Dangerous summer

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Dangerous Summer is a book by Ernest Hemingway , published posthumously in 1985 under the English title The Dangerous Summer .

From spring to autumn 1959, Hemingway and his wife Mary went on a trip through the bullring in Spain. The author has been known as an aficionado since 1926, when Hemingway's novel Fiesta was published , at the latest. Hemingway is looking for and finding places of his youth in 1959. The sharp gaze of the author falls particularly on the old faces among passers-by. No mouth in it is bitter. Such a mouth indicated defeat. There are no defeats. When he died in the afternoon in 1932, the author had presented the non-Spanish world to a certain extent with a comprehensive "textbook" on Spanish bullfighting. In “Dangerous Summer” the descriptions of the fight against the heavy “bull that carries death in its horns” (p. 195) are repeated . Hemingway doesn't just provide a simple travelogue. Immediately after entering the text, the reader notices the presence of a fable. It tells of the fight between two competing matadors - Antonio Ordóñez and Luis Miguel Dominguín . The two bullfighters are related by marriage. Carmen is Miguel’s sister and Antonio’s wife. Hemingway found himself in the Antonios camp and in that summer of 1959 he went all over Spain from arena to arena - to Madrid , Málaga , Seville , Cordoba , Valencia , Barcelona , Saragossa , Bilbao and elsewhere. Due to scheduling reasons, the routes cannot always be covered by car. The plane is in use. During a flight from Málaga to Madrid, Hemingway is “ sitting on hot coals” (p. 165), because the captain and co-pilot gave Antonio and Miguel their seats for fun. In Spain it is believed that matadors are all-rounders.

Near Málaga, Hemingway lives in the comfortable La Consula base of operations , “a little smaller than the Escorial ”. From there he goes on excursions to the arenas of Spain in his car. The worker on the text withdraws to the refuge La Consula . Mary also celebrates his 60th birthday there on July 21, 1959. There he invites Antonio to recover from a horn injury. Both bathe in the sea and have fun - people judge at first glance "how it is done with bulls" (p. 80). In general, Hemingway's lifestyle corresponds to the American way of life: A driver who takes the mountain passes poorly and, to the abundance, cannot even park properly in Madrid, is immediately released to Málaga. Don Ernesto and his entourage dine appropriately in all important places. Innkeepers know the Nobel Prize winner for literature and serve; offer fresh asparagus. On the above At birthday party you shoot the burning cigarette out of your mouth. The doctor present has to stay out of the game. On the way between two corridas, young non-Spanish women are “captured”. The wives have to endure pure arrogance ...

Hemingway portrays Miguel as the weaker one in the dispute with Antonio. And consequently, Hemingway is on the winning side at the end of the book. Nonetheless, he admires Miguel's “awesome concentration at work” which “characterizes all great artists” (p. 82). Celebrating the fight against the bull as a work of art, that's it. Hemingway never tires of describing the process in which the Taurus always loses. When the matador kills the bull, Hemingway sometimes portrays it as an act of friendship. The reader cannot follow that. Mixed feelings arise while reading, when the matador maneuvers the bull into a comfortable position with brass music or when Hemingway writes defiantly against death like a naughty boy (p. 123). Although - the book is about death, about suppressing the fear of being impaled. The fear is appropriate. Antonio has suffered more than 12 serious horn injuries and keeps re-entering the arena, taking on Doña Carmen Polo de Franco , the wife of the head of state, in front of Pablo Picasso in the sold-out arena in Bilbao and winning.

There are also semi-empty arenas. The managers drive up the entrance fees. But the matador overlooks it as well as his defeats. He is after the lap of honor, which he runs after the flawless kill with his Cuadrilla (bullfighting troop with the matador as their head). Cigars, “women's handbags, shoes, flowers, wineskins and straw hats” (p. 128) are thrown. The Cuadrilla throws everything back - except for the cigars. The most beautiful thing for the victorious matador is the fatigue - but not from the fight, but from being carried on the shoulders of the enthusiastic audience. But the fear of death remains. Antonio has his portable altar set up in the hotel room and prays to God.

The narrative tone sometimes makes you sit up and take notice: "... that the downpour had ruined his bull ..." (p. 109) or "at the porky high prices" (p. 47). The narrow book is - apart from the permanent repetitions of the bullfighting scenes mentioned above - consistently legible and exciting. What is meant, for example, is the point at the end of a novel, when the arena is quiet and "Papa" Hemingway can hear the click of a fan behind him. The map sketch on p. 7 and the list of technical terms on p. 203 to 220 promote understanding and an overview. Photos are bound between p. 96 and 97 that illustrate the text so impressively.

German-language literature

source
German first edition
  • Ernest Hemingway: Dangerous Summer. German by Werner Schmitz . With some black and white photographs. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1986. 219 pages
Secondary literature