Rating: 
Summary: The Seine, The Seine
Review: ""What a wonderful, moving tribute Burgess' paean to the Seine is. It almost brought tears to the eye of this long-time lover. As in the Kingston Trio's ballad of forty years ago, The Seine, the Seine, when will I again meet her there, greet her there, on the moonlit banks of the Seine?" Burgess reference to Hemingway's autobiographical sketch of his days in Paris renewed old memories that this book rekindles every time I read it. Indeed, being the melancholy nostalgic that I am, I never read the final pages now. That way, I never finish it; and besides, I know how it comes out. "...because Paris, indeed, is a moveable feast."
Rating: 
Summary: Hemingway's Paris & Pamplona: Then and Now
Review: Bob Burgess is a long time fan of Hemingway and met the author in Pamplona. In this book Burgess is meticulous and knowledgeable and manages to conjur up the man, the events, the places, and the atmosphere. His research is meticulous and the work authoritative. I'll be reading the book unabridged for Golden Hours for the Blind and Disabled on Oregon Public Broadcasting later this year.
-- Harley l. Sachs
Rating:
Summary: Burgess Book A Success
Review: Book is an excellent read. The first half of the book neatly traces Hemingway's time and travels in and between France and Spain. The bibliographical recounting is based largely on Hemingway's best biographers and personal memoirs of the people in his life. The second half of the book-and perhaps the best part-is the author's personal memoirs of his encounter with Hemingway at the annual running of the bulls at Pamplona in 1959. This encounter ultimately led to the author's quest-traveling over the same paths in France and Spain-to further understand Hemingway and his works. Essentially, Robert Burgess discovered two important things: 1. Hemingway's fiction is consistently more fact than fiction, and Burgess makes a convincing case for this premise; and 2., at the annual running of the bulls at Pamplona in 1959, within a year of Hemingway's death in 1960, he was still listening, learning and recording facts for future fiction. The book is an essential manual for the Hemingway buff. Further, it is an excellent companion for The Sun Also Rises.
Rating:
Summary: More Than A Memoir-A Terrific Read!
Review: English professors spend their careers teaching students not to confuse the author with the characters in the book. Shakespeare is not Hamlet, and Cervantes is not Don Quixote, or so they say.But Hemingway's readers have a better idea, and Robert F. Burgess is one of Hemingway's best readers. Burgess knows that when Hemingway's fans read "The Sun Also Rises," they like to imagine how Hemingway himself drank in Paris and how he ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Robert F. Burgess has written a book for those who read Hemingway as preparation for their own European adventures. Burgess knows that, for full appreciation of Hemingway's novels, one would do well to skip that college English class and make the grand tour. If you are planning to trace Hemingway's steps through Paris and Pamplona, then Burgess has prepared your itinerary. Burgess knows that Hemingway's readers are not content with postcard views of the Eiffel Tower--they want to know precisely where Hemingway slept, ate, and walked. Burgess' book is encyclopedic in its detail, but it reads like a novel as Burgess introduces people he has met during his travels. Wisely, Burgess has recognized that Hemingway has spawned a cult following as well as a critical reception. Hemingway's fans visit the author's bars and other haunts with the fervor of Bible scholars on a tour of the Holy Land. When they make their literary pilgrimage, Hemingway's readers want gospel truth--nothing apocryphal. Burgess is such a stickler for authenticity that his book reminds one of how Hemingway began his writing career in Paris. Before he was famous, Hemingway looked out over the rooftops of Paris and decided that he should learn how to write one true sentence. Hemingway then wrote a few true sentences based upon straightforward observation of Paris street scenes. In response to Hemingway's one true sentence, Robert F. Burgess has written one true book. He has documented the sites in Paris and Pamplona that Hemingway observed and described. Hemingway took pride in describing places precisely, and Burgess has gone to similar pains to trace Hemingway's legacy accurately. Burgess' book is a thorough testament to the verisimilitude of Hemingway's fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Son of "The Sun Also Rises"
Review: English professors spend their careers teaching students not to confuse the author with the characters in the book. Shakespeare is not Hamlet, and Cervantes is not Don Quixote, or so they say. But Hemingway's readers have a better idea, and Robert F. Burgess is one of Hemingway's best readers. Burgess knows that when Hemingway's fans read "The Sun Also Rises," they like to imagine how Hemingway himself drank in Paris and how he ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Robert F. Burgess has written a book for those who read Hemingway as preparation for their own European adventures. Burgess knows that, for full appreciation of Hemingway's novels, one would do well to skip that college English class and make the grand tour. If you are planning to trace Hemingway's steps through Paris and Pamplona, then Burgess has prepared your itinerary. Burgess knows that Hemingway's readers are not content with postcard views of the Eiffel Tower--they want to know precisely where Hemingway slept, ate, and walked. Burgess' book is encyclopedic in its detail, but it reads like a novel as Burgess introduces people he has met during his travels. Wisely, Burgess has recognized that Hemingway has spawned a cult following