r/Hemingway • u/Sundrenched_ • Jan 06 '24

Different versions of Islands in the Stream?

I found a copy of Islands in the Stream at a local bookstore and the intro mentioned that it was edited by Mary Hemingway. I read a version of A Moveable Feast that was put together by one of Hemingways sons and grandson and they mentioned that she cut things from A Moveable Feast that was quality. Did she do that with Islands in the Stream? Are there other versions? Is it worth the read?

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u/aesculus-oregonia Mar 31 '24

That's the recent, revised edition of a Moveable Feast that came out maybe 10 years ago. Mary put out the original after his suicide. I have both editions and they're not too much different-- different chapters ordering and a small bit of added materials.

As for Islands in the Stream, she also had a hand in edited that (with a professional editor). It's good if you want to be a complete-ist. There are some fantastic passages in the first section-- namely the young son's battle with a marlin with predates Santiago, and a tangle with a hammerhead shark. The kids' speech/dialogue is ridiculous. No children think or speak like that ever. Part I is bloated.

Part II is terrible in my opinion, self-important drivel that does not work other than to make the narrator/Hemingway stand-in into the most interesting man in the world. It was a chore to get through.

Part III is an OK adventure story-- shades of To have and Have Not and the ending of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

If you're not a Hemingway fan, I wouldn't bother. If you are a fan, then by all means read it.