Who Is The Next Hemingway, Ruark?

[Wishfulthinker580]

I graduated from a private, Catholic high school in 1986. We read more of the classics there than I did when I got to college. My whole senior year in high school was focused on the Agrarians.

Love the Classics. I don’t know what garbage they’re reading nowadays but it seems like most of the stuff we read for class was largely by no name “authors” with the vocabulary of a third grader. Oftentimes short stories! Don’t get me wrong, some short stories are great, but I don’t know that I was ever actually assigned a novel to read and write a paper on……… IIRC

 

[Wheels]

Look, it is true that the appreciation pool has shrunk. A Hemingway shoes may never be filled, but perhaps Wilbur Smith was widely read enough to fill the toes. Boddington is a contender in a much smaller pool.

Wilbur Smith was certainly the premier writer of historical fiction as it relates to Africana. Smith was also more prolific than Hemingway. When it comes to abilities, there is no real comparison between the two. That said, I have spent much more time being entertained by Smith than Hemingway.

Perhaps I misread your OP and took the thought in a different direction than you intended. IMO, Boddington is a completely different genre.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I am very green in my hunting knowledge of Africa. However, I've read Hemingway, read Capstick, and I've read some Ruark. The difficult task of matching Hemingway comes from the fact he spanned so many interests. Big game fishing, hunting, bull fighting, war, etc. I've read his work quite a bit as a bunch of those topics interest me. With that being said, if you were a boy entering manhood, reading Hemingway's works embodied what it was to be somewhat of a worldly alpha male.

It's 2023 and school's are not quite focused on that, unfortunately. I'll leave the rest out because it gets down the road of politics.

 

[wesheltonj]

How many people trek to Pamplona, San Sebastián, Harry’s Bar in Venice, Key West because of Hemingway.

No one travels to Paseo Robles or a farm in Kansas because the writing of a retired Marine Colonel.

 

[Happy Myles]

Ah yes. I ran with the bulls in Pamplona and patronized Harry’s Bar in Venice, plus a few places in Paris. But I am 84 and that was 1960. Hemingway created life styles in those days. He and Ruark obligated me to visit Africa……over and over. I do not regret any of it. My children and grandchildren have not read Hemingway, I am sure.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Ah yes. I ran with the bulls in Pamplona and patronized Harry’s Bar in Venice, plus a few places in Paris. But I am 84 and that was 1960. Hemingway created life styles in those days. He and Ruark obligated me to visit Africa……over and over. I do not regret any of it. My children and grandchildren have not read Hemingway, I am sure.

I visited his bar in Havana, it had a good ambiance.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I doubt we will see the same ever world moved on a lot of people don't read anymore except for magazines and online trash.
One can become instan expert with Google where before you read about it and studied about it.

The Closest hunter I would say that comes anyway close as a current hunter and writer is J. Alain Smith https://jalainsmith.com/

He hunts all over makes short clips about it on YouTube and writes abot his adventures never read one of his books yet. He's all pro hunting and akthough small amount of sponsorship looks like he pays his way for the hunts.

I have read J. Alain Smith's books. Not bad, of you can get used to his regular references to ".7 mm caliber" rifles. Point seven millimeter I'd one tenth of one millimeter. About the size of a sewing needle. I don't think he's in the same league as Hemingway, but they were pretty.good reads.

If they wanted to turn their talents to Africa I might suggest C. J. Box (Joe Picket novels) or Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire novels). These guys can really write, are popular, and I believe they are both hunters.

I doubt we will see the same ever world moved on a lot of people don't read anymore except for magazines and online trash.
One can become instan expert with Google where before you read about it and studied about it.

The Closest hunter I would say that comes anyway close as a current hunter and writer is J. Alain Smith https://jalainsmith.com/

He hunts all over makes short clips about it on YouTube and writes abot his adventures never read one of his books yet. He's all pro hunting and akthough small amount of sponsorship looks like he pays his way for the hunts.

 

[mdwest]

Ah yes. I ran with the bulls in Pamplona and patronized Harry’s Bar in Venice, plus a few places in Paris. But I am 84 and that was 1960. Hemingway created life styles in those days. He and Ruark obligated me to visit Africa……over and over. I do not regret any of it. My children and grandchildren have not read Hemingway, I am sure.

I’m 53… ran with the bulls in pamplona.. spent far more time in the keys than I probably should have.. checked out Harry’s once… have been published as an author a few times… even drove an ambulance for a short while as a volunteer when I was much younger… that was all in the 90’s and 2000’s (except the bulls… that was 2015)…

Like you,zero regrets…

What’s funny is I never really realized how much I was influenced by Hemingway until probably 10 years ago… I just thought I was out living life and adventuring…

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I’m 53… ran with the bulls in pamplona.. spent far more time in the keys than I probably should have.. checked out Harry’s once… have been published as an author a few times… even drove an ambulance for a short while as a volunteer when I was much younger… that was all in the 90’s and 2000’s (except the bulls… that was 2015)…

Like you,zero regrets…

What’s funny is I never really realized how much I was influenced by Hemingway until probably 10 years ago… I just thought I was out living life and adventuring…

There you go MD, we have our man! Write a few novels and you are it. I bet you sport a beard too...

 

[fourfive8]

I am very green in my hunting knowledge of Africa. However, I've read Hemingway, read Capstick, and I've read some Ruark. The difficult task of matching Hemingway comes from the fact he spanned so many interests. Big game fishing, hunting, bull fighting, war, etc. I've read his work quite a bit as a bunch of those topics interest me. With that being said, if you were a boy entering manhood, reading Hemingway's works embodied what it was to be somewhat of a worldly alpha male.

It's 2023 and school's are not quite focused on that, unfortunately. I'll leave the rest out because it gets down the road of politics.

