Big Two-Hearted River
Ernest Hemingway, 1925
This post has since been published as an audio post compatible with most podcast apps. You can find that new post here.
“He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him…He was there, in the good place.”
Every day, dozens of outdoorsmen head out into nature, armed with video cameras, battery packs, and oh-so-many envelopes of instant oatmeal, to capture their communion with nature. And every day, tens of thousands of would-be outdoorsmen tune into YouTube to watch the newest videos coming from the field.
The outdoor genre is booming, with estimates easily topping more than 1 billion views per year.
One can’t help but wonder if that concentrated energy isn’t chasing just a small taste of what Hemingway offers us with “Big Two-Hearted River.” His short story, published in May of 1925 in the inaugural issue of This Quarter, presents a semi-autobiographical sojourn to the waters of Upper Peninsula, Michigan, where the main character, Nick Adams, goes trout fishing and reminds the reader what a conversation with Mother Nature really sounds like.
If you want an example of true mindfulness, this is it. Hemingway doesn’t allow Nick’s thoughts to wander towards the depths of worry, despair, or even hope that are surely there (as they are with all of us). Rather, he reverently savors the doing of this overnight fishing trip and the peaceful, almost gluttonous solitude it affords.
“While he waited for the coffee to boil, he opened a small can of apricots. He liked to open cans. He emptied the can of apricots out into a tin cup. While he watched the coffee on the fire, he drank the juice syrup of the apricots, carefully at first to keep from spilling, then meditatively, sucking the apricots down. They were better than fresh apricots.”
“Big Two-Hearted River” became the foundation upon which Hemingway built his first collection of short stories, In Our Time. Please enjoy (and don’t miss the “et cetera” section below where I highlight worthy bits and bobs for a merry, classically inspired life)…
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Savoring: Nick may have had his can of syrupy apricots, but I’m busy cherishing this summer’s homemade strawberry jam. It may be a bit of a chore in the moment, but let me tell you, your September self will be thanking your June wisdom as you spoon a dripping dollop onto your morning toast. There may not be a necessity for this tradition of yesteryear, but there sure is a reward.
Bookmark this simple recipe for next summer’s local market haul (it multiplies well, just add more simmer time to thicken for larger batches)…and in the meantime, get your mind around canning fall’s apples into applesauce. It’s coming!
Listening: Willie Watson’s eponymous recent album (vinyl and Spotify) has been the sound of the summer in our world this time around. We had a chance to see him live last month, and goodness, is he a great storyteller…a natural, everyman performer with a stunning head of hair. In between songs, when he gives a little laugh into the microphone and says, “You know, I just want one thing from tonight….I just want you to like me,” you nod your head and think, “Don’t worry, Willie, you had us at ‘Slim Greer went to heaven.’”
I read a lot of Hemmingway in my Junior year in high school. Farewell to Arms and the Old man and the Sea. In later years I read them again and everything else. "In Our Time" was the first book we read, much of it in class because it's a book of short stories among them, The Three Day Blow a heart breaker if I remember correctly, and Big Two Hearted River was one of them! Your selection of that story is a perfect choice. Absolutely transformative for the listener.
Fond memories of “discovering” and reading this in High School English class. A couple years later I bought an entire collection of Hemingway to read while shipboard USN in a war zone. It was my “mental health get-away” from an otherwise terrifying place to be. I listened to this today, many decades later with renewed enjoyment. I have been able to experience much of the natural beauty of the wilderness since my military experiences - this short story brings back those wonderful days boon docking in the Sierras and the Rockies. Thank you.