The Sun Also Rises

by Ernest Hemingway

---

In a word: disenchanted

In a sentence: Jake and his gang head to Pamplona for fishing, fiesta, and bullfights.

Synopsis: Jake and his friends embody the notion of ‘the lost generation.’ Partying, drinking, and whiling away their reality, they run together from one enjoyment to the next, attempting to escape the futility of it all.

Reactions: Let me preface by saying that this is my second reading of this book. I figured if there was any time I was going to enjoy The Sun Also Rises it would be when I was most missing Spain. I was pleasantly surprised. What turned me off to this novel during my initial reading many years ago was Hemingway’s blunt, succinct description style, that at times keeps the reader at arm’s length from the setting of the novel. However, the dialogue Hemingway creates is hilarious, telling, and some of the most authentic I have come across in fiction.

The Sun Also Rises epitomizes the Lost Generation sentiment after WWI. On its surface, it’s a summery getaway amongst friends, enjoying nature, Spanish culture, and each other’s company. However, there is a constant undercurrent of disenchantment and futility that courses through the narrative. Jake and his friends seem to perpetuate a cycle of destructive tendencies to escape their own realities. Further, the focus on bullfights in all their majesty, gore, and inevitability seem to mirror the Great War which looms in the narrative like an ever-present specter.

Read if: you enjoy a good fiesta.