Ernest Hemingway Biography: A Life of Love and Loss 

"The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for. I believe the last part." - Ernest Hemingway

I studied Hemingway in college when I was young. 45 years old now, and it's shocking how much it has influenced me over the past couple of decades.

I learned 2 things: 1. He was a brilliant jerk 2. His mom was the queen of roasting.🤣🤣🤣

The mother that dressed him as a girl when he was a child is demanding him to man-up. Strange....

What a terrific example of a man who literally made himself into his own vision of what he thought was best. It's a shame when time robs just enough of someone's talents for them to notice while leaving them to wonder what they need to do to climb back to their former glory. Unfortunately, hard drinking usually isn't the answer!

I'm still pushing for a Simon Whistler Biographic.

1:10 - Chapter 1 - Early life 4:05 - Chapter 2 - War 8:15 - Chapter 3 - Europe 11:15 - Chapter 4 - Fisherman 16:05 - Chapter 5 - WWII 17:30 - Chapter 6 - Later life

10:45 “He walked out on his wife and son”... queue jaunty music

I like men being men, but I think his heightened levels of machismo may have been a compensatory mechanisms for what his mother did to him.

"What a guy!" - Randy Feltface

I love the way I can play a biographics vid and cook a meal while only listening. Your ability to tell a story with little or in my case no visuals is amazing! Simon you are the best my friend. The visuals are good too though

My subscription feed is turning into a Simon whistler feed

I never tire of reading 'The Old Man and the Sea.'

John Steinbeck please.

I really like Hemingway's work as a writer, but it never ceases to amaze me how often we praise flamboyant individuals who manage to become famous in spite of behavior that we would vilify an average Joe Blow for.

The best 20 minute biography of my favorite writer. I'm 72 years old and still influenced by Hemingway. My only regret is that he did not leave us more short stories. I consider those to be his greatest genre. Thank you. I re-read all of Hemingway at least every two years. It never grows old. Hemingway considered F. Scott Fitsgerald to be American's greatest living writer. He was wrong.

I teach Hemingway to my high school juniors, and my biography video was damaged, so I used this one instead--excellent job! This goes a bit fast, but my students were able to take two pages full of notes. Thank you!

Great video, only quibble is that in his suicide, he didn't use a hunting rifle, but rather a shotgun. Quite different. In fact, it was a W. & C. Scott & Son long-barreled, side-by-side pigeon gun. It was reportedly his favorite sporting shotgun and had been used in numerous completions and hunts all the way from East Africa to Cuba and, sadly, in Idaho. Anyway, nice video. If I may make a suggestion, Theodore Roosevelt would make an outstanding subject for a future bio. Thanks!

I grew up in Oak Park. Not very far from the Hemmingway family home, visited there as a child. Beautiful home.

An Navigator uncle of mine, Jim', was an RCAF 'Poster Boy' for a short time in late 1943 early 1944 when he was in training. The newsman covering him at the time was Hemingway. Hemingway eventually followed uncle Jim to England where he met Jim together with his crew. As a stunt, Hemingway was a 'passenger' on the crew's 1st combat bombing mission with 98 Sqdn RAF. Approaching the target their B-25 'Mitchell' bomber was hit & damaged by 'Ack-Ack'. When the flak then concentrated on the wounded aircraft, a 'scene' developed involving Hemingway. My uncle had a wonderful sense of humour and a very funny way of describing the incident when he'd re-tell his 'Hemingway story'. It involved one of the crew having to knock Hemingway out and then tie him up to keep him under control. Before my uncle died, I made of point of getting the 'real story' from him - just for the record. In essence he said, the story was the same . . . Hemingway did panic but in fact, after being given a ‘stern’ talking to by the captain of the bomber, he did settle down. A 1944 newspaper clipping in Jim's scrapbook entitled 'I WENT BOMBING A P-PLANE WOOD' by MICHAEL MOYNIHAN News Chronicle Special Correspondent (also flying the same mission) describes the incident . . . "In one of the six Mitchells, I later learned, another passenger-observer was flying - Ernest Hemmingway**, author of "For Whom the Bell Tolls." His plane was twice hit. But for a Spanish Civil War Veteran, the experience cannot have been alarming."

