个人简介

Ernest Hemingway is one of the great American writers of the twentieth century. Born in 1899, he became a reporter, then served with the Italian Arditi in the First World War, where he was severely wounded. A Farewell to Arms, based on his experiences there, is one of the best war books. In 1936 Hemingway went to Spain as a special correspondent in the Civil War, an experience recorded in his famous novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Writing in a direct, terse style, Hemingway focnsed on courageous people riving essential, dangerous lives. He is also famous for his vigorous short stories and non-fiction works, such as Death in tile Afternoon and Green Hills of Africa. In 1945 he settled in Cuba, where he wrote the novella The Old Man and the Sea. He was awarded both a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature.

内容简介

We waited by the hunting car for it to be light enough to start and we were all solemn and deadly. Ngui nearly always had an evil temper in the very early morning so he was solemn, deadly and sullen. Charo was solemn, deadly but faintly cheerful. He was like a man going to a funeral who did not really feel too deeply about the deceased. Mthuka was happy as always in his deafness watching with his wonderful eyes for the start of the lightening of the darkness.
We were all hunters and it was the start of that wonderful thing, the hunt.
Written when Hemingway returned from his 1953 safari, but only recently edited by his son Patrick, True at First Light is a rich blend of autobiography and fiction, a breathtaking final work from one of this century's most beloved and important writers.
The book opens on the day Hemngway's close friend, Pop, a legendary hunter, leaves him in charge of the camp. Meanwhile, tensions are heightening among the various tribes and news arrives of a potential attack. Hemingway must take on his new role of leader and, of equal importance, assist his wife Mary to pursue the great lion she is determined to kill before Christmas.
Hemingway chronicles his exploits among the African men with whom he has become very close; aids his wife achieve her goal of killing her lion, whilst worrying about her wayward aim; is drawn further into the village life and customs of Debba, a beautiful young African woman whom he dubs his 'second wife'; reminisces about writing and his days in Paris and Spain; and satirises, among other things, the role of organised religion in Africa. Torn between the rituals of his camp and life in Debba's village, Hemingway reveals the many facets of rural Africa and explores the complexities of married life.
Passionately detailing the Afi:ican landscape, the thrill of the hunt, and the heartfelt relationships with his African neighbours, Hemingway, a master of dramatic fiction, weaves a tale that is rich in laughter, beauty and insight. Published here for the first time, True at First Light is an extraordinary and powerful addition to the perpetually popular work of one of the twentiethcentury's greatest writers.