Classic Books Store
Islands in the Stream : A Novel
RRP: $30.00
Our Price: $19.80
You Save: $ 10.20 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Scribner
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Publisher: Scribner
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $19.80
You Save: $ 10.20 ( 34% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Scribner
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Publisher: Scribner
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order Islands in the Stream : A Novel from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Islands in the Stream : A Novel Description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780743253420
ISBN: 0743253426
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 448
Publication Date: 2003-07-22
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780743253420
ISBN: 0743253426
Label: Scribner
Manufacturer: Scribner
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 448
Publication Date: 2003-07-22
Publisher: Scribner
Studio: Scribner
Editorial Review of Islands in the Stream : A Novel
First published in 1970, nine years after Ernest Hemingway's death, Islands in the Stream is the story of an artist and adventurer -- a man much like Hemingway himself. Rich with the uncanny sense of life and action characteristic of his writing -- from his earliest stories (In Our Time) to his last novella (The Old Man and the Sea) -- this compelling novel contains both the warmth of recollection that inspired A Moveable Feast and a rare glimpse of Hemingway's rich and relaxed sense of humor, which enlivens scene after scene.
Beginning in the 1930s, Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini, where his loneliness is broken by the vacation visit of his three young sons, to his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. The greater part of the story takes place in a Havana bar, where a wildly diverse cast of characters -- including an aging prostitute who stands out as one of Hemingway's most vivid creations -- engages in incomparably rich dialogue. A brilliant portrait of the inner life of a complex and endlessly intriguing man, Islands in the Stream is Hemingway at his mature best.
Customer Reviews of Islands in the Stream : A Novel
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: LIFE IS GOOD AVEC PAPA
Review: IN A READING RECORDED ON TAPE,A PASSAGE WAS READ BY HEMINGWAY FROM WHAT WAS THEN CALLED A' WORK IN PROGRESS'.THIS TURNED OUT TO BE FROM THE SECTION OF THIS BOOK 'iSLANDS IN THE STREAM' CALLED 'AT SEA.'..HEMINGWAY READS,..."THERE WAS A SHEATH KNIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BELT, THE SIDE THAT RODE HIGH AND THERE WAS THE WEIGHT OF THE GUN ON HIS LEG BELOW HIS SHORTS"...NOW HERE IS THE PROBLEM WITH UNCOMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED AFTER THIS WRITERS DEATH;IN THE PUBLISHED VERSION(WHOEVER THE EDITOR WAS),THE PHRASE 'BELOW HIS SHORTS' IS ELIMINATED. NOW,DID THE AUTHOR HIMSELF MAKE THIS EDIT?NOT LIKELY SINCE THIS STORY WAS LOCKED UP IN A SAFE IN CUBA,THAT EVEN HEMINGWAY HIMSELF LOST ACCESS TO. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS CUT OR MOVED AROUND?HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS CHANGED?EDITING..(IMHO),EITHER BY THE AUTHOR OR IN CONCONJUCTION WITH A SELECTED EDITOR, IS AN INTEGRAL PART IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS.IF HEMINGWAY HAD TRIED TO PUBLISH 'THE SUN ALSO RISES' WITHOUT FITZGERALDS(INITIAL) EDITING, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED. .IT IS THE EDITING THAT MADE THE BOOK WAS IS TODAY ONE OF HEMINGWAYS MOST IMPORTANT.SO READ THIS BOOK FOR WHAT IT IS;AN UNFINISHED MANUSCRIPT PUT TOGETHER BY PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE MAN WHO WROTE IT. SOME OF IT IS UNREADABLE(MID SECTION) AND SOME (THE FIRST AND LAST SECTIONS)SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE PUBLISHED PRODUCT,IMO. IT IS SAD HE DID NOT GET TO POLISH THEM; BUT THEY ARE TOP TIER HEMINGWAY.AND AT LEAST TWO THIRDS OF IT WONDERFUL TO READ.(AND TO HAVE.)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Great quality
Review: The book came on time, was in good condition and was thoroughly enjoyable to read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Life ala Hemingway
Review: Typical quintessential Hemmingway, but not his best. That designation still belongs to "The Old Man and the Sea."
This book, as all Hemingway books, is about dark, somber, sometimes drunken times. Men being men, and for the most part, having trouble with women...usually lots of women.
"Islands in the Stream" might be considered three short novellas about the life of Thomas Hudson, painter, adventurer, soldier and sometimes womanizer. Each of the three parts is an "island" in the stream of Thomas Hudson's life.
Hudson had three sons, and how he did love those sons. In the first part of the book, the story of how one of them, David, fought and fought a big fish is similar to The Old Man and the Sea. Rather than being about age and experience, this story is about youth and rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, what the boy learns about himself while fighting the fish, and how beautifully and artfully his father and his friend let the boy navigate that rite of passage. This one part alone makes reading the book worthwhile.
