“There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth if and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.”

In the 1920s, Paris was the centre of an influential post-war wave of new art and literature, its participants soon to become among the most prominent names in 20th century cultural history.

In A moveable feast, Ernest Hemingway described his experiences of being part of this creative world. The book’s title refers to how the time he spent in Paris stayed with him, regardless of where he went or what he did after.

The autobiography is written in Hemingway’s distinct and direct manner, marked equally by his stylistic trademarks and strong personality. He describes his friendships with some of the most famous authors of the time, not always in ways that flatter them.

The falling out between Hemingway and Gertrude Stein has been well documented by several journalists and scholars.

In this book, taking place in the years between 1921 and 1926, the two are still friends, though the relationship is clearly strained, especially when Hemingway describes how his wife at the time was treated poorly by Stein and Alice B. Toklas, on the basis of being a woman.

He also tells the story of how Stein came up with the now classic term “génération perdue” (referring to the generation that fought in the first world war).

In fact, it had been the patron of a local garage, dissatisfied with the service given to Stein by a young man working there, who had claimed that the attendant and his generational peers were a “lost generation”.

The story is typical, as it combines historical events with mundane details of fixing cars. 

As is stated in the introductory quote, the life that Hemingway outlines was defined by the not uncommon combination of poverty and youth. Despite his lack of financial means, he managed to regularly go on lavish holidays, bet on horses and drink Pouilly Fuissé at various Parisian restaurants (though La Closerie des Lilas seems to be the most consistently mentioned). 

About halfway through the book, he is introduced to Scott (and later Zelda) Fitzgerald, described as a combination of handsome and pretty, but a bad drinker and already troubled by his tumultuous marriage. 

Hemingway died by his own hand in 1961, one year after he completed the revisions of the texts that came to constitute this book.

The theme of suicide is recurring through the book, though it is never explicitly stated that he was planning on taking his own life while editing the text. This omission is however discussed on a meta-level, described as a stylistic trick used to enhance the reading experience.

This way, the approaching suicide is hiding in plain sight in the biographical story, in between the lines of the book he explains not only what his youth was like but also how he one day will die.

Hemingway foreshadowed the tragic end of his own life while reminiscing of his youth.

Perhaps this is what makes the experience of reading this book so eerie but also beautiful: there is a streak of sadness present, even when detailing distant days of happiness and bliss.