Hemingway was more popular in previous decades than today, although in the last year or two he seems to have been partially rehabilitated. There have been books, TV series, and more discussions of Hemingway in forums. If one looks at his original work, however, many of the attitudes he takes for granted probably do not appeal to current readers. From the point of view of a psychologist one of the most interesting things about Hemingway is that he nailed the description of posttraumatic stress disorder before anyone else did. Some of the attitudes underlying the narration and characters' behavior may not appeal to current readers.
There are many books that describe individuals harmed by the stresses of war. All Quiet on the Western Front is one, but even though no doubt a great book, the emotions of PTSD are not factually described. What is described is a romanticized or literary version of stress--discussion of lost youth, the perfidy of elders, and hopelessness--themes that fit the narrative and beliefs of the time but do not ring entirely true.
Hemingway's Soldier's Home very accurately describes PTSD, and put the person so suffering in a context where many of the subtler symptoms are noticeable. Impressively, the description is not so much of inner pain, but of the distancing from others, the social consequences of trauma, the inner experience of the protagonist, Krebbs. The trench warfare of WWI probably was one of the most stressful forms of combat every existing. Descriptions of Nick Adams, in lesser known stories, also describe the behavior of an injured, impaired soldier going about his work after a minor head or concussive blast.
Hemingway has no theoretical template from which to derive his characters. Previous notions of shell shock or battle fatigue or war neurosis were unelaborated or sketchy. He participated in the Spanish Civil War and WWI and probably was affected. His suicide and alcoholism are consistent, though probably the former was precipitated by the use of Reserpine, at that time marketed for high blood pressure, which lowers serotonin levels and was removed from the market afterward.
Always with Hemingway you are aware of his style-- which critic Malcom Cowley described in his classic essay, "Middle American Prose Style." Reading the stories with a certain relaxed mental flow these days, less intense perhaps, I find myself registering better the various repetitions of phraseology and words. Like anything else, I guess, practice makes perfect.
Anyway, the stories seem authentic. And the deadpan description of the horrors of war--themselves rather detached--are illuminating, in that they depict PTSD without a lot of theoretical dress. What you might call down top processing rather than top down--working up from facts rather than down from theories.
Ideas about PTSD have drifted. The first descriptions back in the 1970s involved flashbacks, and have kind of cinematic influence. But how many people with PTSD now have flashbacks? . Re-experiencing tends to generally be more subtle. So, its nice to see genuine descriptions.
Reading Hemingway for the umpteenth time is bring something new and surprising to me. At a literary or academic or intellectual level there may opinions one way or another. Nonetheless, as a source of information about the experience of PTSD, he is very useful.
