Death in the Afternoon

By: Ernest Hemingway

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Still considered one of the best books ever written about bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon reflects Hemingway's belief that bullfighting was more than mere sport. Here he describes and explains the technical aspects of this dangerous ritual, and "the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure classic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and a piece of scarlet serge draped on a stick." Seen through his eyes, bullfighting becomes an art, a richly choreographed ballet, with performers who range from awkward amateurs to masters of great grace and cunning.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.; Download the accompanying reference guide.

©1932 Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright Renewed 1960 Ernest Hemingway. All rights reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Disappointing

The only well written part of the book is the final chapter in which Hemingway writes of his memories of Spain. Otherwise reads like a poor series of newspaper reports about bull fighting.

review for death in the afternoon

I have read it years ago I left it then I left it now it was great

A Long Trip Through Bull Fighting

Read as a lecture on bull fighting and bull fighters. A very lengthy discourse. i feel much longer than necessary. The discussions with the older lady were an interesting twist. Not by any means my favorite Hemingway book./

Death In The Afternoon

Still a great narrative on the bull fight...but of course...dated--but that is always good because it gives a micro glimpse of Spain in the twenties & thirties...sheer enjoyment....KBK

in depth accounts of bullfighting period.

extremely in-depth view of the bullfights the bullfighters and all the pageantry that went with bullfighting in his time. Even goes into the ranches and farmers and political viewpoints of the time. very long book to talk about the matadors.

Not your usual Hemingway.

An interesting book. It definitely makes you understand the nuances of bullfighting, and it made me want to see one. I came away from it with a different perspective on the ethics of bullfighting as well.
However, Death in the Afternoon isn't at all like Hemingway's novels, with the exception of the very last chapter, which is like Hemingway on steroids (my favorite part). It lacks his seriousness, structure, and nuanced poetry.
While I would not recommend it as a first or second or third Hemingway book, I would say if you love Hemingway it's worth reading/listening to. I learned a lot from it. About bullfighting and about life.

If you are looking for a beautiful, real life adventure story, his The Green Hills of Africa is brilliant.

A well read edition of one of Hemingway's best

4.5 - A great book with some of the best examples of Hemingway's magnanimous style. While some of the bull fighting scenes are somewhat gruesome, the descriptions and affection for a bygone era of 1920s/30s Spain are superb and the portrait of the landscape and people is unrivaled. This is as much a travel book as a book on bull fighting, which, if you accept its barbarism, can be appreciated as a spectacle of bravery and sport from the past. The narrator is very good also and does a fine job with Spanish pronunciation.

Very Well Read Non Fiction Account of Bull Fighting

This is an excellent reading of a Hemingway non fiction account of bullfighting in Spain. The reading is very faithful to the actual text. The story is about a gruesome subject of which Hemingway does his best to portray as an art form. I am glad that I read this book. Hemingway is of course, well, Hemingway. There is a good deal of macho "man's man" material and at least a hint of what is now considered homophobia. Some reader's may be offended by some of this material and nomenclature. Thank You...

The dialog with the old lady was annoying at best

Not nearly as good as so many Hemingway books. My least favorite so far. Good pronunciation by the reader.

Narrator Makes This Book

I recently finished Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," so I thought I would go ahead and read this book. I thought it was a novel, but not at all, rather a study on bullfighting. Reading the book as text was laborious, and I am certain I would have stopped after the first few chapters. Fortunately, I had the Audible version! I didn't realize until the credits that the narrator was Boyd Gaines, a well-respected Broadway actor. Mr. Gaines excellent narration managed to make a dry book interesting.