The Hemingway Unadaptability Principle Prevails in The Garden of Eden

Ronald Payne 12/10/2010 1:28:00 AM

I spent all of 1976 in Key West, Florida, where I met "Toby Bruce," Hemingway's Man-Friday. "The Garden of Eden" wasn't published yet, but Hemingway had shown him early parts of the manuscript--and like everything else--we discussed the young wife, obviously based on 'Papa's second wife, Pauline.' Then, I met Charles Thompson and Mrs. Thompson in Key West, as they had accompanied Hemingway on his 1933 safari. In the original uncut manuscript there were 'Nick and Trudy Sheldon,' who do not appear in the severely truncated published version edited by Tom Jenks. Everything was 'autobiographical' in Hemingway's "Work-in-Progress." (1.) I am suggesting that the original manuscript be re-edited to include the 'Nick and Trudy' parts, as Hemingway was moving in entirely new directions when he wrote it. The story adapted for the screen is only part of the 'Garden of Eden' equation. Hemingway was plowing new ground regarding sexuality, just as Nabokov plowed new ground in "Lolita." (2.) To suggest that the published version is his "most hated work" is to do Hemingway a great injustice, as the whole story--the true book--has never been published. Ronald Payne, agent for the Geoffrey Jenkins Estate.