as well as a critical reception. Hemingway's fans visit the author's bars and other haunts with the fervor of Bible scholars on a tour of the Holy Land. When they make their literary pilgrimage, Hemingway's readers want gospel truth--nothing apocryphal. Burgess is such a stickler for authenticity that his book reminds one of how Hemingway began his writing career in Paris. Before he was famous, Hemingway looked out over the rooftops of Paris and decided that he should learn how to write one true sentence. Hemingway then wrote a few true sentences based upon straightforward observation of Paris street scenes. In response to Hemingway's one true sentence, Robert F. Burgess has written one true book. He has documented the sites in Paris and Pamplona that Hemingway observed and described. Hemingway took pride in describing places precisely, and Burgess has gone to similar pains to trace Hemingway's legacy accurately. Burgess' book is a thorough testament to the verisimilitude of Hemingway's fiction.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: Mr Burgess really did some extensive research, he brings the charactors that inspired 'The Sun Also Rises' to life as no one has done before. I was entertained and informed from beginning to end, the book answered a lot of questions I have long had about how much was fact and how much was fiction in the writing of SAR. The best book I have read on Hemingway in a long time.. S Alfred Baker
Hemingway in Michigan Research Center
Rating:
Summary: Hemingway Revisited
Review: Robert Burgess has written a book that will thrill the hearts of all Hemingway lovers, especially those who are particularly fond of his life in Paris and Pamplona. His research and personal wanderings in both areas reinforce much well known Hemingway history and uncover some that is new. While tracing the lives of Papa's coterie who were to become fictionalized characters in "The Sun Also Rises", Burgess provides insights into the daily life and intellectual endeavors of the author. In addition he paints vivid word pictures of Hemingway's Paris, Pamplona and the Pyrenees where he escaped to fish and hike. If you consider yourself a true Hemingway afficienado, this work is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Great place to start!
Review: This book is an outstanding way to get acquainted with Hemingway's works and life. I have never read any of his books (I have seen several of the movie versions though)and know very little about Hemingway's life, so when it was recommended by a friend, I thought it might be like coming in on a football game at halftime. However, it turned out to be a very readable, enjoyable and accessible look into this great American writer's years in France and Spain and the friends and acquaintances that influenced his life and his writing. The author did an outstanding job of showing the real life connections between his life there and the characters and places he used in his first novel "The Sun Also Rises". In reading it I was able to see in my minds eye the street cafés of Paris and feel the excitement of the famous running of the bulls in the streets of Pamplona. I especially enjoyed the author's return visit to those places to see them as they are today. His descriptions of the changes that have occurred in the intervening years are what brought this book together nicely. I think now I'll go read "The Sun Also Rises" and see how Hemingway saw it all.
Rating:
Summary: Robert Burgess' Hemingway, Paris & Pamplona
Review: This book, Hemingway's Paris & Pamplona - Then and Now, is an exciting and nostalgic read. It's fun. Robert Burgess weaves an interesting history of Hemingway's personal and literary experiences in France and Spain using The Sun Also Rises as a basis, while also exploring and portraying these places today. The reader gets the trip for the price of the book. Inside, Burgess' own recollections of Hemingway, historical facts, literary references, friends' statements, and his detailed investigation of the sites reveal the world that Papa and his characters knew. From the Pyrenees to Pamplona to Paris, the author captures the essence of Hemingway's turf, accurately describing it then and now. The specifics are splendid, as real and imaginary people are brought to life. For Mr. Burgess, researching and compiling this book must have been a memorable trip back in time, as he re-explored places from his own past. The enthusiasm shows. For anyone interested in Hemingway, Spain, Paris, or Mr. Burgess' extrordinary travels, I could have reviewed this book in two words: BUY IT.....
By Jimmy Hall/ Georgia
Rating:
Summary: Robert Burgess' Hemingway, Paris & Pamplona
Review: This book, Hemingway's Paris & Pamplona - Then and Now, is an exciting and nostalgic read. It's fun. Robert Burgess weaves an interesting history of Hemingway's personal and literary experiences in France and Spain using The Sun Also Rises as a basis, while also exploring and portraying these places today. The reader gets the trip for the price of the book. Inside, Burgess' own recollections of Hemingway, historical facts, literary references, friends' statements, and his detailed investigation of the sites reveal the world that Papa and his characters knew. From the Pyrenees to Pamplona to Paris, the author captures the essence of Hemingway's turf, accurately describing it then and now. The specifics are splendid, as real and imaginary people are brought to life. For Mr. Burgess, researching and compiling this book must have been a memorable trip back in time, as he re-explored places from his own past. The enthusiasm shows. For anyone interested in Hemingway, Spain, Paris, or Mr. Burgess' extrordinary travels, I could have reviewed this book in two words: BUY IT.....
By Jimmy Hall/ Georgia
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