It is a book that will linger, especially Hudson and his sons, and most especially the effort to land that big fish.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Islands in the Stream
Review: Hemingway at his best: humor, tragedy, loss, love, honor, death, all taking place on and around the islands he loved so much. Provides insight into the author's life at the Finca in Cuba, his love of cats in particular, and fuels suspicions of his involvement with an anti-U-boat campaign in Caribbean waters during World War II. An excellent, enjoyable, escapist read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Favorite
Review: This novel seems the most personal of all Hemingway's writings. It is pensive and blunt yet ultimately is a poignant retrospective of ones' passage through life. Well worth the effort.
Review Summary: LIFE IS GOOD AVEC PAPA
Review: IN A READING RECORDED ON TAPE,A PASSAGE WAS READ BY HEMINGWAY FROM WHAT WAS THEN CALLED A' WORK IN PROGRESS'.THIS TURNED OUT TO BE FROM THE SECTION OF THIS BOOK 'iSLANDS IN THE STREAM' CALLED 'AT SEA.'..HEMINGWAY READS,..."THERE WAS A SHEATH KNIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BELT, THE SIDE THAT RODE HIGH AND THERE WAS THE WEIGHT OF THE GUN ON HIS LEG BELOW HIS SHORTS"...NOW HERE IS THE PROBLEM WITH UNCOMPLETED MANUSCRIPTS PUBLISHED AFTER THIS WRITERS DEATH;IN THE PUBLISHED VERSION(WHOEVER THE EDITOR WAS),THE PHRASE 'BELOW HIS SHORTS' IS ELIMINATED. NOW,DID THE AUTHOR HIMSELF MAKE THIS EDIT?NOT LIKELY SINCE THIS STORY WAS LOCKED UP IN A SAFE IN CUBA,THAT EVEN HEMINGWAY HIMSELF LOST ACCESS TO. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS CUT OR MOVED AROUND?HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS CHANGED?EDITING..(IMHO),EITHER BY THE AUTHOR OR IN CONCONJUCTION WITH A SELECTED EDITOR, IS AN INTEGRAL PART IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS.IF HEMINGWAY HAD TRIED TO PUBLISH 'THE SUN ALSO RISES' WITHOUT FITZGERALDS(INITIAL) EDITING, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED. .IT IS THE EDITING THAT MADE THE BOOK WAS IS TODAY ONE OF HEMINGWAYS MOST IMPORTANT.SO READ THIS BOOK FOR WHAT IT IS;AN UNFINISHED MANUSCRIPT PUT TOGETHER BY PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE MAN WHO WROTE IT. SOME OF IT IS UNREADABLE(MID SECTION) AND SOME (THE FIRST AND LAST SECTIONS)SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE PUBLISHED PRODUCT,IMO. IT IS SAD HE DID NOT GET TO POLISH THEM; BUT THEY ARE TOP TIER HEMINGWAY.AND AT LEAST TWO THIRDS OF IT WONDERFUL TO READ.(AND TO HAVE.)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Great quality
Review: The book came on time, was in good condition and was thoroughly enjoyable to read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Life ala Hemingway
Review: Typical quintessential Hemmingway, but not his best. That designation still belongs to "The Old Man and the Sea."
This book, as all Hemingway books, is about dark, somber, sometimes drunken times. Men being men, and for the most part, having trouble with women...usually lots of women.
"Islands in the Stream" might be considered three short novellas about the life of Thomas Hudson, painter, adventurer, soldier and sometimes womanizer. Each of the three parts is an "island" in the stream of Thomas Hudson's life.
Hudson had three sons, and how he did love those sons. In the first part of the book, the story of how one of them, David, fought and fought a big fish is similar to The Old Man and the Sea. Rather than being about age and experience, this story is about youth and rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, what the boy learns about himself while fighting the fish, and how beautifully and artfully his father and his friend let the boy navigate that rite of passage. This one part alone makes reading the book worthwhile.
It is a book that will linger, especially Hudson and his sons, and most especially the effort to land that big fish.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Islands in the Stream
Review: Hemingway at his best: humor, tragedy, loss, love, honor, death, all taking place on and around the islands he loved so much. Provides insight into the author's life at the Finca in Cuba, his love of cats in particular, and fuels suspicions of his involvement with an anti-U-boat campaign in Caribbean waters during World War II. An excellent, enjoyable, escapist read.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Favorite
Review: This novel seems the most personal of all Hemingway's writings. It is pensive and blunt yet ultimately is a poignant retrospective of ones' passage through life. Well worth the effort.