Sun Also Rises

Rating:
Summary: This is the real thing
Review: This is the real thing. This is the work that made Hemingway an icon of American 20th century literature. And no wonder. With its inimitable style (notwithstanding all the author's imitators), this novel brings you into the room with these characters, who are suffering, and you suffer along with them. They're suffering not only because they've just been through a ghastly war, but because they are 20-somethings, and have the same angst as all 20-somethings, besides the shadows the war has cast on all of them.

This tender age group, on the cusp of life and yet often feeling tragically lost, is a fascinating subject in literature, and I've just got to mention a special favorite of mine -- a contemporary novel that explores the concerns and struggles of some of today's 20-somethings. It's called Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf and it's by Asher Brauner.

Rating:
Summary: Hemingway's Best
Review: While I found the reviewer's comparison of this work to an iceberg (in that so much of the novel lies beneath the surface), to be generally accurate I might suggest that The Sun Also Rises is not exactly heavy literary lifting. Hemingway's prose is sparse, and his characters suffer their hidden scars- this is the stuff that made Papa famous, after all- but this is a work that is readily accessible, and while 90% of the book may be beneath the surface, the vast majority of his intent is apparent. This is not a criticism of Hemingway, as the man is one of my favorite authors, but I believe that makes this book great is that nearly anyone over the age of 15 can have a rich and rewarding reading experience with this novel. The sorrows that Hemingway's characters hide from view are common to all, and the story of unattainable, and unfulfilled, love is one of the century's best. As for the reviewer who trashed this book simply because it was "early" Hemingway, I don't know where to begin in stating how off that comment was. Hemingway was a literary prodigy, who reeled off a string of outstanding novels in his youth. They are all marked by tight plots, his terse prose, and a real connection with the spirit that defined the Lost Generation. In the years between his youthful height and the Old Man and the Sea, only For Whom the Bell Tolls could be described as great. The works of the "mature" Hemingway are short on ideas, and are long and wandering; it is as if the man simply ran out of talent. The Sun also Rises, on the other hand, is a brilliant work that works on so many levels, and, unlike some of his more epic works, can be readily enjoyed by all.

Rating:
Summary: You'll either like it or hate it..I'm split
Review: I picked up "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemmingway after I read the original New York Time's review of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road"(My favorite book) comparing the novel to "The Sun Also Rises." The two books had very little in common but I won't go into that. "The Sun Also Rises" is Hemmingway's tale of his lost generation of rich kids who fought in World War 1 and now do nothing but travel, eat, and go to clubs. The book's subject is a very fascinating one and the reason that kept me reading. However, Hemmingway half way through the novel starts to bore us and turns us from the novel instead of getting us interested in the characters. Judging from the split reviews I've read on Amazon, I've concluded you'll either be bored with this book or think it is a masterpiece.

The novel starts us out with Jack, a wounded ex World War 1 soilder who spends his better days hanging out in Paris Cafes and nightclubs. We are also introduced to Robert; an old school friend of Jack's and despised by others around him for being a Jew. Robert is an outsider of Jack's group always trying to fit in and cursed out by the group (I'll get to that later.) We also meet Brett, Jack's-I believe ex-girlfriend- who never knows weather she loves Jack or not. People believe that she is one of the best female heroine's in 20th cent. Literature. The group with a few others decides to go to Spain and see the bullfighting. In Spain, we think the characters will somehow be changed or come to terms with their lifestyle but it is pretty much the same as their lives in Paris. Even, the bullfighting just seems like a ho-hum experience to Jack and his friends.

Your average chapter in the book is something along these lines...Jack wakes up with a hangover around noon and quickly goes down for breakfast with his friends, Robert comes around and everyone yells at him, When Robert leaves everyone says anti-Semitic comments about him, Jack listens indifferently, everyone decides to meet at a place for dinner, everyone takes a nap then goes to dinner, they all order expensive wine and insult Robert more, they go to a club, Brett and Jack end up going back to their places, Brett is about to make love but then doesn't, jack falls asleep drunk. The whole process is repeated over and over through the book. Hemmingway writes in a repetition and simple tone. It all depends on your taste in the style of writing. I personally don't mind because I like Brett Easton Ellis and he has the same style; but with "The Sun Also Rises" it annoyed me because the novel was too long for it and these characters were too well-developed for that style. This novel deserved more depth and detail to it.

