The Sun Also Rises

Curious why people like or dislike the book...

I think it is my dark side. All the tortured souls and complicated relationships really bring out my analytic side. I love to wonder what other scars psychological scars Jake is hiding, and it is so heartbreaking that he cries over his love for Brett.

I have liked this book for many years, but my reasons for liking it have changed. When I first read it at too young an age, I found Brett's lifestyle to be very enviable and glamorous. I believed that the way these lost characters behaved was normal adult behavior, and I couldn't wait to get older! Needless to say, I didn't really have a grasp on the text.

Since then, I've been struck by how Hemingway's characterizations are so spare, but so telling. I know Hemingway is "out of favor" with the academic community right now, but I find his way of storytelling to be courageous. It takes guts so say things more simply, with fewer words, and to trust the reader enough to connect the dots.

For me, it is Hemingway's best work.

I didn't realize Hemingway was "out of favor." 

Anyway, this is my favorite Hemingway piece to teach.  It is a great connection to a social studies curriculum on the Lost Generation.  I also think analyzing a character like Jake is really interesting . . . . so emasculated by Brett (I love the fact that Hemingway gives her a male name and a boyish haircut).  I once read a really interesting interpretation of the very end of the novel (can't remember the source, unfortunately) that discussed Jake as finally being triumphant in his rejection of Brett.  There was something about Jake looking at a cop who was raising his baton in a phallically triumphant way.  Interesting stuff for our impotent protagonist . . .