A true Hemingway From Mrs Sandy Forsyth Sir: As a
fan of Ernest Hemingway since long ago, I enjoyed Edward Docx's article on the great writer's centenary (Nick Hornby he wasn't', 24 July). But there are two points on which I disagree.
He refers to 'thriller writing . . . which no one need take seriously'. The term 'thriller' is a recent invention describing a tale of high or low adventure, nearly always con- temporary, often in a foreign setting, involving a hero, opponents, danger, risk, skulduggery and mortal combat. In their day Kipling, Dumas, Hugo, Conrad, Lon- don, Childers, Buchan, Stevenson and Ambler all filled this category. They were the thriller writers of their time.
Mr Docx's second assumption is that all modern authors are wimps who write about wimps. There is a living British author who has written about assassins, Nazis, mercenar- ies, revolutionaries, gangsters, spymasters, secret agents, fighter pilots and the SAS. Leading characters like Sam McCready, Quin, Mike Martin, Don Walker and Jason Monk appear very masculine to me.
He, the author, did not become familiar with these fictional men from pure inven- tion. He flew single-seater jets as a teenag- er, moved through murky worlds of killers, forgers, smugglers, mercenaries, spies and arms dealers; flitted through Soviet-occu- pied East Germany passing for a German and was arrested by the Red Army and the Stasi. He survived two hellish years in Biafra where he was bombed and shot at, and then threw himself out of airplanes over Salisbury Plain, for fun!
At 60, his passions now include driving his ridiculous sports car, game-fishing and scuba-diving. He may not be Hemingway, though he has written many a 'true sen- tence', but a wimp? Hardly. I know all this because I am married to him.
Sandy Forsyth
Hertford, Herts
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