Four Days With Hemingway's Ghost (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
After a nasty accident with a mower and a trailer, Jack Phelan finds himself in a coma. The lost four days are spent with Ernest Hemingway's on the 50th anniversary of his death. I learned a lot about Hemingway the man and his life. We watch Hemingway's reactions to a changed world as he revisits his old haunts and before long we realize Hemingway has been sent on a mission from 'Him upstairs' to spend four days with Jack to determine whether he comes out of his coma or not. Hemingway needs to determine whether Jack is up to the challenge or not which God has in store for him. I wanted the four days with Hemingway to go on a little longer but I have to say loved the ending!Entertaining, humorous and original, and with a great concept, Winton writes in a warm accessible style with an assured voice. This book starts out very interesting and fun to read. I enjoyed reading about the time that the author spends with Hemingway, but nearly stopped reading when it became clear that this is not really a story about Hemingway, but a thinly veiled book about faith and belief in God. Maybe I missed something in the book's description, or overlooked its placement in a certain genre. I was a bit surprised to find it so heavily laden with talk of faith, heaven, the after-life and God. I grew up in a very religious, Catholic household, so I am very familiar with the ideas that this writer puts forth, but it wasn't what I really wanted to read, nor is it one that I would have selected to read if I had known what this was about.Granted, I finished the book, but that is really because I always feel the need to finish a book once I start it. Putting a book down without getting to the end, to me, is like admitting failure and disrespecting the effort put into the story by the author. I finished this one, cringing all the way to the end as the protagonist finds his life falling apart. His business starts to fail, his wife loses hours and salary, their relationship begins to suffer and he (gasp! serious cliches ahead....) starts to plan to rob a bank. The very predictable ending did not come soon enough. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. The concept of spending four days with the ghost of one of America's best writers is wonderful and one that could have (and should have) provided more stories and insight. The time spent with Papa, even with the religious heavy-handedness, was the high point of the book, but it was over much too soon. Those days seemed full of light and color and adventure. After the narrator comes out of his coma, the story seems two-dimensional and dull. I wanted to like this more than I did.
What do You think about Four Days With Hemingway's Ghost (2012)?
I enjoyed this book because I have visited Hemingway's home in Key West and read many of his books.
—Layton835523
loved it!I enjoy all Tom Winton's books! he is a very talented writer!
—Latina
Just finished this. Easy read, engaging story. Perfect ending.
—frogmanfreddy
I enjoyed this ready. However I am a Hemingway fan!
—mimi
