کتاب داشتن و نداشتن

Anyone coming to To Have & Have Not after seeing the Bogart/Bacall film should be forewarned that about the only thing the two have in common is the title. The movie concerns a brave fishing-boat captain in WWII-era Martinique who aids the French Resistance, battles Nazis & gets the girl. The novel concerns a broke fishing-boat captain who agrees to carry contraband betwee Anyone coming to To Have & Have Not after seeing the Bogart/Bacall film should be forewarned that about the only thing the two have in common is the title. The movie concerns a brave fishing-boat captain in WWII-era Martinique who aids the French Resistance, battles Nazis & gets the girl. The novel concerns a broke fishing-boat captain who agrees to carry contraband between Cuba & Florida in order to feed his wife & daughters. The novel is by far the darker, more complex work. We meet Harry Morgan sitting in a Havana bar watching a gun battle in the street. After seeing a Cuban get his head blown off with a Luger, he reacts with typical understatement: "I took a quick one out of the 1st bottle I saw open & I couldn't tell you yet what it was. The whole thing made me feel pretty bad." Still feeling bad, he heads out in his boat on a charter fishing expedition for which he's stiffed by the client. With not even enough money for gas, he agrees to smuggle illegal Chinese for the mysterious Mr Sing. From there it's a small step to carrying liquor--a disastrous run that ends when he loses an arm & his boat. Once he gets mixed up in the brewing Cuban revolution, however, even those losses seem small compared to what's at stake: his very life. Hemingway tells most of the story in 3rd person, but, significantly, he brackets the whole with a section at the beginning told from Harry's perspective & a short, heart-wrenching chapter at the end narrated by his wife, Marie. In between there's adventure, danger, betrayal & death, but this novel begins & ends with the tough & tender portrait of a man who plays the cards that are dealt him with courage & dignity, long after hope is gone.--Alix Wilber (edited)