UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-1-2016 'The Only Thing That Matters': A Critique of the Editorial Practices in The Garden of Eden Jesse Lee Cook University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Repository Citation Cook, Jesse Lee, "'The Only Thing That Matters': A Critique of the Editorial Practices in The Garden of Eden" (2016). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2656. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/9112051 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ‘THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS:’ A CRITIQUE OF THE EDITORIAL PRACTICES IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN By Jesse Cook Bachelor of Science – English Dixie State University 2013 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts – English Department of English College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2016 Thesis Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 8, 2016 This thesis prepared by Jesse Cook entitled ‘The Only Thing That Matters:’ A Critique of the Editorial Practices in the Garden of Eden is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – English Department of English John Hay, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Interim Dean Vincent Perez, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Christopher Decker, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Deidre Clemente, Ph.D. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii Abstract This essay will conduct a comparative analysis of the editing practices of Tom Jenks during his work on Ernest Hemingway’s posthumously novel The Garden of Eden, and Hemingway and Maxwell Perkins editorial work on A Farwell to Arms. Considering the severity of Tom Jenks’ alterations to the novel and the seemingly intentional scarcity of information related to Jenks engagement with the text, a consideration for how Hemingway’s style of editing compares to Jenks’ is necessary in order to determine the accuracy of the published version of The Garden of Eden in relation to Hemingway’s larger body of work. In order to accomplish this, I will analyze the existing material available related to Hemingway’s editorial practices to evaluate the changes made by Jenks to The Garden of Eden manuscript. What this research shows is that while Hemingway performed revisions throughout the process of publication, most of his editorial work occurred during the initial writing stage. By evaluating Garden through a comparison in the editing process performed on both texts, it is clear that while Jenks attests to an adherence to what he describes as the “law of an ancient god,” his version of the text is ultimately insufficient in presenting The Garden of Eden as Hemingway intended. Following a number of other scholars opinions, such as John Leonard, K.J. Peters, and even Tom Jenks, I propose the text be restored to its manuscript form to provide readers with an authentic draft of the novel, expanding upon the new avenues The Garden of Eden provides for Hemingway scholarship. iii Acknowledgements I would first like to thank Dr. John Hay, Dr. Christopher Decker, Dr. Vincent Perez, and Dr. Deirdre Clemente for taking the time to participate in my committee and for providing me with invaluable feedback on my thesis. I hope that my writing demonstrates their excellent guidance in creating this essay. Specifically, I would like to thank Dr. Hay for chairing my committee. His willingness to discuss the numerous concerns, and there were many, that I had regarding my thesis throughout its creation is greatly appreciated, and the enthusiasm he expressed toward my project helped to bolster my own dedication throughout the semester. Additionally, I would like to thank both Dr. Decker and Dr. Perez for the wonderful courses they provided me during my time at UNLV, each showing me a new avenue of literature that I had never considered before. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Clemente for participating in my thesis, supplying a unique and helpful historical evaluation of my work. Lastly, I must thank the John F. Kennedy library for the opportunity to work in their Hemingway archives, and the graduate and professional student association for aiding me in funding my trip to Boston to conduct my research. Without that opportunity, this thesis would not have been possible. iv Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………… iii Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………….iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………...v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1 Scribner’s Publisher’s Note and Preface………………………………………………………....4 Contextualizing the Publication of The Garden of Eden………………………………………... 6 Jenks’ Editing Principles………………………………………………………………………..15 Drafting A Farewell to Arms……………………………………………………………………20 Jenks Emendations to The Garden of Eden……………………………………………………. 38 Proposal for an Unabridged Garden…………………………………………………………… 51 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………... 54 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………. 55 Curriculum Vitae………………………………………………………………………………..59 v Introduction Published posthumously in 1986, The Garden of Eden is a complicated novel for many scholars interested in the Hemingway canon. The narrative chronicles the dissolution of David and Catherine Bourne’s relationship during their honeymoon in the French Riviera and the coastal towns of Spain. Throughout the novel Catherine struggles with her gender and sexual identity, while David cloisters himself in his writing in response to his fear that his talent is being consumed by the comfort of his wife’s wealth. Catherine’s gender fluidity is expressed by an act of gender re-labeling during intercourse, which defines her as male and David female. All of this is played out under the rising tension created by the ménage a trois between the Bournes and a young woman named Marita, whom the couple meets and invites to live with them during their stay. As Catherine and David become more intimate with Marita, both slip further into their fixations—for Catherine, the gender fluidity; for David, the stories he writes about his father. Ultimately, the marriage dissolves after Catherine destroys the stories and leaves Marita and David to begin their own romance at the novel’s conclusion. The text is in provocative compared to Hemingway’s other works, and yet staunchly adherent to many of the traditional Hemingway tropes, providing a unique experience for any reader willing to pick it up, considering it finds itself squarely placed thematically, morally, and stylistically between the old and the new. In the novel, Hemingway confronts changing cultural paradigms and new artistic modes of expression, though he is in many ways inhibited by his conservative, male-centric, understanding of gender dynamics when representing Catherine’s gender and sexual exploration (Varsava 118). And while the novel serves as an intriguing new lens through which to analyze Hemingway and his writing, the mystery surrounding the editing process involved in publishing the novel twenty-five 1 years after Hemingway’s death becomes a point of contention for many scholars when discussing the novel. While the published version of The Garden of Eden contains 247 pages, which represents approximately 70,000 words, the manuscript copy consists of a voluminous 1,500 pages of material, constituting 200,000 words, which includes an unpublished subplot involving another married couple—Nick and Barbara Sheldon—who are used as foils for the Bournes throughout the narrative. According to K.J. Peters, seventy percent of the 1,500 page manuscript material consists of “heavily edited holography” while the “remaining thirty percent are typescripts of various chapters also found in holograph and edited by Hemingway and some other unknown person (probably a typist)” (17). While these emendations constitute dramatic revisions to the novel, the editor Tom Jenks and Hemingway’s publisher Scribner provide sparse details regarding the principles behind the decisions made to make such drastic cuts. As a result of the major excisions performed on the novel, the entirety of the Sheldons’ narrative was removed, and numerous reductions and revisions to the novel were performed. Though the manuscript for the novel was made available to the public at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston in conjunction with the novel’s release, little information was provided publically regarding the level of emendation performed on the text. Considering the severity of Tom Jenks’ alterations to the novel and the seemingly intentional scarcity of information related to Jenks engagement with the text, a consideration for how Hemingway’s style of editing compares to Jenks’ is