Death in the Afternoon Audiobook

" Wanted to be a Matedor after reading this, wish someone would write a contemporary version "

" Everything you will ever want to know about the science of bull fighting. "

" This book helped me understand and appreciate bullfighting as a cultural art form and pastime, and not merely an arena for torturing bulls. "

" Made me go and see a real bullfight "

" all you ever needed or wanted to know about bullfighting. maybe too much. "

" an ugly, criminal work. massively entertaining- a real charge. dismissive, prudish, I stand alone in the shade, waiting for the bloody ear, having thrown all the rotten roses I picked up last night. "

" It is winter and thus time for Hemingway. This was not the book for me. The often misogynistic author described in lengthy detail the sport of tricking and killing animals, clearly disdaining any compassionate consideration of animal life. Yet, I liked the book, for the very reason that it challenged me to consider sport, animals, and death in a different way. There is something to say for bravery in the face of death or harm, whether of an animal or a man, and Hemingway said most of it in this book. "

" Very interesting book. Prior to reading I had no idea how intricate and complicated a bull fight was. Some of the steps and movements are ballet-like, with the added element of danger. At the time Hemingway wrote it, he refers to fact that spectacle had been cleaned up by padding horses the picadors rode, eliminating the sight of dead, gored horses in the the ring. To today's generation, such shedding of blood - horse, bull, and sometimes man - will seem barbaric, put Hemingway puts it all in context. He correctly points out the distinction between an Anglo-Saxon/American pov which might find it all disturbing and disgusting and the Latin/Spanish mindset, which is not so squeamish (this written as various regions of Spain outlaw bullfighting). The epilogue, describing the sights, the people, the scenery, the smells, of Spain is marvelous, and you feel as if you are there. Again, Hemingway displays his powers of descriptive writing, showing him to be the superior writer of nonfiction of the 20th Century. What I didn't like - midway through the book he introduces "The Old Lady," a type of interlocutor he converses with on subjects such as bull fighting, venereal disease, William Faulkner, etc. She then disappears before the end. I have no idea what he was thinking and it would have been a better book without her. Maybe it was an attempt at humor. His gratuitous (in a book about bullfighting) insults of Faulkner are inappropriate here. Also kind of weird was the appendix with reactions of various people - including apparently his sons, and the prototype of Brett Ashley - to bullfighting. Some of it is libelous and I suspect some of the people are conflations or are not real. "

" Don't read this unless you are really into bullfighting. "

" this book doth send me siesta-ing everytime "

" totally overrated "

" "Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over." "

" This is one you read after you've read Hemmingway's three great novels and you're hungry for more. If you read this you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about bull fighting. "

" bullfight for life "

" Admittedly I didn't read the whole thing - but I read enough of it to know I will read the remaining parts when this semester lets me breathe. Really fascinating study on the bullfight; read if you are interested in it or are confounded by it. "

" It has the other stories too. And very read-able. "

" I truly enjoyed this book. It was rambling and random but very informative. "

" Good book on bull fighting. Except the last chapter, which may be the best chapter he ever wrote. "

" A thorough explanation of different aspects of the bullfight in Spain. In addition the reader gets some glimpses into Hemingway's personality. "

" Who wants to bullfight? "

" A truly fascinating book. I knew next to nothing about it when I picked up the book. Lovely prose and some real truths. It is a book I have re-read several times and have always found something more in it with each reading. "

" Really not a novel. It is more a non-fiction account of Hemingway's experiences with bullfighting in Spain in the 20"s. Somewhat interesting, "

" Made me appreciate bullfighting as an artform. I love animals. I hated bullfighting before. "

" For anyone who wants an understanding into bullfighting this is the definitive book. "

" Read this book and cheer for Spain at the World Cup. "

" did I really just read a tome about the minutia bullfighting... and enjoy it? "

" A thorough explanation of different aspects of the bullfight in Spain. In addition the reader gets some glimpses into Hemingway's personality. "

" I enjoyed the tangents of this book, and loved the ending: I fell in love with what Hemingway describes as the book "Death in the Afternoon" could and should have been. I guess I'm just not invested enough in the nuances of bullfighting. "

" To say Hemingway was passionate about bull fights is not enough :) I know nothing about bull fights neither I've ever seen one, but I read this book with pleasure, it was so full of affection. "