The In the that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains.

In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders dry and white in the sun,

and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels.

Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves stirred by the breeze falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves. The Never Never Strays Farr is proud to be supported by Bickmo Cycle Insurance protecting the world's

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Terms apply. Well the opening to today's episode those are the words that many of you will

recognize the opening paragraph one of the most beautifully crafted

opening paragraphs in all of the literature, I think the opening paragraphs to a farewell to arms,

much of which, by Ernest Hemingway, much of which is based on the experience that Hemingway made during his months

when he was stationed with Section 1 of the American Red Cross Brigade during the Great War,

and he was based in this very town,

Bassano del Grappa, staying at the Villa Charitzo Lucca,

with a wonderful villa that is now the Ernest Hemingway Museum in Basano de Grappa.

Yeah, big fan of Hemingway. I just think there's a writer he's kind of I think I spoke about this last year. I'm just repeating myself now, but I think as a writer,

maybe not as a human being. He had lots of flaws and even as a writer, some of what he wrote was a bit

questionable, I suppose, with the benefit of high sight but

but what he does bear as a writer is incredibly it was just a stylist every there's not

there's not a comma that isn't intended and it's a kind of restrained style that I admire profoundly

Matt I just got some chat gbt I've downloaded it slightly annoyingly to my iPhone. I'm going to have to

cancel it because I've done a three day trial and I don't actually want to pay for it.

...