Jordan Dotson

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How Men Comfort Themselves

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I wouldn’t call Musashi ordinary.

But he is. That’s what’s extraordinary about him. He’s not content with relying on whatever natural gifts he may have. Knowing he’s ordinary, he’s always trying to improve himself. No one appreciates the agonizing effort he’s had to make. Now that his years of training have yielded such spectacular results, everybody’s talking about his ‘god-given talent.’ That’s how men who don’t try very hard comfort themselves.

…Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa

It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.

…Ernest Hemingway

Pan-fried Hemingway

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The beer was very cold and wonderful to drink. … After the first heavy draft of beer I drank and ate very slowly.

…from big Papi, A Moveable Feast. Pretty much sums everything up, don’t it? Really, though. I mean…that’s it. Don’t act like you’ve got anything else figured out, ’cause that’s it.

Have to admit though, Hemingway’s personal burger recipe described in the Paris Review does not sound all that appealing.

Ernest-Hemingway

Confucius is confusing…

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The highlight from my recent guest lecture on 20th century literature at a fancy institute of book learnin’ here in South China:

Student #1: Hemingway talk about facing the struggle, like Confusing.

Me: “Confucius”

S#1: Yes, Confusing.

Me: “Confucius”

S#1: Sorry?

Me: Not as much as me.

S#1: Ummm…maybe you don’t know China history.

Poetic fisticuffs

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February, 1936
“Nice Mr. Stevens. This year he came again pleasant like the cholera and first I knew of it my nice sister Ura was coming into the house crying because she had been at a cocktail party at which Mr. Stevens had made her cry by telling her forcefully what a sap I was, no man, etc. So I said, this was a week ago, ‘All right, that’s the third time we’ve had enough of Mr. Stevens.’ So headed out into the rainy past twilight and met Mr. Stevens who was just issuing from the door haveing just said, I learned later, ‘By God I wish I had that Hemingway here now I’d knock him out with a single punch.’

“So who should show up but poor old Papa and Mr. Stevens swung that same fabled punch but fertunatly missed and I knocked all of him down several times and gave him a good beating. Only trouble was that first three times put him down I still had my glasses on. Then took them off at the insistence of the judge who wanted to see a good clean fight without glasses in it and after I took them off Mr. Stevens hit me flush on the jaw with his Sunday punch bam like that. And this is very funny. Broke his hand in two places. Didn’t harm my jaw at all and so put him down again and then fixed him good so he was in his room for five days with a nurse and Dr. working on him. But you mustn’t tell this to anybody.”

“Anyway last night Mr. Stevens comes over to make up and we are made up. But on mature reflection I don’t know anybody needed to be hit worse than Mr. S. Was very pleased last night to see how large Mr. Stevens was and am sure that if I had had a good look at him before it all started would not have felt up to hitting him. But can assure you that there is no one like Mr. Stevens to go down in a spectacular fashion especially into a large puddle of water in the street in front of your old Waddel Street home where all took place. … I think he is really one of those mirror fighters who swells his muscles and practices lethal punches in the bathroom while he hates his betters.”

…Ernest Hemingway, in a letter to Sara Murphy, describing his first encounter with Wallace Stevens.