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Auckland lawyer Dermot Ross recently published his first novel, Hemingway’s Goblet, which went straight into the top 10 best-selling New Zealand books.
It combines a contemporary strand with episodes in the life of writer Ernest Hemingway. In the here and now, law lecturer Nick Harrieson embarks on an unwise relationship with a student, which ends in disastrous circumstances when he is accused of sexually harassing her and is suspended from his job.
With time on his hands, he delves into some family history, hoping to track down a report that his grandfather once fought Hemingway in Spain in 1925. The portrait that emerges of the American writer is both fascinating and an alarmingly enlarged figure than is generally thought.
But why write a novel featuring Hemingway, a man whose lustre has faded in the 63 years since his death? Ross explains, while letting readers know what they might glean from his book.
The book’s origins:
Several years ago, I was mulling the idea of writing a novel but was bereft of imagination about a suitable plot. An idea came to me when I read an extract in Vanity Fair of a book written about the visit of Hemingway and his wife and friends to Pamplona in Spain in 1925. The account detailed the shenanigans of this disillusioned group of young people, some of whom had served in World War I. They were the so-called lost generation, and most of them were what we now call damaged goods. The intrigue, adultery, flirtation, fisticuffs and humour within their group struck a chord with me. I had the idea of inserting a fictional character into their visit to Spain, and amping up the excesses of their characters and activities.
So, Hemingway’s Goblet was born. I did masses of research about Hemingway and his friends in 1925 (and also included a chapter in my book of a visit made to see Hemingway in Hong Kong in 1941), and because the book relates only to about seven or eight days in Hemingway’s life, I was able to narrow my research considerably.
Hemingway’s contribution to literature:
I quickly learned that one cannot underestimate the influence that Hemingway had, even from his mid-20s, on the evolution of 20th -century literature. His early short stories and, most significantly, his novels The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, published to great acclaim in 1926 and 1929 respectively, transformed modern fiction and propelled Hemingway into the very first rank of leading writers.
His lean, spare writing style, largely devoid of adverbs and adjectives and long words, when coupled with his use of what his second wife christened the “iceberg theory” of writing (whereby 90% of the meaning of any sentence was left unsaid, for the reader to work out for himself or herself), revolutionised the way of writing fiction and led to imitators for decades to come. Many successful American novelists of the second half of the 20th century have publicly acknowledged their debt to Hemingway.
Masculinity in a different era:
During my research, I solidified my belief that it is unfair to judge a man who lived in the 20th century by the moral and social standards that prevail today. By common consent in the 21st century, Hemingway was racist, sexist, a bully and even a narcissist. All of these epithets carry some condemnation and indignation in 2024, yet he was nevertheless a man of his times, and I believe he deserves some slack as a result. I have tried to convey this in my novel.
My book is by no means an homage to the great writer. On the contrary, I satirise his character and play him for laughs, which was not difficult as he was such an outsized character in real life. I have invented incidents in his interactions with my fictional character which portray him in a most unflattering light. The Hemingway story is, in fact, secondary to the narrative of the relationship between an ill-matched couple.
What I learned during the writing and researching:
That there’s a huge Hemingway industry in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the US. By my estimation, he is the most well-documented writer there has ever been, and even the general public has some familiarity with his larger-than-life character and exploits (including his Nobel Prize for literature, his four wives, his penchant for bullfighting, big-game hunting and marlin fishing, his alcoholism and his propensity to pick fights with all and sundry). Many are familiar with his most famous novels like The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
One of the enjoyable parts of researching the book was to visit locations where the book is set, notably Spain. I had the pleasure of attending the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona and spent time in the wonderful cities of San Sebastian and Alicante, both of which feature prominently in Hemingway’s Goblet.
Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38) is out now.
