In Our Time (book)

"In Our Time" is a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway. Each chapter is comprised of a vignette that in some way relates to the following short story. It was published in 1925, and marked Ernest Hemingway's American debut. It contains several well-known Hemingway works, including the Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp," "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife," "The Three Day Blow," and "The Battler", and introduces readers to the hallmarks of the Hemingway style. "On the Quai at Smyrna" was first published as the introduction to the 1930 edition.

A year earlier in 1924, Hemingway published a much shorter book named "in our time" (in lower-case) in Paris. It consisted of just 32 pages and was published in a small edition of 170 copies. " in our time" contained three short stories and the fragments later used as interchapters in "In Our Time".

The title comes from the English Book of Common Prayer: "give us peace in our time, O Lord". This origin was first suggested by Ezra Pound and then later confirmed by Hemingway.

At the time of its publication, the book was recognized as a significant development in prose fiction, for its spare language and oblique depiction of the psychological states of the characters portrayed. Retrospectively, "In Our Time" is viewed as the beginning of Hemingway's highly influential style, which would make an indelible mark on twentieth century prose fiction.

List of stories

* On the Quai at Smyrna
* Indian Camp
* The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife
* The End of Something
* The Three-Day Blow
* The Battler
* A Very Short Story
* Soldier's Home
* The Revolutionist
* Mr. And Mrs. Elliot
* Cat in the Rain
* Out of Season
* Cross-Country Snow
* My Old Man
* Big Two-Hearted River: Part One
* Big Two-Hearted River: Part Two

External links

* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4529 In Our Time - A Review]
* [http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/inourtime/summary.html Sparknotes]