Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966 (original publication date 1932)
Well there you go. I approached this book fully expecting not to finish it, and yet it has been one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year. Hemingway's first foray into non-fiction was an interesting choice: as a fan of Spanish bullfighting, he chose to write in English a description of not only how bullfights are run, but an explanation of what it was about bullfights that made them not merely a barbarous and cruel slaughter. Along the way he also writes about the history of the sport, of Spain itself, as well as indulging in some literary discussion.
This book is pure Hemingway, in that it is a book of strong and sure opinion, of deep explanation, and of arrogance. Arrogance is very much a trope of the young Hemingway, and the arrogance he showed in not only writing this book, but expecting it to sell, is breathtaking. His arrogance is not unjustified however, as he has through his writing ensured that what the reader sees is not the mere killing of a bull, but the tragedy that is human life, reflected through the lens of the corrida.
For Hemingway describes the bullfight as the course of a tragedy. In the first act, we see the heroism of the bull, as he attacks all around him, especially the horse and the picador. Against the horse, the bull shows us his power and strength. The second act, when the banderillas are inserted in the shoulders of the bull, is a fight between man and bull, while the third act, when the matador uses the muleta and the sword to kill the bull, shows man's dominance over the beast and exalts the inevitable death of the bull to something sacred.
Hemingway was always fascinated with death: in fact the reason he states for writing this book and attending bullfights in the first place was that he wanted to see the moment of death so that he could write truly about it, and the bullfight was the best place for him to find death. Hemingway was always concerned to get to the truth of something - he was obsessed with writing the true word, the true sentence, the true book. Personally, I'm not sure that he ever came to the realization that, for a writer, the truth is theirs, and theirs alone. The reader may get a truth out of the writer's work, but it is the reader's truth, which may not necessarily be the truth that the writer wished to impart. Hemingway was no doubt a brilliant writer, but perhaps not a perceptive judge of humankind.
A large portion of this book is about death - there is a whole chapter on the act of killing the bull, and how it should be done, with Hemingway's critiques of various matador's ability to do it "properly". Hemingway also spends a lot of time in the book discussing the motivations of the matadors, who face real danger in the ring. Why do they do it, how it affects them, and what happens to them after a near-death experience in the ring are all subjected to Hemingway's scrutiny. He shows us that the bullring is a place where true courage and valour will out, along with fear, cowardice and treachery.
He describes the breeding of the bulls, and how they are prepared for the ring, and their bravery and fear, which has a huge effect on the outcome of an individual fight. The chicanery of breeders, and of matadors, is much on Hemingway's mind. He describes the various tricks matadors perform to try to avoid danger while still seeming to fight the bull, and how life for a matador can be perilous, with only the best earning big money.
The detail in this book is absolute. There is nothing about the bullfight that is overlooked, Hemingway even including a glossary of all the terms used in the ring, which is a delight to read in itself.
If you have ever found yourself wondering about bullfighting, reading Death in the Afternoon will tell you all you need to know. After I finished it I hunted around on the internet to watch video of a bullfight and could not only thanks to Hemingway understand what was going on, but also understand the deeper truths held within the action. Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment