The Sun Also Rises Book Review
I read the “The Sun also Rises” after “A moveable feast” — the latter was a memoir which captured Hemingway’s early years as an expat journalist in Paris, and the former was a novel about British and American expats traveling from Paris to Spain. In both works, Hemingway’s unique literary style manifests in a clear, concise, and metaphoric prose. For instance, he captures rural scenery with concise sentences: We looked out at the plain. The long lines of trees were dark in the moonlight. There were the lights of a car on the road climbing the mountain. Up on the top of the mountain we saw the lights of the fort. Below to the left was the river. It was high from the rain, and black and smooth. Trees were dark along the banks.
In “The Sun also rises”, the characters were concisely portrayed, with minimal descriptions. Yet, the characters’ conversations betrayed their personalities and inherent natures. Among the oftentimes aimless conversations of the characters, Hemingway often makes his characters say one thing and convey another, creating a rich ambiance that surrounds the reader with emotion and familiarity. For instance, Jake’s unrequited love with Brett is portrayed with a conversation that reflected the obscure heartbreak. “Oh Jake, we could have had such a damned good time together.”, said Brett. Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. “Yes,”, I said. “Isn’t it pretty to think so?
In the book, we get a glimpse of a moment in time, of “the lost generation’s” adventures post the second world war. The American and British expats lived life aimlessly, marking their existence in alcohol, bull fights, literature, writing, and road trips. Hemingway had a talent for portraying the character’s interpersonal dynamics through their actions and conversations. Brett’s affairs with Cohn, Mike, Jake, and Romero were hopelessly and tragically intertwined. “Love triumphs all but leaves carnage in its wake.” The first-person narrative also adds to the pleasure of reading the book. Jake, the main character, vividly captures his observations of his friends. “I wished Mike would not behave so terribly to Cohn though. Mike was a bad drunk. Brett was a good drunk. Cohn was never drunk. Mike was unpleasant after he passed a certain point. I liked to see him hurt Cohm. I wished he would not do it though, because afterward it made me feel disgusted about myself. That was morality, things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immortality.”
Reflections
Having visited Arles during the Easter Fiera in 2019, I remembered my first bull fight vividly — lively, energetic, and culturally vibrant. “It is a deeply entrenched cultural tradition resistant to change, a beautiful expression of what it means to be Spanish.” Despite visiting a French town (not a Spanish one), the vibrant music, passionate audience, and artistic form of art performed by the matadors — dangerous and beautiful, left a deep impression in my heart. Bullfights are dangerous rituals, and Hemingway was deeply engaged in the form of art. He describes the emotional elation, the flow of the crow, and passionate dancers, and the shrill music in the book. I enjoyed reading his portrayal of the matadors, as their beautiful performances do leave a strong impression long after you leave the bullfight arena. “Romero never made any contortions, always it was straight and pure and natural in line. The others twisted themselves like cork-screws, their elbows raised, and leaned against the flanks to give a faded look after danger. Romero’s bull fighting gave real emotion, because he kept the absolute purity of the line in his movements and always quietly and calmly let the horns pass him close each time.”
Hemingway’s writing is timeless, as it engages and endures through shared experience with the reader. The common humanity and relationships lived through his characters — unrequited love, friendship camaraderie, and search for life’s meaning evoke unprecedented familiarity with the reader. His bold observations in human existence hits readers with a strong yet obscure wall of emotions. I particularly enjoyed a few sentences in the book…rich with emotion, introspection, and obscurity.
“It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine and an ignored tension and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people.”
“I can’t stand to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.”
“I had the feeling as in a nightmare of it all being something repeated, something I had been through and that now I must go through again.”
