Book of the Week

11 years ago

The sun also rises / Ernest Hemingway.

This is a magnificent novel that is beautifully written. If only all writers were as wonderful as Ernest Hemingway! I love writing that is original and Hemingway's writing here is not only original, it is so "real" and truthful, it cuts right to the bone. In this way, it is very different from so many other books and makes it a real pleasure to read.

One of the things Hemingway writes of with admiration is the skill of the bullfighters, which can also be applied to writing. The once-great skill of bullfighter Belmonte is compared with young Romero - "the sincerity of [Belmonte's] own bull-fighting would be so set off by the false aesthetics of the bull-fighters of the decadent period that he would only have to be in the ring. Romero did always, smoothly, calmly, and beautifully, what he, Belmonte, could only bring himself to do now sometimes." In particular, the final, wistful sentence of the novel is one of the best I've ever read and is such a fitting conclusion to all that had gone before.

The sun also rises is a portrait of a group from the "lost generation," in this case, several expatriates, most of whom have lives that are without purpose and who rely on financial resources from other people. The four men and one woman wander through Europe, living dissolute lives and consuming a great deal of alcohol. The characters consciously use alcohol to obliterate their emotions and make their lives bearable. There is an absolutely outstanding paragraph in the book that describes this. Jake, the narrator, is with the group: "It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, 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." All I can say about writing like that is, wow!

There is a religious undertone to the book with the narrator's name being Jacob, the prominent presence of Robert Cohn, a Jewish character, and numerous other references in the book. The title comes from Ecclesiastes in the Bible "The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose...."

The Robert Cohn character has an important role in the book in addition to the reference to religion. It is the narrator's description of him that opens the novel and he is the only one of the group who doesn't habitually become intoxicated. He is alone of the several characters in having a moral sense and refuses to accept that Brett, with whom he had an affair, will have also have involvements with other men. He is mocked by the others for being an outsider and for not "playing along," being referred to once by a derogatory term. Unfortunately, or perhaps this says something about the characters, another population group is also referred to with a derogatory term.

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Comments (10)

lovemrmewey
11 years ago
Thank you so much for these Book of the Week items that you post! I look forward to seeing them!
Elmer J Fudd
11 years ago
Good for you to have broad enough taste to encompass literary fiction. I can't read books like that and struggled to do so when in college. I find that stories that have allegories and symbolic content are more a burden than a benefit to me as a reader.

I read a lot but I prefer books in which the "message" goes no deeper than the words on the pages. I know I'm in the minority for having such a narrow preference.
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Q
Comments (3)
Thanks. DH Said he really enjoyed the book. I bought it after reading your recomendation. It is next on my list to read.
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This is one of the best books I've ever read. "Rules of Civility" is also very good. Settle in. This is a long, satisfying read with a lot to consider. I recommended it here after reading it while we were on Maui this winter.
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Comments (0)
The trapped girl / Robert Dugoni. A #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller. This book, # 4 in the Tracy Crosswhite series, is another very good mystery with lots of twists and turns. An added bonus that I really enjoyed is the flavor of Seattle and Washington State that came through so vividly in the novel. Tracy Crosswhite is a Seattle homicide detective who has been called to investigate when a woman’s body is found in a submerged crab pot. The police believe that the woman is Andrea Strickland, last seen during a mountain climb with her husband. He claims that Andrea left their tent to use bathroom facilities and disappeared. It looks suspicious since Andrea’s mountain climbing equipment was still at their campsite and it was discovered that her husband was the beneficiary of her life insurance policy. But things are not always what they seem to be, in the novel or even within Detective Crosswhite’s professional life. Publisher's Weekly Review: In Dugoni's outstanding fourth Tracy Crosswhite mystery (after 2016's In the Clearing), the Seattle homicide detective investigates the death of Andrea Strickland, a young woman whose body a fisherman finds in a crab pot raised from the sea. Andrea, who was reported missing after a treacherous mountain hike, was already presumed to be dead. The victim's husband is the prime suspect and the beneficiary of a sizable life insurance policy. As the plot twists and turns, Tracy is struck by the similarities between her own life and Andrea's: both suffered family tragedies and rigidly structured their lives to compensate for the loss. For Tracy, solving the case is personal-but on a different level than the murder of her sister years before. In less deft hands this tale wouldn't hold water, but Dugoni presents his victim's life in discrete pieces, each revealing a bit more about Andrea and her struggle to find happiness. Tracy's quest to uncover the truth leads her into life-altering peril in this exceptional installment.
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Book of the Week
Q
Comments (1)
That sounds super interesting, Stacy! I think that I'll add it to my Kindle library.
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stacey_mb
Original Author
11 years ago
You're very welcome, lovemrmewey. I'm happy to know that my reviews are enjoyed.

