London, Anderson relates this to the archetype of the ""man on trail"": one who is being pursued, ultimately by death, and is in need of hospitality, a friend. The motif is older than London, as Anderson notes, guiding us to Jung, Campbell, and a whole body of archetypal criticism—from ancient literature to Bob Dylan. Anderson explores the man-on-trail archetype extensively in the Italicized Memory sections of the story, in the drama of Harry's last day, and in the unforgettable ending section as Harry takes his flight to Kilimanjaro. Noteworthy is this sustained attention to the Italicized Memory sections, all the stories that Harry might have written but had not. Analysis of Harry's memories—that is, analysis without due attention to the recurrent elements of plot, character, and setting and of how those memories interact with each other and interact with the overall narrative framework—can no longer purport to be complete, definitive, or even useful without considering Anderson's astute analysis.

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9781606353882

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Reviews

""Ernest Hemingway's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' is the greatest of the writer's four-dozen-plus short stories and one of the greatest short stories period in Western literature. With this study, David L. Anderson offers a companion that's every bit as intertextually rich and allusive as the text itself. Those who might wonder if a single short story can sustain an entire book-length study will be wonderfully surprised at the breadth of significance Anderson finds in Hemingway's references, particularly in the theme of the 'man on trail' that is subtly woven into the dying writer Harry's lament for all the artistic material a fluke of mortality will prevent him from realizing. Anderson . . . demonstrates how central the yearning for shelter and hospitality exists in tension with the impulse of flight. In surveying this apogee of Hemingway's artistry, Anderson offers his own breathtaking vistas of interpretation and insight.""—Kirk Curnutt, author of Reading Hemingway's To Have and Have Not: Glossary and Commentary ""David Anderson provides a fresh, intriguing interpretation of one of Hemingway's most enduring stories. Scholars and aficionados will value this richly researched study of the complex role of memory, allusion, and archetypes in Hemingway's fiction.""—Mark P. Ott, coeditor of Hemingway and Italy: Twenty-First Century Perspectives

Ernest Hemingway's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' is the greatest of the writer's four-dozen-plus short stories and one of the greatest short stories period in Western literature. With this study, David L. Anderson offers a companion that's every bit as intertextually rich and allusive as the text itself. Those who might wonder if a single short story can sustain an entire book-length study will be wonderfully surprised at the breadth of significance Anderson finds in Hemingway's references, particularly in the theme of the 'man on trail' that is subtly woven into the dying writer Harry's lament for all the artistic material a fluke of mortality will prevent him from realizing. Anderson . . . demonstrates how central the yearning for shelter and hospitality exists in tension with the impulse of flight. In surveying this apogee of Hemingway's artistry, Anderson offers his own breathtaking vistas of interpretation and insight. --Kirk Curnutt, author of Reading Hemingway's To Have and Have Not: Glossary and Commentary David Anderson provides a fresh, intriguing interpretation of one of Hemingway's most enduring stories. Scholars and aficionados will value this richly researched study of the complex role of memory, allusion, and archetypes in Hemingway's fiction. --Mark P. Ott, coeditor of Hemingway and Italy: Twenty-First Century Perspectives

Ernest Hemingway's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' is the greatest of the writer's four-dozen-plus short stories and one of the greatest short stories period in Western literature. With this study, David L. Anderson offers a companion that's every bit as intertextually rich and allusive as the text itself. Those who might wonder if a single short story can sustain an entire book-length study will be wonderfully surprised at the breadth of significance Anderson finds in Hemingway's references, particularly in the theme of the 'man on trail' that is subtly woven into the dying writer Harry's lament for all the artistic material a fluke of mortality will prevent him from realizing. Anderson . . . demonstrates how central the yearning for shelter and hospitality exists in tension with the impulse of flight. In surveying this apogee of Hemingway's artistry, Anderson offers his own breathtaking vistas of interpretation and insight. -Kirk Curnutt, author of Reading Hemingway's To Have and Have Not: Glossary and Commentary David Anderson provides a fresh, intriguing interpretation of one of Hemingway's most enduring stories. Scholars and aficionados will value this richly researched study of the complex role of memory, allusion, and archetypes in Hemingway's fiction. -Mark P. Ott, coeditor of Hemingway and Italy: Twenty-First Century Perspectives

"""Ernest Hemingway's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' is the greatest of the writer's four-dozen-plus short stories and one of the greatest short stories period in Western literature. With this study, David L. Anderson offers a companion that's every bit as intertextually rich and allusive as the text itself. Those who might wonder if a single short story can sustain an entire book-length study will be wonderfully surprised at the breadth of significance Anderson finds in Hemingway's references, particularly in the theme of the 'man on trail' that is subtly woven into the dying writer Harry's lament for all the artistic material a fluke of mortality will prevent him from realizing. Anderson . . . demonstrates how central the yearning for shelter and hospitality exists in tension with the impulse of flight. In surveying this apogee of Hemingway's artistry, Anderson offers his own breathtaking vistas of interpretation and insight.""—Kirk Curnutt, author of Reading Hemingway's To Have and Have Not: Glossary and Commentary ""David Anderson provides a fresh, intriguing interpretation of one of Hemingway's most enduring stories. Scholars and aficionados will value this richly researched study of the complex role of memory, allusion, and archetypes in Hemingway's fiction.""—Mark P. Ott, coeditor of Hemingway and Italy: Twenty-First Century Perspectives"

Author Information

David L. Anderson is retired professor of English at Butler County Community College and managing editor of the August Wilson Journal.

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