Montparnasse

Ernest Hemingway

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There are never any suicides in the quarter among people one knows
No successful suicides.
A Chinese boy kills himself and is dead.
(they continue to place his mail in the letter rack at the Dome)
A Norwegian boy kills himself and is dead.
(no one knows where the other Norwegian boy has gone)
They find a model dead
alone in bed and very dead.
(it made almost unbearable trouble for the concierge)
Sweet oil, the white of eggs, mustard and water, soap suds
and stomach pumps rescue the people one knows.
Every afternoon the people one knows can be found at the café.

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Comments1
  • lmmbdcld

    Wow, this piece really got me thinking. Read it a while ago in grade school but kind of forgot about it. Makes you ponder the disparity between known and unknown people huh? Also, why so much emphasis on suicide? Quite dark. Maybe it's about disillusionment or reflecting the harsh realities of life or something?