True at First Light
Language: English
Published by William Heinemann Ltd, 1999
- First Edition
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Dr. Beck's books, sun valley, CA, U.S.A.Dr. Beck's books
AbeBooks seller since April 2, 2018
Condition: Used - Near fine
£ 5.85
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSeller Inventory # ABE-1624238214112
- Title
- True at First Light
- Author
- Hemingway, Ernest
- Publisher
- William Heinemann Ltd
- Publication year
- 1999
- Condition
- Near Fine
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0434007811
- ISBN 13
- 9780434007813
- Edition
- 1st Edition
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
In True at First Light the glory days of the "great white hunters" are over and the Mau Mau rebellion is violently dislodging European farmers from Kenya's arable lands. But to the African gun bearers, drivers, and game scouts who run his safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, Hemingway remains a lordly figure--almost a god. Two parallel quests propel the narrative: Mary, Hemingway's fourth and last wife, doggedly stalks an enormous black-maned lion that she is determined to kill by Christmas, while Hemingway becomes increasingly obsessed with Debba, a beautiful young African woman. What makes the novel especially strange and compelling is that Mary knows all about Debba and accepts her as a "supplementary wife," even as she loses no opportunity to rake her husband over the coals for his drinking, lack of discipline in camp, and condescending protectiveness.
As usual with Hemingway, atmosphere and attitude are far more important than plot. Mary at one point berates her husband as a "conscience-ridden murderer", but this is precisely the moral stance that gives the hunting scenes their tension and beauty. "I was happy that before he died he had lain on the high yellow rounded mound with his tail down", Hemingway writes of "Mary's lion", "and his great paws comfortable before him and looked off across his country to the blue forest and the high white snows of the big Mountain."
Passages like these--and there are many of them-- redeem the book's rambling structure and occasional lapses into self- indulgent posturing. Joan Didion dismissed True at First Light in The New Yorker as "words set down but not yet written", but this fails to acknowledge the power of these words. The value of True at First Light lies in its candour, its nakedness: it provides a rare opportunity to watch a master working his way toward art. --David Laskin
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Dr. Beck's books
sun valley, CA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since April 2, 2018
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 3.59 | £ 14.34 |
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Store description
I have inherited perhaps 3500 books from a collector, My Uncle Nick Beck a professor of Journalism in Los Angeles. The majority of these books were never read, only stored. Large amount are of a Hollywood and movie business nature as my uncle lived and grew up in Hollywood. He also collected copies of journals and magazines dating back to the 1930's. His autographed copies are now on exhibit at UCLA and USC as well as Cal State LA where he taught. I have Hemmingway to Groucho Marx. I'm a 64 yr old single father of 15 yr old twin sons and wish to be fair in price and service as to help my family. We are grateful for your interest.…
Specialty
age of books and nature ie: Hollywood and film related, Of literary significance via authorsSeller's business information
Dr. Beck's books
CA, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
Seller has inherited a sizable amount of books most of which are history of hollywood movie business and writing in nature. Seller is offering fair prices on books in fine condition from the late 1920's to recent years. Well known authors and some rare pieces from Hemmingway to Groucho.
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