in our time, chapter 13: "The crowd shouted all the time"

Welcome to the thirteenth of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of the Paris edition of Hemingway’s book of vignettes, in our time.

This episode continues Hemingway’s exploration of bullfighting and violence. This chapter is the second of the five consecutive bullfighting sketches Hemingway placed towards the end of in our time. A raucous crowd objects to a bad bullfight, leading to the humiliating cutting of a matador’s pigtails. We discuss the narrator’s relationship to the incompetent (but self-aware) matador, the notion of throwing things at sporting events, and the painful recognition of realizing you’re just not that good at something.

Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time!