Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How did you react to the overall tone of the collection? Many of the stories focus on bleak situations and isolated characters, so what was your emotional experience reading them one after another?

2. Hemingway published this collection just a year after his famous novel, The Sun Also Rises. If you’ve read that book, how does this collection feel like a companion piece or a continuation of its themes of the “Lost Generation”?

3. Which of the 14 stories was the most memorable or affecting for you? What was it about that particular story’s characters, plot, or ending that has stayed with you?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. The idea of “grace under pressure” is central to the collection, with characters like Manuel Garcia and Jack Brennan finding dignity in how they face defeat. In your own experience, how do people maintain a sense of integrity or purpose when dealing with difficult, unavoidable challenges?

2. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the couple struggles to speak openly about an emotionally difficult decision. Have you ever found it difficult to have an honest conversation about a sensitive issue? What factors made direct communication easier or more challenging?

3. In “The Killers,” Nick Adams’s worldview is shattered by his encounter with senseless violence and Ole Andreson’s resignation. Can you recall a book, film, or event that significantly changed the way you saw the world?

4. In “In Another Country,” the major suggests that avoiding love may protect a person from grief and loss. Have you ever encountered a situation in which fear of loss affected someone’s willingness to form close relationships? Do you think emotional distance offers protection, or does it create new forms of loneliness?

5. Many characters operate by a strict professional code, whether it’s the soldiers, bullfighters, or boxers. Where have you observed similar unspoken rules of conduct in a profession, hobby, or community?

6. The narrator of “Now I Lay Me” uses detailed mental recreations of fishing streams to cope with his insomnia and trauma. Do routines or focused mental exercises help you to manage difficult thoughts or anxieties in everyday life?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. This collection is a cornerstone of “Lost Generation” literature, reflecting the disillusionment that followed World War I. In what ways do the characters’ feelings of alienation, cynicism, or uncertainty about the future resonate with contemporary societal moods?

2. How do the forms of masculinity presented in these stories compare with modern ideas about what it means to be a man? Which qualities admired by Hemingway’s characters—such as courage, self-control, and resilience—still feel relevant today, and which seem outdated?

3. “Che Ti Dice La Patria?” uses the structure of a travel narrative to offer a subtle but sharp critique of Fascist Italy. Do you find this an effective way to engage in social commentary? Why might an author choose this indirect approach over a more direct one?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” suggests that the most important parts of a story are left unsaid. How did this technique of omission shape your experience reading stories like “Hills Like White Elephants” or “A Simple Enquiry”?

2. How does the recurring motif of physical wounds and injuries reflect the characters’ unspoken grief, fear, or emotional struggles? Did you find this connection particularly powerful in any specific story?

3. The bullring and the boxing ring are presented as controlled arenas of conflict. How do these contained settings allow characters like Manuel Garcia and Jack Brennan to assert a final sense of agency or meaning in the face of defeat?

4. Nick Adams appears in several stories at different stages of his life. How does Hemingway use Nick’s experiences with disappointment, violence, and sleeplessness to show different stages of emotional awareness?

5. Let’s discuss the famous dialogue in “Hills Like White Elephants.” How does it compare to the minimalist dialogue in a work by a later author who was influenced by Hemingway, such as Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love?

6. Did you feel there was an intentional order or progression to the stories in this collection? If so, what kind of journey does the collection as a whole take the reader on?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you were to rewrite the scene in “The Killers” from the perspective of Ole Andreson, what would his internal monologue reveal as he lies in his room waiting?

2. The collection presents several vivid, self-contained scenes. If you were adapting one story into a short film, which would you choose, and what would be the most important mood or feeling you’d want to capture on screen?

3. Imagine a conversation between two characters from different stories, for instance, between the grieving major from “In Another Country” and the disillusioned Nick Adams from “Now I Lay Me.” What might they say to each other?