A new exhibition about the life of Ernest Hemingway opening in Boston reveals that, in addition to being one of America’s greatest writers, he was a hoarder. From bus tickets to bullfight tickets, Hemingway had an addiction to hoarding all things paper. The result of this lifelong obsession is a fascinating window into the author’s personal life decades after his death.
In our internet-obsessed and cloud-connected lives, we hoard more items than at any other point in human history. Just think of the number of photos that live on your smartphone.
While we might hoard more than ever, something tangible has been lost to the electronic environment. We save a lot of trees but photos and memories stored on the net don’t have the same emotional effect as paper. Perhaps the younger generations will lose their connection to the physical experience that only paper provides. With all this internet hoarding, what traces will we leave for future generations to uncover?
