The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
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Book Reviews of The Sun Also Rises
Book Review: Isn't it pretty to think so?
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps it is some measure of how far American culture has fallen that a novel like the Sun Also Rises, depicting as it does people who are essentially lost and appear set to remain so for the rest of their distressing lives, appears paradisiacal. Who wouldn't enjoy a European vacation like Jake Barnes'? Especially those sections where he is alone in San Sabastian swimming, eating and drinking or fishing with Bill on the Irati River. Even Jake's life as a newspaperman in Paris, filled with long, lingering lunches, and visits by eccentric characters and hard-noised newspapermen with snappy, peppy comebacks, creates a picture that is far from alienating. This is, in some ways, part of the appeal of The Sun Also Rises. The nostalgia is contagious. Throughout the novel many of the characters have nostalgia for the First World War, a war which damaged them all physically, psychologically, or both. Compared to the muddle of civilian life in the 1920s, the simplicity of war's exigencies created a mix of nostalgia and forgetfulness. The same holds for us, the readers of The Sun Also Rises, the heirs to its vision of disillusionment. Our losses and extractions are so dramatic, our culture so debased, that The Sun's bleak landscape of loss is appealing, poetic, romantic.Book Review: Classic Hemingway
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book for my daughter who has evinced an interest in Hemingway. The backstory of this novel is interesting. The people in the novel, except for Jake, are all real people and friends of Hemingway. The story of the trip to the bullfights in Spain was true and one of many that Hemingway and his friends made in 1920s Spain. It takes place in a few days and this was the first big novel that made him famous. Prior to this, he was known as a short story writer. One character, Robert Cohn, was a friend who was quite angry at his role in the fictionalized version of the trip. He thought Hemingway had made him look like a fool and he threatened to kill Hemingway, a famous brawler among his friends. There was a small bar in Paris, across the street from the Cafe de la Paix, where they all used to hang out. It is no longer there but was on my first trip to Paris. Hemingway spent several days waiting for this disgruntled friend to come in the bar so he could try to defuse the anger before something serious happened. Finally, after about a week, the friend walked in and Earnest jumped up, ran over to him and shook his hand, greeting him as an old friend. The ploy worked and the feud was over. This is a classic and the first of his novels.Book Review: Revisiting The Sun Also Rises
Summary: 5 Stars
Back-to-School book this year was Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises." Glorious. A totally different book than the one I read almost 45 yrs ago! Have I changed so? Or did Ernest re-edit given my experience? Having visited Pamplona, San Sebastian and Madrid, the Spanish "books" became more real and thereby more impressive. On first reading as a student, I was struck by the gore of the bullfight, now I see the majesty. There is such a strong parallel in the telling of the grace of the bullfight - the aficion - to "The Old Man and the Sea." Before, I was so deflected by what I read as Hemingway's macho bias, that I failed to fully admire his spare but powerful style. I had failed to recognize the poignancy and disillusionment of his flamboyant characters. Reading "The Sun Also Rises" in the early 70's, perhaps, I was not prepared to accept disillusionment -- or wanted to hold it at bay. Now, I accept the cultural ennui as a reflection and not necessarily as a vortex. My favorite line comes from a supporting character, Michael, the alcoholic, penniless Scotsman. When asked how did he go bankrupt, he answers: "Two ways: gradually and then suddenly!"Book Review: My second favorite Hemingway novel...
Summary: 5 Stars
Besides Islands in the Stream I have to say that The Sun Also Rises is my favorite Hemingway novel. Hemingway writes about love that can never be and does so with some of the best writing ever put to paper. The Story follows Jake Barnes, whose mysterious war injury has left him unable to procreate...and thus, he will never fulfill the one thing that his true love, Lady Ashley, needs.
From the nighttime streets of Paris, to the noisy Fiestas of Spain, we travel with a group of rambunctious American ex-patriots across two countries. Fighting, lust, and drinking are the highlights of the novel. Hemingway's writing style is nothing short of spectacular. His words are full of imagery and life. From tales of dancing in a musty Paris nightclub to trout fishing in a crystal clear Spanish lake. Hemingway paints the settings perfectly, and the story that goes with it is heartbreaking and at the same time beautiful.
5/5
Book Review: Hemingway's first masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's second novel but his first masterpiece. It centers around the relationship between Jake Barnes and Britt Ashley who fell in love during WWI when Jake was a wounded soldier and Britt a nurse who was assigned to him. Brii wants both good sex and deep emotional companionship. Jake wounded in his genitals is sexually impotent but is the only man who can give Britt what she wants emotionally so Britt is constantly infatuated with men has sex with them and then drops them once the sex no longer satisfies. There is a lot of empty behavior in the novel. The title comes form a passage from The Bible specifically Ecclesisates and one must realize the novel is not so much about a group of American and British expatriates as a commentary on the vanity of life. A great novel which I recommend wholeheartedly