The Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway was published by Scibner in 1926. It is based on Hemingway's friends and real events that he or they experienced. It is considered a modernist novel and some claim it is Hemingway's "best work."

The Sun Also Rises follows a group of friends, American and British, as they live in Paris and decide to go to Spain for the Festival of San Fermin. There's Robert Cohn, who is described as a pacifist who is also a boxer and who everyone refers to as "the Jew." Jake is the narrator and main character, working as a writer in Paris and the observer and voice of reason in the friend group. Bill is Jake's friend who tends to drink too much. Michael is a British ex-solder who is an alcoholic and bankrupt and is engaged to Brett, the British woman that Jake, Robert, and Michael are all in love with. Brett does not commit to one person for long and openly goes into relationships with the knowledge that she'll grow bored with them soon after. As they interact, mostly in pubs, bars, and cafes, the tension among the friends rises as more alcohol is consumed, Robert can't deal with Brett not returning his affection, Michael becomes angry that she won't tell Robert off and Brett leaves everyone for a nineteen year old bullfighter that she meets at the festival. Jake never intervenes in these issues resulting in Michael picking fights with Robert every chance he gets, Robert fighting Jake, Michael, and the bullfighter before being discarded by his friends, and Brett leaves Michael to be with the bullfighter only to telegraph Jake and asking his for help when she leaves the bullfighter.

There's also a lot of detail about the bullfighting and some of the culture around it. There are also a few chapters about fishing in a stream.

I did not like this book.
I nearly DNF'd if because I was so bored but I felt bad because I'd DNF'd all of last month's classics and had already decided not to finish the Faulkner book I'd been reading.
So what about this book rubbed me the wrong way?

First was the way Hemingway treated Robert. He is "the Jew." And everyone treats him poorly. Even Jake, who isn't as rude to his face as Michael or Bill or even in private like Brett, still repeatedly says "I hate him." Michael uses Robert's heritage as an insult on multiple occasions and, drunkenly, tries to shame Brett by saying she shouldn't go off with "Jews or bullfighters." I cringed every time something like this came up and it was really off putting.

Second, none of the characters really do anything. They don't change, unless you count getting into arguments and getting drunk, and they're all terrible people, especially to each other. I can tolerate books about bad people as long as they grow or change or learn something. I can tolerate it if they're doing something. But that's not the case here.

Also, NOTHING HAPPENS in the story! The entirety of the book is "lets get a drink, lets go eat, let's talk in circles saying the exact same sentence over and over a few times and be mean to each other, then we'll get another drink and pretend we're friends again while passive aggressively bringing up the fight we just had again. Oh, and let's go to the bullfights." That is the entire book! There's a point towards the end that I thought something was going to happen since Michael and Robert's fight became more aggressive and physical but it's resolved quickly and doesn't really impact the rest of the story.

Overall, I disliked this book. It reminded me too much of the Great Gatsby, another book I can't stand, and there was just too much rubbing me the wrong way. Now my husband showed interest in it and read the first chapter, saying he liked how it was written, so this is probably just a personal preference thing. I am happy to know, though, that it received mixed reviews when first published and I feel like that's a good thing to know going into this book. It's slow, the characters and events aren't great, and there isn't really any point. But it's short which is nice.

What do you think? Is there anyone out there who likes The Sun Also Rises and if so, what about it draws you to it? Is there something I missed because I was so disgusted by the characters? I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, travelers.