expatirate = hipster? - TSAR

"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafés." p. 120

sounds like the a hipster to me.. haha. let's consult urbandictionary.com, shall we? : hipster, noun: aged indie kids, still maintain the air of snobbery, still shop at salvation army, and still have a completely astonishing array of knowledge when it comes to obscure music, pop-culture non-sequiturs, and political sneers. Absolutely a blast to be friends with, hell to be enemies of, hipsters are the most bi-polar of all the stereotypes when it comes to how they treat you. yep. basically a hipster.

so, Bill thinks that Jake's a hipster (how awful!), but also thinks that the Civil War was about Lincoln being homosexual. also, sex explains everything. how insightful. you're brilliant, Bill. brilliant. not quite an aphorism, seeing as how it's not a general truth that you've shared, but there could be some real symbolism here, if you want to be completely politically incorrect.

irony and pity - TSAR

"Aren't you going to show irony and pity?"
I thumbed my nose.
"That's not irony."

p. 118

this whole "irony and pity" thing really confuses me. it doesn't make sense. I even tried to make sense of it. what is "irony" according to Bill? because I'm pretty sure it's not "a discrepancy between appearances and reality". is it sort of like Alanis Morisset's song "Isn't it Ironic?", a song that contains very few examples of irony and many coincidences?

and, obviously, this gives me a perfect opportunity to address the irony I've come across in this book. the best example I've found I've already discussed a little in a previous post, but not in terms of the irony. the conversation between Jake and Bill about trying to remember what happened on Bill's trip I find to be quite ironic. I mean, Bill was so drunk that he still can't remember what happened. to try to remind him, Jake makes him drink. as far as I'm aware, alcohol doesn't help much with your memory. somehow, in this book drinking is a way to remember things, not a way to forget them. so maybe that's some sort of satire on Hemingway's part? or he just finds it humorous. I'm not sure...

bienvenidos a España! - TSAR

"The first meal in Spain was always a shock with the hors d'oeuvres, an egg course, two meat courses, vegetables, salad, and dessert and fruit. You have to drink plenty of wine to get it all down."

p. 100

okay, SO not the case. sure, they eat a lot in Spain, but it's not THAT much. it's more like: bread, first plate (usually salad or pasta), second plate (meat and/or eggs plus veggies), postre (dessert OR fruit), and café, if you're so inclined. this is only at "lunchtime", which is around two. dinner is basically nothing... it's more like what we would usually eat for an appetizer before dinner here. for the whole meal. now that you've had your lesson in Spanish cuisine...

there's an issue with some of the guys and Cohn's being Jewish. I don't think it's a real issue, I think it just covers up the bigger issue that they think he's pig-headed. which I understand, a little. he seems like a big baby... probably an only child. he argues (and bets) with Bill on whether or not Brett and Michael will arrive the same night or not. Bill was drunk, okay, fine, but Robert wasn't. there's no real reason for this. I'm starting to not like Robert very much.

oh, the wonderful world of dialect... - TSAR

"Tight, Jake. I was tight"
"That's strange. Better have a drink."

conversation between Bill and Jake, p. 76

I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while to realize that "tight" meant "drunk". a long time. actually, I think I had to re-read it a few times to figure it out. I think that in any other circumstance, this would be a little sad. but, I've never heard the word "tight" used in this sense before. I can't say for sure that only this group of people use it, but it certainly isn't something that is used today. at least, not where I'm from. I'm definitely labeling that as dialect.

I also find it hugely amusing that Bill basically says "I was too drunk to remember anything, so I thought it was better than it really is," and Jake's suggestion to jog his memories is "Oh, that's strange, drink some more, maybe you'll remember."

so, Bill gets drunk again. tells everyone what he's going to gift them (he is a taxidermist, after all), meets Brett, and that's about it?
more drinking. more promiscuity from Brett. aaand, not much else? cool.