The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway

review by: Chelan David
Date: 3/1/04

The Sun Also Rises is a perfect book to read on a plane trip. Ernest Hemingway’s first big novel, published in 1926, chronicles Jake Barnes and a group of American and English expatriates on a sojourn from Paris to Pamplona, Spain, for the July fiesta and bullfighting.

Sitting at Chicago O’Hare waiting for a connecting flight, I watched the bustling crowd of travelers, casting characters for the imaginary screenplay in my head. Hemingway’s descriptions are lean so I was looking for a fellow with a flattened nose to play Robert Cohn, the boxer. A pretty girl with hair brushed back like a boy to play Brett, the seductress. A tan and healthy-looking chap to play Mike, the bankrupt drunk, and an insanely handsome young man with smooth brown skin to play Pedro Romero, the bullfighter. For Jake, the narrator, I had free reign as the only clues provided were that he was a native of Kansas City and was impotent due to an unexplained war injury.

At first, the book seems to be about a carefree group of thirty-somethings who live life to the fullest: traveling spontaneously, socializing and dancing at both elegant cafes and hole-in-the-wall bars, while consuming mind-numbing quantities of wine.

It soon becomes apparent, however, that the characters’ festive drinking and dancing mask their feelings of self-loathing. Hemingway captures the angst of the post-World War I generation, also known as the Lost Generation, by creating sympathetic figures who are morally confused, escaping from reality and their inner selves.

Brett is the most self-destructive of the bunch, shying away from a relationship with Jake due to his impotence, and creating jealousy and bitter disputes, some resolved by violence, due to her sexual escapades.

Her encounter with Pedro, the bullfighting heartthrob, severs several relationships. As a result of the rendezvous, Pedro is brutally assaulted before his biggest bullfight and Cohn, the boxer, already ostracized from the rest of the group, returns to Paris. Montoya, the owner of the hotel where the gang is staying, is humiliated, and Jake is left to console Brett although his love for her will remain unrequited.

Hemingway lavishly details the nuances of the bullfighting scenes, but the rest of the book is marked by its sparse, adjective-free style. I was responsible for shaping the characters physically and was also tempted to shape them emotionally as their purpose and sense of joy seemed non-existent.

Towards the end of the story Jake explains that he likes France because it is so simple and a large tip to a waiter would ensure a loyal friendship.

"No one makes things complicated by becoming your friend for any obscure reason. If you want people to like you you have only to spend a little money. I spent a little money and the waiter liked me."

The theme of moral bankruptcy extends through the novel and at one train station, Jake did not tip more than necessary because he did not think he would ever see the porter again.

I will never see the assortment of characters the airport casting agency provided again either. For one stitch in time, however, the attractive, friendly flight attendant portrayed Brett, the proud, tanned pilot embodied Pedro Romero and the frustrated, resigned man at the ticket counter was Jake.

Alas, my trip took me to Kansas City and not Paris or Spain.