Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Hemingway files, by H. K. Bush



Bush is an English professor at St. Louis University.  This is his first novel, however, he evidently has written extensively about Mark Twain, Lincoln, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as other American literary figures.  He seems to have an intimate knowledge of Japan as well from his time as a Senior Fellow at Waseda Institute in Tokyo.  This intriguing novel may be a bit slow-moving for some readers, but I enjoyed the gradual, almost teasing, revelations that lead up to its conclusion.  It is a book within a book.  Professor Martin Dean receives a manuscript from his former student and protégé, Jack Springs, after Jack’s untimely death from prostate cancer.  Dean, in his early seventies, has maintained an epistolary friendship with Jack in the twenty or so years after he graduated.  At loose ends immediately after receiving his Ph.D., Jack accepted a two-year position teaching English in Japan. In the manuscript, Jack details his experiences there, particularly his growing relationship with an elderly scholar and collector of American manuscripts, Goto-san.  One by one, Goto reveals some of his treasures – rare signed first editions of major authors, unique and unknown manuscripts, and finally, the Hemingway files.  Jack, and ultimately Dean, will come to possess some of these priceless items, but how were they obtained, can anyone “own” these materials, and other ethical questions are raised at the end of the book.  I liked it a lot, but am actually going to write the author about one amazing mistake on page 213 where Hadley, Hemingway’s first wife, is described as “a pretty teenager growing up in Chicago.”  Argh!!  With his extensive knowledge of American letters and Hemingway, Bush must certainly know that Hadley, like two of the later three of Hemingway’s wives, was from St. Louis.  354 pp.

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