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Matthew's Reviews > The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises
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Matthew's review
bookshelves: classic, general-fiction, library, completist-book-club, historical-fiction
Mar 05, 2014
bookshelves: classic, general-fiction, library, completist-book-club, historical-fiction
Occasionally, I find a book from my early days on Goodreads when I only did star ratings and I like to go back and revisit it with a review. This month we are reading The Sun Also Rises for one of my book clubs, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. I previously gave it 3 stars but, upon reflection, I am thinking I might push it closer to 4 stars. So, maybe 3.5 stars (rounded up on the official star ranking).
While I cannot say I enjoyed my experience with this book as much as I did with some other Hemingway, I am very glad I read this one. Whether you end up liking it or not I truly believe it is one of the essential Hemingway novels to read; both style and content. After reading The Sun Also Rises, I read The Paris Wife, which is a historical fiction novel with a lot of non-fictional references in it, and realized just how autobiographical this book was.
Also, this book is one of the quintessential novels of the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation was a literary movement coming out of World War I and included, in addition to Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and others (I must admit I had to go to Wikipedia to make to sure I had this list of authors correct!) While I was reading more about the Last Generation I realized how much the narrative of this book represented the mentality and artistic representation of that group. It’s the perfect companion novel if you want to know more about that time and Hemingway himself.
While I don’t often do this with books I have given 3.5 stars to, I do recommend this one for its classic status. It has so much to offer beyond just being a novel and it just might send you down a rabbit hole looking for other books from and information about this era.
While I cannot say I enjoyed my experience with this book as much as I did with some other Hemingway, I am very glad I read this one. Whether you end up liking it or not I truly believe it is one of the essential Hemingway novels to read; both style and content. After reading The Sun Also Rises, I read The Paris Wife, which is a historical fiction novel with a lot of non-fictional references in it, and realized just how autobiographical this book was.
Also, this book is one of the quintessential novels of the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation was a literary movement coming out of World War I and included, in addition to Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and others (I must admit I had to go to Wikipedia to make to sure I had this list of authors correct!) While I was reading more about the Last Generation I realized how much the narrative of this book represented the mentality and artistic representation of that group. It’s the perfect companion novel if you want to know more about that time and Hemingway himself.
While I don’t often do this with books I have given 3.5 stars to, I do recommend this one for its classic status. It has so much to offer beyond just being a novel and it just might send you down a rabbit hole looking for other books from and information about this era.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
March 5, 2014
– Shelved
March 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
classic
March 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
general-fiction
March 6, 2014
– Shelved as:
library
May 6, 2019
– Shelved as:
completist-book-club
May 6, 2019
– Shelved as:
historical-fiction
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Ashley
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May 06, 2019 09:20PM
This makes me want to read all these authors. That era is so important to our time, but one that I know the least about.
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Ashley wrote: "This makes me want to read all these authors. That era is so important to our time, but one that I know the least about."It is a fascinating era - probably more story surrounding the authors than in their books.
I really want to check out Z and the mini-series they made - based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife.
Hmm, you have more patience than I do! I've tried to read a few of the classics, some are fine, for example one of my favourite books is Wuthering Heights but many I give up on very quickly as they seem so boring and slow.
Pat wrote: "Hmm, you have more patience than I do! I've tried to read a few of the classics, some are fine, for example one of my favourite books is Wuthering Heights but many I give up on very quickly as they..."It is not always easy. There are a few I have almost given up on. If it wasn't for the cultural significance of this one, I am not sure I would have made it.
Hmm...I'm not sure I'm ready to dive into this one yet. I think I'll start with John Steinbeck which was another of your classic recs! His style seems more like my style than this one.
Hemingway's A Moveable Feast is entirely autobiographical and shows how desperately he regretted the actions that ended up with losing his beloved Henley. I couldn't bring myself to read The Paris Wife because after hearing his honest words about that time in their lives, I couldn't handle a lesser writer doing a fictionalized account.He was a master, but a self destructive man. I loved this book of his for how it captured their lives mirrored in characters. You nailed that aspect of it.
Eileen wrote: "Hmm...I'm not sure I'm ready to dive into this one yet. I think I'll start with John Steinbeck which was another of your classic recs! His style seems more like my style than this one."I definitely think Steinbeck is more accessible than Hemingway (but that's just my opinion). I suspect there are others who feel the exact opposite
LeAnne: wrote: "Hemingway's A Moveable Feast is entirely autobiographical and shows how desperately he regretted the actions that ended up with losing his beloved Henley. I couldn't bring myself to read The Paris ..."That is one of his I never tried. I did enjoy The Paris Wife, but I understand your apprehension.
Hemingway is so facinating in his destructive genius. While I don't always get into his writing, I appreciate it for what it is and represents. Not many authors integrate their lives into their writing the way he did.
You’re right, of course. Writers surely draw on their own life experiences, but one can find Hemingway’s shadow in these stores. Hadley, not Henley, was the young wife he adored - I must have The Eagles on my mind! ;)
LeAnne: wrote: "You’re right, of course. Writers surely draw on their own life experiences, but one can find Hemingway’s shadow in these stores. Hadley, not Henley, was the young wife he adored - I must have The E..."Ha! I didn't even catch that!