One part that I could not stand in the novel was the harshness of the characters towards Robert. Ok understand that I know it's a novel and reflecting the times but this novel just went too overboard. Every time Robert came in, I just wanted to flip past that part of the book. Hemmingway depicts these scenes in a distasteful manner that turned me off and I'm not easily stirred by writing.

In the end, I felt let down because no changes happened to the character lives and the conflict never changed. Why go through all the trouble if it's just Much ado about nothing? The novel was good however, in portraying the time period and "the lost generation" of the WW1 generation. That I give Hemmingway credit for. "The Sun Also Rises" is worth your time and like I said; you'll either hate or love it. Overall I gave it three stars because I neither hated nor loved it.

Rating:
Summary: AFICIONADO = PASSIONATE ONE
Review: In "The Sun Also Rises," Hemingway, through his alter-ego, Jake Barnes, tells us that the true meaning of "aficionad' is passion. In Spain, there is a more restrictive meaning. 'Aficianado' only means one who is passionate about the bulls. In fact, the concept is so restrictive that some bull fighters are considered to be just 'commercial' bull fighters and are not passionate enough about their chosen profession to be considered 'aficionados.' This is so according to Hemingway.

In the broader sense of the word, Hemingway, in this book, reveals himself (as Jake Barnes) to be an aficionado when it comes to boxing, drinking, fishing, and bull-fighting.

I had a problem with one aspect of "The Sun Also Rises." I found Hemingway's excessive use of negative ethnic stereotyping to be troublesome. For starters, he has created in Robert Cohn, a character who is emotionally unstable and thoroughly unlikeable because of his 'Jewishness.' Following are a few examples of this portrayal:

In reference to Cohn (observations of Barnes and his friends):

"He had a hard, Jewish streak."

Brett's gone off with (other) men, but they weren't ever Jews."

"That Cohn gets to me. He's got that Jewish superiority."

"That kike."

In reference to Jews in general: "She gets five hundred quid a year and pays three hundred and fifty of it in interest to the Jews. They're not really Jews. We just call them Jews. They're Scotsmen, I believe."

There are numerous other instances, but these already cited should suffice as examples of Hemingway's Jewish stereotyping.

He went after other groups too. To wit:

On Blacks: "The n , , , , drummer waved at Brett. He was all lips and teeth."

On gays: "I wanted to swing on one . . . . to shatter that superior, simpering composure."

He didn't quit there either. He went after the French and, on numerous occasions, showed his disdain for all casual tourists.

There is so much of this sort of prejudicial stereotyping throughout the book that it was ruined for me. It's too bad, because his bull-fight descriptions obviously came from an aficionado but were, for me, tainted by his attitudes.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing can be a good thing!
Review: I was lucky enough recently to get to teach this to high school students. Once you get away from the idea that something always has to HAPPEN, the book becomes much clearer. I think of it like "Seinfeld." A show about nothing with despicable characters. I loved Seinfeld, too. If you are familiar with Hemingway's "iceberg" principle of writing, where most of the stuff is below the surface, you'll enjoy it more. It's by far one of my favorite books. Although it is funny that one of my students called it "sixteen chapters of exposition with one chapter of plot."

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: This is my favorite novel. Best use of dialogue by any writer in any novel. Circles, deja vu, and echos reverb throughout. Characters reflect off one another. First and last lines are flawless. As is the rest of the text. No sentence, or word goes to waste. Unlike other masterpieces of fiction, even by Hemingway, not a moment in this novel is self indulgent. The perfect modern work.

Some things to consider: Is Robert Cohn simply a fool? Does he really behave as badly as one is led to believe? Robert Cohn is one of the most misunderstood characters in all of fiction. As flawed as he is, he is a noble character, the only character who undergoes transition throughout his time in the narrative. His journey is crucial to the novel, in fact, as crucial as Jake's. Notice that he is missing from the last book.

Brett is also a misunderstood character. Does she love Jake? Perhaps, in fact almost definately, but contrary to popular opinion, a case CAN be made that she doesn't. Her relationship with Jake is one of the saddest in fiction. When reading the end of the novel, note the deja vu Hemingway creates. Remember Georgette the prostitute? Reread Jake's encounter with Georgette earlier in the novel, after finishing TSAR. Then think about how Brett herself can be linked to prostitution. This might change your perception of the novels conclusion, though you will find it to be every bit as sad, if not more so.

