The Sun Also Rises

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It's a hit!

Excellent book, and great writing! I love Hemingway's writing style throughout: he alternates between understated, implicit themes and beautifully ... (show more)

Excellent book, and great writing! I love Hemingway's writing style throughout: he alternates between understated, implicit themes and beautifully detailed descriptions of scenery. It was a very enjoyable and enriching read. (show less)

 

 

by Socrates Perez Jr.

No, it's a flop!

Spoiled ex-patriots living in Europe and getting drunk all the time. Hated the characters but loved the settings and the imagery Hemingway portray... (show more)

Spoiled ex-patriots living in Europe and getting drunk all the time. Hated the characters but loved the settings and the imagery Hemingway portrayed of turn of the century Europe. The fiesta in Pamplona was, by far, the most exciting part, and again, I could have cared less about the humans involved. Brett was one of the most abhorrent characters I have ever come across, Mike was your standard anti-Semite, and Robert was a wishy-washy love struck idiot taken in by the wiles of Brett. I had no interest in what happened to any of the characters, and felt more empathy for the poor bulls and horses in Pamplona than I did for anyone else. Thankfully, this was a quick read and thus I do not feel as though I wasted precious "other book" time on it.

I am curious to hear what everyone else at the book club has to say about it. (show less)

 

 

by Alessia Carnevali Lane

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  Okay. Fine. I will admit it. I admit I like Hemmingway. I fought it for years. I'd sit in my college undergraduate English courses seething with feminist rage at the dead white male canonnized authors who stole the goddess thunder from Shakespeare's sister. I set Hemmingway up as the ultimate raper of female identity. He was a boozer, a chauvinist, and a depressed egomaniac. I did not think anything he had to write would interest me in the least. And then I began teacing AP English. So, Hemmi... (show more)

  Okay. Fine. I will admit it. I admit I like Hemmingway. I fought it for years. I'd sit in my college undergraduate English courses seething with feminist rage at the dead white male canonnized authors who stole the goddess thunder from Shakespeare's sister. I set Hemmingway up as the ultimate raper of female identity. He was a boozer, a chauvinist, and a depressed egomaniac. I did not think anything he had to write would interest me in the least. And then I began teacing AP English. So, Hemmingway was on my list of classics but I still fought him. I know; I was a hypocrite. I say WAS because I finally read him and I finally see what all the kafuffle is about. He's brilliant.

  Ever want to roam the streets of Paris, hopping from bar to bar, not caring where your next drink came from, as long as it came? Ever want to run with the bulls in Pamplona? Hang out in a river and fish? Get drunk on the shore and laze in the sun? What about meet a bunch of ex-pats and tag along to a bull fight? Well, you can do all that and more in this book. The plot isn't much but his style, the style that shook the world, is really worth reading (and studying if you've a mind). His short, declarative sentences put you right in the action (which isn't much) and make you feel like you're really there. It helps if you've been to Paris. He describes wandering the streets so well I almost had to pull out a map and track their wanderings. Again, beautifully written. There's so much running dialogue it's almost like reading a script.

  Unlike so many authors, Hemmingway actually lives up to the hype. Read this book now! (show less)

   

  by Jean Walton on Feb 12, 2009 at 02:31AM

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  As much as I love Hemingway, I put myself at a disadvantage by first reading "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "A Farewell To Arms", when Hemingway had refined and mastered his truly unique style, while at the time he wrote this, he was much younger. "The Sun Also Rises" introduced the world to that style and certainly changed the course of American literature. I had a hard time connecting with this story because it is much less about plot than it is about atmosphere... (show more)

  As much as I love Hemingway, I put myself at a disadvantage by first reading "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "A Farewell To Arms", when Hemingway had refined and mastered his truly unique style, while at the time he wrote this, he was much younger. "The Sun Also Rises" introduced the world to that style and certainly changed the course of American literature. I had a hard time connecting with this story because it is much less about plot than it is about atmosphere and description. Hemingway is a brilliant painter when it comes to describing the night-life in 1920's Paris, or fishing in the mountains of Spain, and of course, the bullfights of Pamplona. But what makes "A Farewell To Arms" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" brilliant is a combination of that inimitable talent for description along with an engrossing story. "The Sun Also Rises" lacks the ladder. It provides escapism, but not excitement.

  Nevertheless, the book is certainly worth reading simply because of its revolutionary impact on the style of American literature and Hemingway remains one of my favorite authors. (show less)

   

   

  by Jared Shipley on Jul 16, 2009 at 11:32PM

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