Maybe not be important to anyone, but if anyone is confused on why books like "Old Man and the Sea" are incredible books and so beloved when they seem so stripped down and perhaps almost empty, here's a couple things. One is that Hemingway wrote like an "iceberg" in that the surface prose was terse, concise, not heavy on description . A lot of the meat of the story is what is implied, or what is between the lines. I think a great way to understand Hemingway, his philosophy, and getting some guidance on better seeing the underside of that iceberg, is to read "For Whom the Bell Tolls". It is a more descriptive book, with some dives into his perspective and philosophy on many subjects, something that doesn't happen in his other books. It will definitely help you "get" his other works. And also, it's one of my all-time favourite books by any author, definitely in the top 10. The scene in the town with the lines, some of the most powerful writing ever. Also the genius way he depicted the speaking of Spanish vs. English while still keeping it all English. It's an incredible read. I feel like you need at least a bit of some life, social, and philosophical (even just introspective thinking) experience to make out that iceberg of Hemingway. I don't intend that to sound like gatekeeping, feel free to read whatever you wish, it's just my experience with at least a couple of Hemingway's works (The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea being examples.. After reading The Sun Also Rises (my first Hemingway) at like 19, I thought... what the fucking hell. (Kinda SPOILERS ahead) That was so stripped down, the story is just this aimless meandering nothingness, the ending was about as anticlimactic as it can get... . Yeah the description of the bull fighting was cool I guess but... At the time I couldn't understand the love for it, and the whole context of the lost generation, post WW1 cynicism etc...

Do Alan Turing! He was voted greatest person of the 20th century.

i love your videos but that damned music between facts. that looping damned music. it now haunts me.

10:52 that smile says "Damn I made a mistake."

Please don't add the silly sound effects every time a new image is shown. Simon's honeyed tones are more than enough on their glorious own!

I am loving this new channel. The perfect balance of detailed facts and excellent story telling! Please keep it up!

Hey, you left out the part about getting rolls of nickles at the bank. His win for "The Old Man And The Sea" was thought to have been for "For Whom The Bell Tolls" because it was snubbed for its violence. Hell, I'd be thrilled to write less than 30,000 words and get one of the most coveted prizes for a writer.

Like all people, he was a flawed human, unlike most, he was also a literary genius

is anyone else bothered by that annoying sound effect used for the transitions?

not only does the channel have fantastic writer, great narrating, in depth research that go hand in hand with its imagery, but the editing is very well done, Great job, once again. Always engaging and interesting, keep up the great work!

My grandfather met and knew him. His opinion was that he couldn’t fight, he just threw a lot of sucker punches. Any real one on one fights or boxing matches he actually lost handedly

wow, For someone who bluffed,lied and cheated his way through life, I find myself having an enormous amount of respect for him and his achievements

Love your channel its definitely rekindled my inner history nerd

Great show, couple details: 1) Hemingway's first book - In Our Time - was a small release, like 1,500 copies, wherein among other things he told stories - intimate, life shattering stories involving murder, incest, infidelity, etc - about the people from his hometown, he didn't change their names in the book; 2) Hemingway didn't just have one airplane accident while flying out of Africa, he had two. In a row. This was shortly after he had made certain sh1tlists for agreeing with communist cuba's leadership and , separately, reviling the US military for the way it treated veterans working on the Key Highway when a hurricane was coming, said so many US veterans had drowned in the hurricane (which he said had been 'forecasting its arrival to anyone who could read a barometer' and that nonetheless the soldiers had not been evacuated from their work camps at about 5 feet above sea level), that one could 'walk on their rotting bodies all the way from Miami to Key West' or its ilk. Then, surprise, his plane went down on takeoff. He survived that, got another plane, and THAT one crashed on takeoff too. The resulting head injuries affected him the rest of his life. 3) he did not die by hunting rifle. It was a shotgun.

Perfected the art of being concise. Never really blown away by his writing, but he was talented. Judging by his lifestyle, sounds very distracted and tortured.

