National Perspective: Hemingway and Castro in Cuba

SAN FRANCISCO DE PAULA, Cuba — A bullfight poster hangs on the wall. Of course it does. Ten bottles of liquor are on the table. No surprise there. A Billie Holiday vinyl record rests near the Victrola. Just as it should. Loads of books sit on the shelves, animal heads are mounted on the walls. We'd be disappointed if that weren't the case.

We are at Ernest Hemingway's house in the hills outside Havana, surrounded by the detritus from a life of action and reflection. And, to be sure, of production: Over there is the Royal typewriter, down there is the wastebasket for discarded typewritten pages. And because Hemingway was a man of vision — not only of a new form of literature but also of physical beauty — there is a spectacular view of the city miles away and, beyond that, of the sea. It is a vision of tranquility for a man of vitality and anxiety.