In preparation for the Keys trip, I checked out every Hemingway volume available at the Islands Branch library... I got less than a chapter into ISLANDS IN THE STREAM before losing interest and replacing my road trip read with 41 STORIES by O. Henry
(a.k.a. William Sydney Porter)
In my humble opinion, the Keys and Hemingway are fitting of each other... therein is some great stuff contained, but fly don't drive... the homestretch can be a long and winding journey otherwise.
I finished the forty first O. Henry story last night and plan to search out more... though the verbiage is antique, the stories kept me from ever reclaiming any of the Hemingway stuff during the trip. In the 41 selected short stories there was a lot of humor, plenty of lost souls, and a gauzy, transparent veil into O. Henry's own life, now that history causes hindsight to be so easily obtained.
When I checked the book out, it was like most things that go well for me... on the wings of a whimsical wind... I didn't check it out with knowledge of Porter's time in Honduras or penchant for tropical settings...I just happened across it on my way to the check out desk. The read proved to fit in amongst the "cocoanut" palms and iguanas every bit as well as The Old Man and The Sea, however.
Pleasantly surprised, you could say
Also-O. Henry has convinced me to try liquor . . . Absinthe more specifically. Will keep you all posted on how that one turns out, but I can't imagine it being any more pleasant than than a shot of Nyquil...
(No Worries Mom, I am pretty sure it is somewhat more difficult to obtain than say, Vodka ~ though not illegal~ in the US...twill be awhile before I am a complete loss to "the Drink" anyway)