I think that is right. The world and Africa, even as late as the 50s-60s, doesn't exist any more and never will. So there will be no more opportunity for a modern version of Hemingway or Ruark or even Capstick that we would recognize. And thinking about it, the same could be said about Bell or Selous.

 

[mdwest]

There you go MD, we have our man! Write a few novels and you are it. I bet you sport a beard too...

No one wants to read what I write lol..

My published works include collaborative efforts on 2 university text books (criminal justice material), a couple of technical articles in a trade journal, and 2 dissertations on very bland subject matter like how corporate social responsibility potentially negative impacts strategic management decisions and how standardized project management methodology can be applied to corporate social responsibility efforts to resolve conflict among stakeholders.

I’m very slowly working on a book that focuses on applying specific values principles to servant leadership…

Hemingway I am not… you only read what I write when you want to bore yourself to death so you can sleep better on a plane lol…

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Another writer who was responsible for many people to travel to Africa was Elmer Keith. He knew his stuff and was invited to hunt in Africa many times because of his great support and firearms knowledge and how he influenced hunters to get and learn how to shoot big bore rifles.

One nice thing about reading Elmer's work is that you don't need a dictionary.

Jim Carmichael also did a good job writing about his Africa hunts.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I think that is right. The world and Africa, even as late as the 50s-60s, doesn't exist any more and never will. So there will be no more opportunity for a modern version of Hemingway or Ruark or even Capstick that we would recognize. And thinking about it, the same could be said about Bell or Selous.

Capstick is super relatable for me. NJ born, stock broker, left his job for the pursuit of adventure as a PH in Africa. I personally love reading it all. Capstick, Ruark, Hemingway, and I've read some of Boddington's online stuff. You're right. They were trailblazers of their time.

There are new frontiers to explore. Pacific-side fishing in Colombia, deep drop fishing unknowns in the oceans of the world, different untapped hunting areas in the middle east, far reaches of Asia, Russia, etc. It just seems there's a lack of interest. Me, I could personally sit for 6 hours and read a book about fishing Bahia Solano, hunting Ibex in Turkey, etc.

I'm on the younger side being 40 but I still appreciate opening a physical paper novel and reading. The newer generation doesn't seem to have that. It's all online quick snips from Outdoor Life, MeatEater, etc. It's good that people are still reading this stuff but it just seems different. Podcasts are now huge as well. I don't know. It's just, different.

 

[rinehart0050]

While I thinks it's essential impossible to find someone to compare to Hemingway in general or Ruark for hunting specifically, a name that comes to mind is Jack Carr.

Jack Carr writes a fiction series about a former navy seal, but weaves hunting into almost everyone of his books. While the main topic is not hunting, the books are entertaining.

First one in the series is Terminal List, which was recently made into a mini series on Amazon prime.

Check them out Here

 

[Frederik]

Terminal List was great series to watch for sure.

 

[Scott CWO]

“I've never read anything, though, that could make you feel about the country the way we feel about it.
I'd like to try to write something about the country and the animals and what it's like to some one who knows nothing about it.” - Hemingway from Green Hills of Africa.

It’s next to impossible to explain to others, even other hunters who haven’t been to Africa, how being there gets into the marrow of your bones. The megafauna and megaflora - seeing so many beautiful game species and vegetation types in one place. Taking a handful of them back with you. That melancholy feeling when the charter plane lifts off from the grass strip at camp, taking you back to the artificial, paved, concrete, corrupted world. Excited and sad, at the same time, to head home, or to what you’ve been told is your home. Wondering if you will ever return to see and feel Africa in your marrow again.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Sad times today. I grew up waiting on my grandma to finish her latest issue of The Saturday Evening Post just so I could read Ruark’s latest article. The first book I ever read was The Old Man and the Boy. My dad grew up on a 60 acre homestead where we would go squirrel and bunny hunting from the time I was 6 and got a .22 Sears single shot for Christmas. Grew up near the Trinity River where I practiced all the outdoors experiences from trapping to building a raft. These all set my lifestyle.
Working on my last quarter of a century all my outdoor experiences give me great memories. Sadly few I can pass on. My youngest granddaughter so far has been interested in fishing and hunting, so hopefully I can pass on a bit of my meager knowledge.
I miss Ruark, Hemmingway, and even Capstick plus a host of other long gone outdoor writers. My simple adventures could not compare, but I have been fortunate enough to at least have had some.

 

[BourbonTrail]

“I've never read anything, though, that could make you feel about the country the way we feel about it.
I'd like to try to write something about the country and the animals and what it's like to some one who knows nothing about it.” - Hemingway from Green Hills of Africa.

It’s next to impossible to explain to others, even other hunters who haven’t been to Africa, how being there gets into the marrow of your bones. The megafauna and megaflora - seeing so many beautiful game species and vegetation types in one place. Taking a handful of them back with you. That melancholy feeling when the charter plane lifts off from the grass strip at camp, taking you back to the artificial, paved, concrete, corrupted world. Excited and sad, at the same time, to head home, or to what you’ve been told is your home. Wondering if you will ever return to see and feel Africa in your marrow again.

You hit the nail on the head so hard it almost hurt.

I’m not a big Hemmingway fan as I am not keen on the laconic style. However, that quote sums up the struggle. Plenty can give you a taste, but even pictures and film clips can’t do the full experience justice.

 

[Nevada Mike]

America is fortunate to have produced so many great writers. I wonder what John Steinbeck would have had to say about Africa. He was (is), perhaps the finest American writer yet. If you read his book on the Sea of Cortez you can see he had an intense interest in natural history AND the human condition.

 

[Daktari]

I would say Steve Rinella is the closest to the level of Hemingway/Capstick but not their equal. Hemingway was just built different