Hemingway's France: Images of the Lost Generation Book Review

Hemingway's France: Images of the Lost Generation

Author: Winston S. Conrad
ISBN: 978-0786195756
Reviewer: C. Peter Chen
Review Date: 19 Jun 2012

Earlier this year, I came across Americans in Paris, in which I learned about Sylvia Beach's bookstore "Shakespeare and Company", and in turn was exposed to the literary circle in 1930s and 1940s Paris. I had also previously known a little bit about Ernest Hemingway having witnessed the liberation of France as a journalist. Recently, as a diversion, I picked up Winston Conrad's Hemingway's France, to give myself a break from the usual military or international politics oriented titles. Hemingway's France was a fun book indeed, providing a brief view of the author's 5-year residency in post-WW1 Paris, his journey with Allied troops from Normandy to Paris, and his visits to France later in his life. Focusing more so on WW2, Conrad's account of the liberation of the Hôtel Ritz Paris was entertaining, while his unofficial service as the leader of a French resistance fighter group, illegal per the Geneva Convention, was simply something that only an artsy-type like Hemingway could think of doing.

I had reviewed this title in its audio book format. Tom Parker did a fine job reading the book, reading clearly and doing so with good pacing. As the book's full title suggested, photographs seemed to play an important role in this book. Since I had reviewed this title in its audio book format, I certainly had missed that portion of the book; I would be on the lookout for a printed copy down the road to check them out.

Hemingway's France: Images of the Lost Generation could almost be considered an off-topic book in terms of this review being on WW2DB, but it just might be a fun book for the beach or for a flight for the WW2 history enthusiasts who also enjoyed literary works by this Nobel and Pulitzer prize winner.

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