The Garden of Eden

Reception

The publication of The Garden of Eden is controversial because of the editing of the manuscript. Susan Seitz argues that in this novel Hemingway was forging a new direction that was lost in the editing. She believes the editing was substandard, with "substantial cuts of lines, scenes, and whole chapters, the addition of manuscript material that Hemingway had discarded, and transposed scenes and dialogue." The result, she claims, does not "represent Hemingway's intentions in these works as he left them."[18] In The New Republic, Barbara Probst Solomon decried it as a “travesty”, saying “I can report that Hemingway’s publisher has committed a literary crime.”[23]

Nevertheless, the novel was included alongside A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises on Harold Bloom's list of books comprising the Western canon.[26]

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of The Garden of Eden was released in 2008 at the RomaCinemaFest and had a limited investors' screening in the UK. Screen International dubbed the film "a boundaries-breaking erotic drama." The film went on general release in select theaters in December 2010. The ensemble cast featured Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Caterina Murino, Richard E. Grant, and Carmen Maura. It was directed by John Irvin. The adaptation was by James Scott Linville, former editor of The Paris Review. In March 2011, the film went on sale on iTunes and with other vendors.


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