Hatari, my take on EH and Green Hills of Africa is much the same as yours. I loved the book when I first read it, oh, about 1976, and I've re-read is several times since. His account of the eland hunt was/is one that has stuck in my mind over the years, and is probably one of the reasons I have set eland as a high priority for my hunt in Zimbabwe this coming August.
Hemingway was incredibly popular/famous during his lifetime, the leading light among American novelists for many years. The feminist movement in literature in the 70's and 80's really slammed him hard, though, and his work is still much-derided even today... but there are still a surprising number of scholars who really enjoy Hem. My elder daughter, who graduated magna cum laude in English Literature, read Hemingway for the first time when I gave her a copy of The Sun Also Rises in her junior year. She loved it, and went on to write her senior seminar on Hemingway, successfully defending his work fiercely against the feminazi's who populated her college's English department.
I quite enjoyed Baker's biography of EH, and recently finished Mellow's 1992 biography. His life story was larger than many fictional characters!
Ruark's Horn of the Hunter may have been inspired by GHoA, but I think Ruark took the concept above and beyond Hemingway's effort. Ruark's account was much more personal and personable. Not many people were inspired by Hemingway to go on safari; a LOT of people were inspired by Ruark. I think Hemingway was more descriptive of the game and the country, whereas Ruark seemed to capture the excitement of the personal experience.
Just my dos centavos.
Last edited by DocRocket; 02/03/15. Reason: Ruark