I’ve been to his home in Havana and in Key West ! The boat is at his home in Havana. Great video.

who knew treating a boy who was born like a boy as a girl in his formative years would have psychological damning effects on him. Who could have foreseen this.

I love the way you tell a story. You truly do justice to the legend of Hemingway and the late great Audie Murphy. Cheers sir.

You can't deny Ernest has lived it to the fullest

My grandpa played hockey back in the 30's. He told us they made their own sticks and the only protective gear worn was Colliers magazine wrapped around their shins, as it was a rather thick publication. The goalies wore the same thing. Hardcore

Well researched life story of Ernest Hemingway...excellent presentation.

This video begins with a glaring error. Hemingway was not born 1 July 1899. He was born on 21 July of that year. Also, the suicide weapon was a shotgun, not a rifle.

Great video! Am so pleased to see you doing biographies now, as they are my favorite genre, and your narrating style brings history to life and makes it even more interesting. I loved the period music also!

A wild story to do for this channel would be that of GG Allin.

What an unreal, amazing son of a bitch. I love Hemingway’s work. He had an incredible life.

Could you do J.R.R. Tolkien next?

It’s interesting to compare and contrast Hemingway with Teddy Roosevelt, similarities but also huge differences.

Anything: happens Hemingway: Hmm, I could write a book about this

Hemongway stayed for 3 weeks in the Peruvian Port of Cabo Blanco, where he caught a huge Marlin fish. Locals remember him speaking perfect Spanish.

Beautifully done :)

I had learned long ago he was a great man and writer and i knew he committed suicide. Now that I have learned about his memory loss, as a fellow writer... I understand why. Much love to Simon and crew.

A wonderful video I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was hoping you would have delved a bit deeper in Hemingway's parental skills or lack thereof.

What song is that old type music or the tune you play through the transitions? I absolutely loved it! Love these videos! This one especially.

About 1/2 mile from my house is the Hemingway-Pfeiffer museum. He wrote part of a Farewell To Arms. I remember growing up and the old men telling us (sometimes unflattering) stories of him

A William S Burroughs video would be fantastic

to have and to have not is arguably is his most underrated novel.

Simon, another great one. Damn, I'm glad you got the sound issues worked out on the music that plays between snippets. Your video on Patton music almost blew my computer speakers and my dog was none too happy either.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter." - Ernest Hemingway

Please do a David Bowie ❤

Interesting video but I missed some facts: Hemingway survived two plane crashes within 24 hour hours! The relationship with his mother was so strained that he did not attend her funeral in 1951. And his father who suffered from depressions (or being bipolar) committed suicide in 1928. After Hemingway's suicide two of his siblings committed suicide, too. And 35 years after his death did so his niece. So it looks like almost the whole family was prone to depression.

Love this channel, great job. Oh, and I love the music in this video, very fitting.

I'm going to hear that music in my nightmares now. It must have repeated 200 times. I felt like I was on hold.

Yay another channel with Simon!! sweet! GJ and GL!

He is a great influence on Bartending and drinking culture as well personally creating a couple of cocktails himself like Death in the Afternoon and the Papa Doble. He loves going to La Floridita bar in Cuba and was such a frequent customer the staff would call him Papa.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of a man and those who have hunted armed men long enough & liked it never care for anything else thereafter."

I have read, now that I just read Moveable Feast, four Hemingway novels and some short tales, and just realised I knew nothing of this man. Great video, made the book even more enjoyable now that I know all this stuff.

All boys were dressed as girls in the early 20th century, my dad was born in 1918, Ive got pictures of him in a little white dress, he got his shorts when he was four.

Great video. Merci beaucoup

And he was friends with Castro. There is a port in Cuba called Hemingway harbor, which I sailed into with my father in 2016. There is a restaurant there called "Papas".

Simon, Thank-You. I was ALWAYS a FAN of Ernest Hemingway, and was aware that he took his own life, but had NO IDEA he was such a LOUSY FATHER!!!! Maybe one of the reason's he had 'BOUTS OF DEPRESSION'!!!! That would make sense.

