The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Sun Also Rises
Book Review: Builds Into A Very Good Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm 47 years old, have read thousands of books, and until this week had never read Hemingway. It was only finding myself out of town without a book that I snatched up my high school son's edition of The Sun Also Rises.
This is a very well written, relatively short novel which takes about five hours to finish at a leisurely pace. I must say, that for the first 50 pages or so, I was not impressed. Not a whole lot going on and what was happening didn't exactly get the heart racing. As the characters in the book relocated from Paris to Pamplona, however, I started to become engrossed in the story. I found myself reading later into the night, not feeling sleepy at all and not wanted to leave the story.
The novel follows a group of American and British expatriates in the interwar years (1920s) as they loll around and party their way through France and into Spain for the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona. The characters are predominantly alcohol soaked wastrels whose life consists of drinking, eating, drinking, passing out, drinking, going to bull fights, drinking, eating, passing out, drinking and doing a little fishing on the side.
It is a tribute to the beautiful, highly descriptive writing of Hemingway that such a backdrop can be crafted into an entertaining read, but I must say he pulls it off. This novel has certainly motivated me to read more Hemingway.
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: Classical Hemingway, need I say more?
Summary: 3 Stars
Actually, I shall say a bit more. If you are looking for a cliche product of Hemingway, search no farther. It has a great style, flow, great diction. However, it is a very dry story. Through symbolism and imagery and anecdotes, Hemingway manages to describe a theme that could have been described in two paragraphs. Suggested for Hemingway fans. Not so much for anyone else.Book Review: Clever, but Dull
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm hardly a literature major. I read for fun, and when I don't read for fun, I read to broaden my horizons. Having never read a Hemingway book in my life and wanting to step out of the comfort zone inhabited by Koontz, Rowling, Brown, Palahniuk and other modern authors, I picked this book up, expecting something grand after reading countless praise.
Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I don't have an eye for clever literature (okay, I definitely don't have one). Whatever the case, this book struck me as unbearably boring.
I'm not some child who reviews books he never finished. I read the entire thing. I'm also not some uncultured college kid whose idea of a "classic" is Twilight and Stephen King; I've read and enjoyed books ranging from The Metamorphosis to Catch-22. But I could not enjoy this book at all.
Aside from a trip to see some bullfights, nothing happens in this book. People talk, get drunk, go to bed, wake up, talk some more. There's no story behind it. The narrator, Jake Barnes, is afflicted by a strange wound that apparently leaves him incapable of entering a relationship however, this wound is only mentioned in a passing glance and never revealed, expounded upon or even brought up ever again. The characters are either jerks or cardboard. There's no conflict and no resolution. It's like if Seinfeld were a book.
After trying to find out what all the fuss is about over this book, I found that there are some symbolic parallels between Lady Ashley (the central figure of the book, apparently) and other people or actions in the book (the bull fighting, for example). In addition, this book does seem to give justice to the generation of the time, which is cool for history buffs. So it is a more clever book than it appears on the surface.
I won't say this book isn't good. For all I know, it probably deserves its title as a classic. But what I will say is that I found The Sun Also Rises to be extremely boring and did not enjoy a moment of it. I'm very glad it was a short read.
Book Review: Culture as a hobby to Americans
Summary: 3 Stars
I think this is THE book to describe how Americans feel about Europe as a place of culture and why Americans are indifferent when Europeans disdain Americans for their lack thereof. At the end of the day, when your larder is full, if you've some extra funds, you may spend more time in Europe than the efficient and so American Contiki tours but you kind of know, as an American whose ancestors usually came from somewhere else that it's not that important. The people in this book don't spend their time trying to out-Shakespeare the English or otherwise go native. They drink and lust after one another. And although this book is supposed to be wrecked psyches trying to get some sun therapy after the First World War, it's still going on today. Movies like the Tyrone Power and Hart Bochner adaptations and The Talented Mr. Ripley distract with their glossy visuals but really American expats are basically RV-ing their way around Europe in a well-funded cocoon, picking things up casually if those things are pretty enough or pique their interest in a bizarre way. The repetitiveness of the nonadventures in this book drove this idea home to me but the process was a chore. I'm not a fan of the writer.