Review: The Sun Also Rises

I first read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises in an unknown time and place; my second reading took place in 2009 upon the recommendation of a friend; my third reading was for a graduate course as part of my Masters in Literature.

The novel focuses on a group of expats living in Europe in the 1920s as they travel around Paris and Spain in search of nothing more than a good time. Jake Barnes, the protagonist, is a war veteran come newspaperman who is in requited but unfulfilled love with Lady Brett Ashley. Through the story we see Jake and Brett commiserate on their untenable love while Brett blows her way through a handful of lovers, all while engaged to another man.

Lady Brett Ashley is an absolutely fascinating character to read. All of the twists and turns of the novel revolve around her, and yet it is Jake who narrates and centers the plot. Her personality and her behavior are all filtered through a man who loves but cannot possess her, and this removal presents a wonderful dilemma. Who is she really? At every read, I have developed different impressions of Lady Brett.

She is not the only enigma here. The characters here are all damaged, melancholic, and honestly tragic. Representative of the Lost Generation, they are all post-World War I young adults, unsure how to adapt to the new world. These characters inner demons drive them to a sort of ennui that I find a tad melodramatic at my current age. Still, their conflicting and crazy personalities are fascinating.

One nagging bit of the novel for me has to do with the barrier to Jake and Brett's love. It feels like a MacGuffin - something that seems remarkably important but in actuality is relatively, well, nothing. Read the novel and then come back and tell me what you think.