HEMINGWAY'S PARIS:
On-Line Seminar:
Unit 1

Before you Read

As you begin to read A Moveable Feast, notice the Preface, in which Hemingway mentions (thereby "putting in") people and events he has "left out". By doing so, the Preface serves as a small expression of Hemingway's "iceberg theory", which he mentions in his letters, and which he states in this work in the chapter called "Hunger Was Good Discipline" (p. 75):

"[The real-life ending of the story which led to "Out of Season"] was omitted on my new theory that you omitted and the omitted part would strengthen the story and make people feel something more than they understand."

The first chapter is called "A Good Cafe on the Place St.-Michel". Hemingway opens with descriptions of the people and places near the neighborhood in which he and Hadley made their first home, near the Place Contrescarpe and the rue Mouffetard at 74, rue du Cardinal Lemoine. He describes his walk past some of the other place markers in the St. Germain area, which finally brings him to his "good cafe". Hemingway writes in the cafe, drinks a cafe au lait, and later some rum.

After you Read

1. Why does Hemingway talk about the toilets in the opening of this chapter?
2. From your own conception, or from what you read in the chapter, describe some features of Paris cafe "life".
3. There is a long sequence in the chapter when Hemingway observes a "girl". What does he say about this observation? What is he getting at? How do you react to his reaction?