Book Review: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
I started to really enjoy this book once I realized it was a character sketch of fundamentally broken people. They're all messed up, they're all constantly drunk. As a descriptive piece, it was excellent. The scenes with the bullfighting were great.
I'm not sure that I really understand the book though. What was Cohn's deal? Bill's a chill dude, just hanging out and having a good time. Jake never says what he thinks about things, he's completely unreliable when it comes to himself. He's hung up on Brett and can't break away, even though he knows they can never be together.
And Brett - the source of all the trouble. Free-spirited, seemingly carefree Brett. She's got her own problems from Lord Ashley that she's never fully reconciled with and processed. In all her attempts to patch those holes with alcohol and men, she dug herself even deeper into a hole. Different holes, you see.
It's an interesting chronicle of a time and poeple dealing with disillusionment. Religion serves no anchoring purpose in their lives. They have nothing to believe in, so they numb themselves.
Near the end of the book, Brett tells Jake: "Don't get drunk. You don't need to." In her eyes, he's well adjusted. He's certainly the most level of all of them (so he says), except maybe Bill. Bill's more of a friend, a pal, a homeboy, a rotten soldier, a sweet cheese, a good time boy.
I wonder if there's a movie adaptation. How could there ever be one? What would even happen?
I can see why this book would've been a huge deal for a starting-out author like Hemingway. But I don't think it's one of the great books I've ever read. Hemingway's style is interesting, with the clear, straightforward prose,.
The book left me feeling like I don't fully understand what it was trying to convey. I suppose, with some assistance, I'd understand enough of the time and circumstances to better appreciate the book. On my own, I feel like I should've understood better, but I didn't.
Compared to The Great Gatsby, which I understood. That's clearly a tragedy, but the tragedy in this book is more fuzzy. This is a snapshot of these characters over a few weeks, a "slice of life". Although it might be silly to compare the two books - I only compare them because the writers were contemporaries and I happened to read both books a few weeks apart.