Please do videos on Heisenberg, Bohr, Schrödinger , Gauss , Euler , Newton and Ramanujan

He was a good man. A perfect roll model to any American.

Weird the Nobel Prize didn't show up on this video.

I love the mix of rambunctiousness and mispronunciations. It’s a great mix LOL

Fun fact. My Scoutmaster is the great-nephew of Ernest Hemingway, and his family owns Hemingway’s cottage on Walloon Lake in Michigan

Many sources indicate that Hemingway ended it all using a W&C Scott side-by-side 12-bore shotgun, rather than a rifle. The shotgun was apparently destroyed by a local welder, who buried most of the bits in a local field. Excellent video, Simon, as are all the others you've made.

Just came from your top ten video as per your request, and I'm glad I did. Great job on the video, you've earned my sub! Now I'm off to binge watch the rest :D

This video, it extols the virtues of brevity. Hemingway, he said the style, it made him adopt the writing method, for which he became successful. I agree. Too many words, they can become irritating. People, they should become aware of this truth, it is that words, they should be treated with respect. The writers, they should proofread their works, and speakers, they should rehearse their speeches so that the product, it would be smooth. The story, it should flow, not start and stop for the insertion of unnecessary words.

Love anything you do so I subbed.

Great video. Only you haven't mentioned his Iceberg theory.

Do Charlemagne next

Simon,.....your delivery overshadows the music....i quite like the music..."see".....i feel like Al Capone strapped into a deepsea fishing chair.....drunk on the debauchery of life!!!!!!!.....thumbs ☝

Wow, Hemingway was an even bigger jerk than I thought!

I learned more about Hemingway from your 20 minute video than I did from a six week unit in AP English. Very informative and presented in a way that actually kept my interest :)

The same music clips over and over are a bit annoying

I love this young mans voice,, so soothing yet I’m getting facts,, very interesting

Another great video.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of the greatest books ever written in my opinion. It was full of real emotions, sorrow, and love that made it different than any other war story I've read.

very. informative video good job Simon! :)

I still remember Hemingway's suicide. It made the front page of the local morning newspaper.

Do Hunter S, Thompson

This is amazing, detailed and informative. Although it is a little bit fast 🥰

I read his book A Farewell To Arms which is primarily based upon his experiences in Italy during the First World War, it was slow at first but when it got interesting it was fantastic, I'm currently attempting to read For Whom the Bell Tolls set in the Spanish Civil War and again it's slow going. For anyone who fancies reading Hemingway, perseverance is essential I've found. The Old Man and the Sea is next, for a book considered his defining work is actually not very long, the copy I have is only about as deep as my thumb. I never really knew much about his actual life, it sounds like he had many personal issues and he was a difficult man to truly understand, his travelling, adventuring and writing were his escape from facing down his own problems, quite sad really.

I enjoy your channel. Your take on interesting historical figures is short enough not be boring yet filled with enough facts to allow the watcher to get a real feel for the subject. Keep up the good work.

excellent job, guys! do you realize there hasn"t been 1 "dislike" yet on this channel? well done! clearly he was a gifted, and yet kinda vile guy at the dame time... interesting.

I never really viewed him as "a mans man". I fully understand that this is his legend and one that he would promote himself. But I don't think his stories are really like that much of the time. Rather they seem to subtly question it and the meaningfulness of it. I find the stories conflicted about their own surface. They seek another truth than that of manly heroics as well. Sometimes they fall in love with it or get sentimental about it and then turn on it with ambivalence and sometimes even with disgust. I think his desire for some type of truth was greater in most of his writing than his personal self conceit. I think he made a lot out of his dilemmas, and that was actually very, very honest about pettiness and many other personal limitations.

Just to let you know Mr Whistler, _I_ was listening.

The music at the beginning...he must've been a little rascal 🤣🤣

He also claimed to have had sex with Mata Hari. It's interesting that his stories and novels aren't taught anymore. He was an event of his time.

one of the most successful biographies I've ever seen. your attempts deserve more! thank u so much!!