Rating: 
Summary: The Sun Also Rises
Review: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is an intriguing and well-written story. I enjoyed reading this book mostly because of the captivating plot. I felt that Jake Barnes was an unusual character and the fact that he never got what he wanted added more interest to the plot. However, Lady Brett Ashley angered me due to her selfishness and destructive behavior towards all of the men in this book. Although it fit in with the plot, her character aggravated me. I felt bad for Jake and how Brett treated him, but I also think that the tension between the two of them added a lot of interest to the story. "Oh, Jake," Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." (251) Aside from the intense drama occurring during the story with Brett and her lovers, I really enjoyed reading about the crazy nights that this group of friends would have. They were always out at bars and cafes, and when they went to Spain for the bullfighting there was a non-stop festival.
I feel that the most significant theme in this novel was the characters' feelings of having meaningless lives. Jake feels as though his life has no more meaning after his injury during the war. But he's not the only one who feels this sense of worthlessness. This group of friends drowned their troubled minds with drinking and dancing, and that was how they coped with their aimless lives every day. This theme does not relate to my life at all, but I'm sure it relates to the lives of many other people. Some people turn to drinking or drugs or anything they can to escape their feelings of misery or emptiness.
While reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I think it's an extraordinary story and I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone. The plot is intense and dramatic, with unexpected twists and bizarre characters. I recommend this book for those interested in reading about the fictional lives of a group of aimless souls looking for trivial ways to escape their feelings.
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile
Review: I read The Sun Also Rises for one of my summer reading requirements. Initially, I was skeptical as to whether I would enjoy Hemingway, but in the end it turned out to be one of my favorite books.The story begins with the introduction of a group of friends who are living in France after World War I. They go out to notorious cafes, luxurious restaurants, and wild clubs and try to drink away their disillusionment with themselves. When that doesn't seem to allievate the problem, they venture out to Spain, once again attempting to run away from their tribulations. The book is set in a generally mellow atmosphere which can get a bit slow at times, but the whimsical characters allow for more exciting events such as the bullfights, the fights, and the conversations. This book is strikingly familiar to The Great Gatsby. However, this proves no coincidence as Hemingway and Fitzgerald were friends during their time spent in Europe with the rest of the expatriates. This novel reflects the lives of the "Lost Generation," and will most certainly leave you entertained.
Rating: 
Summary: Apt Diagnosis
Review: In high school, I went through a stage where I read a lot of Hemingway, and I really didn't like any of it. I kept reading it, though I don't think I ever understood that little masochistic streak. Now, after returning to Hemingway with this novel, I think I see a little more clearly. Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" is such an accomplished look at the lost generation, and I think the experience of those lost searchers really parallels in so many ways the experience of my generation (and probably that of every subsequent generation). This novel really resonated with me. It's the story of Jake and several other moneyed expatriates who wander through Europe trying to forget their despair and trying to hide from their unhappiness. They wander through meaningless episode after meaningless episode, though at times, there are luminous moments where the characters truly connect with one another (during the fishing trip and when Jake and Brett are together), and you see what might have been or what could be if they could only break out of their current empty existences. The Sun Also Rises is a poignant, heart-breaking work with an abundance of meaning for today.
Rating:
Summary: Meaning and The Quest for Human Destiny
Review: I was assigned to read this book for a undergraduate class called "Quest for Human Destiny II: Love, Sex, and Death," and this book delivered. Almost no one can match Hemingway when it comes down to the futile search for meaning, anguish, and the human condition. Imagine returning from a gruesome war, forever stuck with an injury that deprives one of a vital capacity for not only procreation, but romance. Trying to fill the time of each passing day, Jake, Brett, and co., wander from one bar to the next, noticing the emptiness of existence at every stop. Where is happiness? Each character struggles with this question by ignoring it, choosing instead the distractions of the pleasant - batting the insatiability of their desires - a path to utter misery. Despite the gloomy picture, this book, in my opinion, is the crown jewel of Hemingway's works. It is a testament to the human condition and should be a required read for everybody.
Rating:
Summary: This book is about Paris, the 1920s, drink, sex, and courage
Review: I'd recommend this book to anyone, it is particularly important that you read it if you're going to visit Paris, since this book will open your eyes to Hemingway's Paris... which through his eyes and perception of it, is as beautiful a city as you will find. In many ways it's a very sentimental novel about Paris, the 1920's, drink, sex, and courage. While the novel begins in Paris, the reader is taken south to the Pyranees that border France and Spain, and then further south still to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. The book's hero Jake cannot consumate his relationship with Lady Brett Ashley because of an unfortunate injury he acquired in the war in Italy, rendering him impotent. Brett is pigheaded, stunning, an attention seeker, and a flirt... this combination drives Jake crazy as she returns his love, but goes out with other men to get the one thing she can't get from him. This tragic scenario is masterfully painted for us by Hemingway from the very beginning of the book. So, the one thing that Jake wants to give to Brett he can't, and this makes him feel inadequate, and creates an ambivalence in her attitudes and behaviour toward him. Jake is the man she loves, he's right for her in every way, yet because of his injury she is driven away from him, and goes out with much lesser suitable men, one in particular is an out and out fool and a nothing compared with Jake. Hemingway makes the reader feel Jake's wistfullness and sentimentally about what could be between Jake and Brett, we also drink up the mood of Paris and Pamplona during the Fiesta... it's hard not to come away from the book with a crush on Lady Brett, a wish that you'd experienced Paris in the 1920's as Hemingway did, and perhaps more than anything else, dying for a drink... in classic Hemingway style, the characters booze their way through the novel from page 2. ***** Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: Of the three books I've recently read, THE SUN ALSO RISES is one of my favorites. The other two I greatly enjoyed were Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH and McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. All of these are excellent, but the Hemingway was for me the most riveting.