Snidely - allowing for differences in tastes, it is inevitable that not every reader would be interested in every book. However, I believe that Hemingway is just such a brilliant writer that this book can be enjoyed by someone reading for only the surface story and disregarding any symbolism. So much happens in the novel - the running of the bulls in Spain, the bullfights, the peacefulness of a fishing trip and the behavior of this "lost" group.

What are some of your favorite books? I was intrigued by Rhizo's mention last week that she read The Great Bridge by David McCullough, about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's nonfiction and sounds like a book I would enjoy.
Elmer J Fudd
11 years ago
Works of literature are like oysters for me. I understand they can have such exceptional characteristics that many, many people enjoy and truly appreciate them. But they're not for me. I eat (and read) almost anything else. I'm out of step, not the other way around.

I try to alternate fiction and non-fiction. I think maybe my favorite all time NF book was A Distant Mirror (Barbara Tuchman) and for fiction, the two book series Winds of War and War and Remembrance (Herman Wouk), all 2000 or so pages. I reread these both every 5-6 years.

Is Hemingway your favorite author?

(Edit for PS - I do like McCullough, I've read all his books, I probably liked Path Between the Seas best)

This post was edited by snidely on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 1:29
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
Ah, Herman Wouk....what a mind! The last interview with him that I read was probably a couple of years ago and he was so poignant in his statement about his recently deceased wife of sixty something years. That was a couple of years ago. He's ninety nine and still writing.

I haven't read Tuchman since college when an old copy of The Guns of August ended up in my hands. I'll have to revisit her work.

McCullough biographies, all of them, are among my favorite books. And he's a remarkable essayist, too.

I'm a rereader, too. The experience becomes richer and deeper each time.
chisue
11 years ago
I Hate Hemingway. OK, I can say that here, but not in relatively nearby Oak Park!

I still like your Book of the Week suggestions, Stacey!
stacey_mb
Original Author
11 years ago
Snidely - Thank you for your comments on your reading preferences. I think that Hemingway's writing is wonderful, but he's not my favorite author. I appreciate the titles you have listed as some that you enjoyed - I am always looking for new reading ideas, and if the books are lengthy, then so much the better!

Chisue - I have heard other people say the same thing about Hemingway, once was in an American Literature class (not where the prof could hear, though)! Thank you very much for your appreciation of my book suggestions.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
I've often thought that I like the movies based on Hemingway's novels much better than the published work. What a story teller he was, and such memorable characters.
sable_ca
11 years ago
Stacey - I've been meaning to thank you for your review a few weeks ago of The Objects of Her Affection. I always read your review threads and this one especially intrigued me. So went over to amazon, checked a few more reviews, and ordered a used copy. Am now reading it and like it very much! The combination of all of Sophie's problems and a plot revolving around a museum of art - with wonderful descriptions of art objects and their pursuit - is fascinating to me. Many thanks!

As to Hemngway - I read most of his work a long time ago, when I was in my twenties and was gulping down the "great" writers. I was living overseas and wanted to be a Hemingway heroine, but one who survives! My favorite was For Whom The Bell Tolls, and also some of his short stories. His writing would be too stylized for me today, but he is good for certain periods or moods in one's life. He's incredibly skilled at setting scenes with simple language.

Last week DH and I tried a new little Italian bistro in town and, wanting a dessert, looked at their home-made gelatos. One of the flavors was "grappa raisin". I looked at DH and cried
"Grappa! Hemingway!" and ordered some. Delicious!
stacey_mb
Original Author
11 years ago
Sable - You're welcome, and it's great that you're enjoying The Objects of Her Affection. Thank you for your comments about Hemingway's writing - he is definitely of a specific time and place. Lucky that you had a yummy reminder of Papa Hemingway!

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