One reviewer here suggests the novel is about falling out of love. THis is very possible. Regardless of whether he still loves the idea of Brett that he had, Jake sees Brett very differently at the end of the novel. Once again, I beleive Georgette is crucial to this reading of the novel. There are many possible readings, but don't take things for granted when you read this book. Especially that the way Jake portrays Brett and Cohn acurratly reflects who they are. Remember, this is a first person narrator. This is an extremmely complex book that demands rereadings. Don't take for granted that the relationships and characters are as simple as you might be led to beleive.

Rating:
Summary: Reading Hemingway after Proust and Joyce
Review: Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" is ranked # 45 on the 20th century's best 100 books written in English. His "A Farewell to Arms" # 74. These are accurate rankings.

Reading "The Sun Also Rises" after "In Search of Lost Time" or "Ulysses" is like warming one's bones in a hot tub after a 100-mile run. But the book does leave a corrugated groove on the reader's mind as how that small group of the Lost Generation in Paris lived their confused lives, which other readers have accurately recalled from the book.

There is nothing "deep" in the book; just a straight reporting of events. Nothing explicit about art or music or philosophy or psychology or rhetorical devices of the language as one would find in Proust and Joyce, unless one condiders the description of the bullfights, which is nicely done, and the one remark on the narrator's lack sensibility or ability to know and use irony and pity, which is poorly done, as enough "depth" for a book of that size.

Not that such "deep" things can not be found in the book; they can, to a modest level. The burden of finding them is on the reader. The "deep" things would have to be lifted by the reader's sustained contemplation of the characters' behavior, and then the reader would have to go elsewhere for a deeper understanding of those behaviors. Even at the modest level, the simplicity of the book's sentences forces the reader to rush, making the effort of discovery difficult for the reader.

Did Hemingway, indeed, intend to talk about "deep" things in any of his books? And if so, can short declarative sentences prove a worthy vehicle to carry and convey the weight of "deep" thoughts?

Rating:
Summary: What makes Hemingway great...
Review: "The Sun Also Rises" is truly vintage Hemingway. His technique is well developed--short, sparse sentences acting as bookends for rambling descriptions; complex, subtle characterization; vivid moments that almost, but not quite, pass by so quickly that you miss them.

If you reach the end of the book and are frustrated, don't be--it means you got it. There is no triumph, nor is the tragedy so profound that no hope is left at all for Brett and Jake.

If you read more than one Hemingway novel, this one has to be included.

Rating:
Summary: The horrific war and the victims...
Review: Most of the characters of in this book (except for Pedro and some of the other minor characters) are war veterans from WWI. The narrator of this book is Jake Barnes. The world where Jake lives in is full of carelessness and aimless hedonist. Their only cure from the war is endless drinking and visiting cafes, restaurants, dance halls, parties, traveling, and sexual relationships (their obsession with Lady Brett Ashley). All the men are craving for a relationship Brett. However, she is deeply in love with Jake. For Jake and Brett, they are unattainable, but are emotionally dependant on each other. Hemmingway does a good job in depicting the emotions of the characters and the atmosphere of the different events that happen in the book. (the parties, dance halls, fiestas, and bull fighting.) Also, Hemmingway brings the characters alive through his descriptions and makes the readers almost feel as though they are a part of all the happenings in the book. This book is strongly recommended for those of you who are willing to learn about the "lost generation" after WWI. Two thumbs up! :)

Rating:
Summary: The man's world revolves around one Lady--Brett Ashly
Review: This early peice of Hemingway's work captures the very essence of Hemingway's fame as a writer. In "The Sun Also Rises" Hemingway utilizes a simplisitic, humble, more comprehendable method of writing. Which in my opinion is the method that gave this writer his fame. Yet, even though his writing style in this novel is simple, there is a lot if depth and meaning that lies within the words. A lot of significant symbols are captured in this novel. This novel critically depicts the emotional power that women have over men, whether people believe it or not. Because of this one woman, Brett Ashly, the lives of such men like Jake, Robert Cohn, and Bill drastically change. This novel also relates realisticaly to "real" lifestyles. For instance, there is drinking (alocoholism), partying, and sexual content(namely prostitution)...all explicit aspects of real life. This book relates to me because it's content is so real, there is not the normal love story, where a woman falls in love with a man and the end. The love story is actually quite twisted, and this is what makes this novel so unique. Once again, by far Hemingway's best work.

Grade: B