Rating: 
Summary: I just didn't like it
Review: If you are a Hemingway fan after reading The Old Man and the Sea, don't expect that you will necessarily enjoy this one. I found this book to be slow and Hemingway spent too much time describing the scenery and the surroundings. Some people might enjoy that (if you do than this is the book for you). But I did not get anything out of it. The story just seemed to move very slowly. I have read that Hemingway was writing this book about the Lost Generation. After reading the book, that makes sense. The characters move from place to place seemingly on a whim. As the book follows them, the reader can really feel why they are called the Lost Generation, as they don't seem to have any ambitions. In this sense, I give Hemingway credit as a writer. But as a reader, that isn't enough for me. I didn't enjoy reading it or being a part of the story. If you think you disagree with most of what I said, than this book might really be right for you. But it wasn't right for me.
Rating:
Summary: Rather difficult, but well worth the time...
Review: Ernest Hemingway's entry to fame was when this piece of work was put into mass production. Over time, Hemingway's style of writing has changed quite a bit and by reading this, one of his first novels, one is able to see the progression of a man outfitted with an artistic and utterly brilliant mind. The Sun Also Rises was rather difficult to read, however, the time spent working through the novel, evaluating each character, following the plot, and picturing the development of the theme was well worth it.
The novel consists of many different types of characters. The novel's main character and narrator, Jake Barnes, an ex-militant, is a journalist stationed in Paris where easily more drinking and partying takes place than any sort of actual work. Barnes is also quite possibly the reason the book is somewhat difficult to read. His tendency to keep the reader unaware of what his actions are, but describe everyone else's actions makes him quite a difficult character to understand. A second important character happens to be the love of Jake's life, Lady Brett Ashley. Ashley, like all of the rest of the characters in the novel is a heavy drinker. Barnes loves her so much, and even she loves him back but refuses to make any sort of committment because she has a very indecisive attitude. Unfortunately, her life seems to be leading to an endless sea of sadness and depression, no positive goals are in sight. Outside of Jake's relationship, he shares good times with a group of friends, one of the closest being Robert Cohn. Cohn is one of those friends that everyone enjoys picking on, but he doesn't what he would do without him. Cohn is also a drinker, but shares different ideas on opinions such as casual sex and also happens to be jewish. A fellow, yet more consistant drinker than the rest, Mike Cambell, is a rather perfect depiction of the feelings expressed throughout this novel. He is a poor alcoholic with a horrible temper. Barnes has a few other friends and meets many others throughout the journey of this novel, but none shed too far from the typical drunken aquatance.
When The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926, it tells a story of the concerns a group of Americans residing in Europe during the mid 1920s. The two main characters are Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. During the beginning of the novel we are told that Ashley's husband was killed in World War 1 and happened to work in the same hospital that Barnes was sent to after he was injured in combat. This is the beginning of Barnes' loving feelings for Ashley. Jake begins his story by telling of his pre and current relationship with a fellow drinkig partner, Robert Cohn. The morning after Jake begins his story, he is at breakfast with Cohn. It is here where Jake points out Ashley to Cohn and he is very overwhelmed by her beauty. A few weeks after this small get-together, Jake and Cohn are traveling in a small town near Paris where heavy drinker, Bill Gorton is introduced. Jake, Cohn, and Gorton spend their time together fishing, drinking, and partying following their train trip to Spain. Following 5 days of partying, Jake and Bill decide to make another trip to a small town outside spain, but Cohn decides to stay. Jake and Bill check into a small hotel where they meet a young bullfighter, Montoya, who tells them of a bullfighting festival coming up in a few short days. This festival is highly enjoyed by Jake and Bill being that it consists mostly of heavy drinking, dancing, and everything that generally goes along with it. A day or so later, Cohn arrives with Ashley. This is a suprise to Jake, who becomes extremely enraged. There is a fight and Cohn ends up knocking out both Jake and Bill. After a well thought out apology, there is forgiveness among the group of men. Following this agreement, the next day the three men rent a car and head their seperate ways. Jake chooses to go back to spain with Ashley, who has once again become indecisive about the man she chooses to be with. The ending scene takes place with Jake and Ashley speaking of how good they would have been together, but unfortunately never were. The novel ends with a depressing quote from Jake, "Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?" after Ashley tells him of her feelings for him.
The characters of this novel provide the reader with quite an obvious theme. A theme depicting a society with no goals or any general direction in their lives. Instead of taking the time to plan on the future, their time is spent partying and drinking, which leads them no further to happiness, even though they may think it at the time. All this partying is merely a distraction from Jake and his friends from seeing the downfall of their futures.
Rating: 
Summary: Slooowww..........Readiiiing.
Review: This was our second book club pick and we could barely muddle through! We liked the descriptiveness, but the plot was slow and fairly uninteresting.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreary
Review: This book is an account of several characters that are complete losers. The story never picks up, and the account of people getting drunk continually is uninteresting. Hemmingway makes use of a lot of dialogue that is sometimes hard to follow. The one bright spot of the book is the way that the author reveals the culture and landscape of Spain. He wrote in a way that made the Spanish atmosphere very vivid. I enjoyed Hemmingway's book, Old Man and the Sea much more than this book.
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