Rehashing Hemingway

After reading Hemingway's "The Old Man and The Sea", I decided I didn't like his style of writing. However, I find myself in the odd position of having to examine that claim now that I've read "Hills Like White Elephants". His short story is so different from what I remember. Of course this may be because I didn't pick it up on my own free will, but rather from being forced by school curriculum. Either way, there are some differences that I know brought me closer to this short story in comparison to his novel. Despite the reader being thrown into the middle of this private conversation, having no knowledge of the characters nor their history, it was very easy to read and begin to feel for them. The way they argue, yet try to come to a decision but know that things will ultimately not work out, at least not the way it did before, show they do genuinely seem to care but their situation is taking a toll on their relationship. It's written as though the reader were there overhearing a conversation, which is something I've rarely come upon and after this experience, I think I quite like it.