Читать книгу The Hemingway Kittens and Other Feline Fancies and Fantasies - A. R. Morlan - Страница 6

FOREWORD

I’ve noticed that when it comes to writers, there are two basic “types” (in the U.S., at least)—“Hemingway writers” and “Fitzgerald writers.” Totally different stylistic approaches, completely incompatible mindsets. Concise, literal, muscular writing vs. slightly rambling, idealized, somewhat feminine prose (and by feminine, I am referring to common traits associated with women in general—increased verbosity, reliance on feelings to establish mood, and so on—not necessarily one’s gender per se). These two “types” don’t make for good co-writers, as I’ve discovered to my chagrin (and not to mention considerable time wasted on trying to make the would-be partnership work!). Nor do they tend to recommend other writers whose work doesn’t in some way mirror or mimic their preferred stylistic model. (Which often leaves us “Fitzgerald” types out in the cold when it comes time to get endorsed by the more prevalent “Hemingway” followers!)

I suppose one could compare this schism to the one of “cat people” vs. “dog people”—granted, many folks like both equally, but somewhere down the line, everyone has a favorite…and just as the works of Mr. Hemingway and Mr. Fitzgerald often appear in the same libraries, so do cats and dogs, but—if one has to make a choice between one or the other, not both, that’s when you find out what sort of person one is.

All my life I’ve been a cat person, and despite the title of this collection (and the story which inspired it), I’m also very much a Fitzgerald writer. Granted, Fitzgerald didn’t have cats (he was a dog person), and Hemingway did have them, often in great numbers down in Florida; but I’ve never been a major fan of his work, despite having read much of it in college English courses (the head English professor of my now defunct college—who recently became defunct himself—was vehemently anti-Fitzgerald, calling him “minor” and “not worth studying,” despite the protests of his largely female students, who kept begging him to include at least one Fitzgerald novel in his American Novels course)…and I honestly can say, I cannot remember anything from any of Hemingway’s books or short stories! But Fitzgerald—now his prose spoke to me. Just as cats have always “spoken” to me…sometimes positively, sometimes not. But even though not all my cat relationships have ended well, all have been memorable. I hope at least some of these stories might also “speak” to my readers.…

—A. R. Morland & Cats

May, 2013