The Sun Also Rises
53. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
This novel follows a group of English and America expatriates from bar to bar in France and Spain. The narrator, Jake Barnes, is a member of this group, along with Lady Brett Ashley, her fiancé Mike Campbell, Jake’s friend Bill, and a weak-willed Jew named Robert Cohn. Basically the group spends most of its time eating, drinking, and dancing - not necessarily in that order. There are petty rivalries between the men, almost all of whom vie for Brett’s attention. They all end up in Spain during a weeklong fiesta where they watch several bullfights; this is where the most dramatic events of the book occur. Through it all, the characters desperately try to distract themselves from the fundamental emptiness of their lives, searching for meaning after the devastation of World War I.
I liked this book a lot even though it’s very sad. Jake’s character was the most interesting to me - in fact, he was the only character who really caught my interest. Like the others, Jake is unhappy; unlike the others, he actually tries to figure out why he’s unhappy and wonders if there might be a way to change things. He knows that drinking all day long is not the answer (although that doesn’t stop him from going along with the crowd), and neither is traveling to exotic locations (although he does that too). He searches for meaning in love, religion, friendship, and the drama and passion of the bullfight - and this search is what makes him a true tragic hero, in my opinion. Hemingway’s style is pretty unique, and you either like it or you don’t. Personally I like it, and I think this novel flows very well. It deserves its status as a modern classic.
A quote that struck me from the novel: “I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”