I’m not sure how else to say this, and I’m not sure why I would feel sheepish saying this, but it took me from about 8 years ago until today to finish “The Sun Also Rises”. It was my mom’s favorite book of all time, and since she died I have been struggling to finish the last half of the book as a way to try and connect with her in death.
Unclear if it’s the depression, or if it’s the exhaustion, but every time I would try and continue to read it I would fall asleep. Now I will say that I’ve found myself having to reread (and reread….and reread…) the first half over these past 8 years simply because they were so boring I kept forgetting the plot.
Hemingway writes as if things have already happened…there is no description of the action. It’s like he’s taking notes and assuming you’ll understand what he means. I know a lot about him and his life and I get it, I realize that this is a style the Lost Generation pioneered and it supposedly influenced many after him. It’s just that I tend to see writing as a rhythm, and if I had to typify this prose it would be clunky at best, non-existent at worst.
You can count on Ernest to make even an entrancing bull-fight seem dull…the climax of this story ends with Jake, the impotent protagonist going to Madrid to see Lady Brett Ashley under the impression she is in grave danger, when she is, in fact, not.
If there is anything worth noting here it’s the way characters discuss (and use) language. Jake’s character is quick to point out that there is no exact translation for “running with the bulls” in Spanish, but there is in French. “Let’s go translate Brett,” he says to Mike as they try and make sure she finds her way around okay in Spain. I’ve never seen that verb used as a double entendre but it was interesting to see it here.
My mom loved this book so much she and my dad took their honeymoon in Spain. I know that my father has run with the bulls, but unclear if he did it on said trip. I can understand how this book became seminal, but it still seems to be super staid to me. 4/10
