The Sun Also Rises (1926)

Well, I've finally read my first Hemingway. It probably won't be my last, despite my three-star rating. I wanted to like this enough to give it five stars--it is clever in places, and I'm generally ok with the "iceberg theory" and concision in writing.

I just had a difficult time connecting to any of the characters enough to care. Paired with the fact that bullfighting interests me not a whit, there wasn't a lot here to keep me interested. People drinking, talking about drinking, having sex, not having sex, fighting, not fighting...it also bothered me that the only female character was "liberated" (by 1920s standards) yet seemed to have very little else to do other than find a man de jour (or semaine). That this novel is semi-autobiographical does not help matters.

There are moments of very wry humor that I enjoyed, although parsing it from the anti-semitism was difficult. I did some background reading on the debate over the anti-semitic characterization of Robert Cohn. Jeremy Kaye, in the Spring 2006 issue of the The Hemingway Review suggests a re-imagining and re-reading of Cohn's character. That it dialogues with Hemingway's ideas of masculinity is certain. I'm just not sure I care for Hemingway's ideas of masculinity, or femininity, while we are at it. Sure, I get that gender fluidity was not a mainstay for most authors in the 1920s, but Hemingway's characterizations seem to reinforce the binary with such starkness that I found it difficult to engage.

I'm sure there will be those that read this and disagree heartily with my review. As I said, I haven't given up on Hemingway, and I'll probably turn to Old Man and the Sea next. ( )

Rating 6/10

A book that I finished today. Not one I liked very much. The book almost smelled like a bar on Saturday, that much alcohol was consumed by the characters. And the I dislike the fiesta in Pamplona, the description of which took another chunk of the book.
The part that was left seems to be mostly about Brett and her actions and I don't that it'll be staying with me for a longer time after reading. ( )

For much of the novel I didn't give damn about Jake, Brett, or really any character that have been described to me as unforgettable. The largesse of their lifestyles is off-putting, sneer inducing, until the very end where the cracks and fissures begin to emerge in the constant reverie that's working to obliterate all sorts of pain. It's a pain I felt and appreciated Hemingway's style, to bury, show, reveal, in implication, which didn't totally kill my intial impression of the novel but lent it a weightier substance that I cannot easily dismiss.

Hemingways first published novel was well written with a descriptive sense of place and occassional insights, esp. to bullfighting w a good description of the running of the bulls. I had no sense of lostness of a lost generation, just some drunkards and self-pitying fools who don't appeared to have grown up. The dialogue was week. The second time I've read it. ( )

It seems to me readers either love Hemingway or hate him. I tend to be in the love camp and now, after reading The Sun Also Rises, never more so.
A group of expatriates, residing in Paris, take a summer vacation in Pamplona to watch Running of the Bulls and enjoy it's 7 days of fiesta. Central to the story are Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. They love each other but because of medical reasons their future together, is just not feasible. So what's there to do but drink and party with your friends. In fact, many of the party members seem confused, unfulfilled and depressed. The result is a bunch of 30 year old adults on spring break, looking
for relief in booze and sex.
The thing is, this book was written in 1926 and women were thought of very differently so perhaps that's why Hemingway is not a favorite but I appreciate this book for the snapshot in time it provides. He writes of a post WWI world and a generation still coming to terms with the affects of the war. To leverage that he puts Jake and his friend, Bill, on a train and Hemingway's description of the French and Spanish countryside reads like a travelogue. Their sojourn in a small fishing town sounds idyllic and acts as a sharp contrast to the description he provides of the brutal bullfights, they will shortly witness.
I enjoyed being a part of this crowd for a short spell but also glad to leave them in their sullen lives. ( )