Hemingway’s Cast & Blast Style
Hemingway On Writing, the Viability of Surviving as a Novelist and Style As a lawyer, I have often admired and tried to replicate Ernest Hemingway's minimalist, "Iceberg Theory" style of prose. In fact, as a law clerk, I was asked by a senior partner who was reading a brief I drafted, "So what do you read for fun?" I said something along the lines of my usual plethora of nonfiction, get rich quick, self help, religion, philosophy, etc., as I read several books a week voraciously. I was told, "read Hemingway, you could learn to write from him," as the senior partner was alluding to his flat, sparse prose style, and comparing it to my new-found willingness to wield words after graduating law school. Sports-writing in the tradition of Ernest Hemingway favors stoicism, outdoor pursuits like fishing and hunting, and themes of man confronting nature. What is more interesting is the books that Papa recommended himself to young writers. Notable literary successors who mastered this craft include Norman Maclean, Hunter S. Thompson, and George Plimpton. Norman Maclean, Author of A River Runs Through It, a masterpiece that elevates fly-fishing into a profound meditation on grace, family, and the natural world. His sparse, lyrical style is frequently compared to Hemingway's. Hunter S. Thompson: Known for his Gonzo journalism, Thompson actually began and ended his career as a sportswriter. He covered everything from the Kentucky Derby to the Super Bowl for ESPN, utilizing sports to critique American culture and famously typing Hemingway's prose as a tribute. In today's day and age of AI writing everything for people and soon about to "do everything for people" such as tasks from babysitting to dishes, having creativity, originality and








