To Try And try not
To Have And To Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
I do not like vegetables. I never have. Fruits? Love them, but vegetables I have to hide in smoothies so I don’t taste them in order to get any veggies in my diet at all. Growing up, we had a few rules. One: always turn the lights off when you leave a room. My sister and I had a hard time with that one, but as an adult, it’s kept my electric bill low, so all that childhood preparation really came in handy. Two: If you don’t like what’s on your plate, you at least have to eat two bites before you’re finished. Of course, there were more rules, but these two have really stuck with me.
My sister and I were good kids, but as soon as vegetables showed up on my plate for dinner, I knew I was in trouble. Dinner wouldn’t be over until I ate my veggies. Try it twice before you make your judgement. Two bites and you can move on.
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When I started the Gilmore Book Club, I vowed to read every piece of literature that was on the Rory Gilmore Reading List, even those I wasn’t interested in and those I didn’t like. Some books have been wonderful: beautifully written and soulfully portrayed. Some have been, well, let’s just say they weren’t for me.
Ernest Hemingway, literary giant and proficient fisherman, is a Nobel Prize-winning author. He traveled the world reporting on war and uprisings and penning some of the most celebrated works of American literature. Therefore, if you’re going to claim to be a devoted bibliophile, Hemingway has to grace your bookshelves at least once.
Hemingway’s To Have And To Have Not centers around Harry Morgan, a fisherman who hires his boat out to those who wish for the ultimate fishing experience. But money is scarce, and when a tourist enlists Harry’s services, but leaves without paying, Harry is left with no way to support himself or his family. So, Harry crosses the metaphorical line and begins to transport illegal goods across the waters, a decision that could put his livelihood and his life in peril.
““’Fishing is nonsense,’ said Frederick Harrison. ‘If you catch a snailfish what do you do with it? You can’t eat it…’” ”
In my opinion, fishing is not the most entertaining activity. If you’re the one doing the fishing, then that’s fine, but reading about fishing is something different entirely. Basically, I thought reading about fishing was almost as unpleasant as being forced to eat peas. But in my mind, there is something worse than feeling those mushy little veggies squishing around in your mouth, and that thing is breaking the rules. There are only a few places where I’m comfortable breaking the rules: fashion, societal norms, and art. For everything else, especially for rules that are punished with fines and incarceration, I am dead set on following every last detail to the letter, and reading about Harry’s illegal trips with contraband goods was torture. I could feel my muscles clench more tightly with every sentence, preparing for the inevitable punishment.
““’That’s right, Mr. Johnson,’ Eddy said. ‘If it isn’t enjoyable, why do it? Listen Mr. Johnson. You hit the nail on the head there. If it isn’t enjoyable-why do it?’”
So why keep reading a book a book I’m not enjoying? Why go out of my way to read every single thing on the Rory Gilmore Book List? Why eat two bites of a particular food you think you won’t like? Emily Gilmore would say that, “’…when you’re tasting anything, the first taste acclimates the palette, the second establishes a foundation, and the third is to make your decision.’” Because you at least have to genuinely try something before you make a decision, and you’ll never know unless you try it.
When I vowed to read every piece of literature on the Rory Gilmore Book List, I was in essence still following one of my childhood rules. I was committing to try everything, no matter the result. And in this particular case, and in the case of about 90 other titles on the list that I previously read but wasn’t thinking about the blog then so I’ll have to reread them, I read To Have And To Have Not, cover to cover, twice. Did I like the book better the second time? Not at all. That doesn’t mean Hemingway isn’t a great writer, his Nobel Prize gives him enough literary credit and who am I to question that? All it means is that his writing isn’t for me. And that’s ok. In fact, that’s great. We’re all entitled to our own opinions, our own likes and dislikes. All that matters is that you tried. You opened your mind, sincerely considered it, and put in the effort.
So, try things. Try the gross-looking food on your plate, try reading someone else’s favorite book, try visiting a new place. And if you want to try reading Hemingway, there are three more of Hemingway’s works on the Gilmore Book list, and I’ll be reading them all, so please join me; I’d love the company!
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