Book Review: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

I first read The Sun Also Rises my freshman year of college, and I reread it for the sole purpose of figuring out my favorite Hemingway out of the three I’ve read: For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, and obviously The Sun Also Rises. I can now affirmatively say that The Sun Also Rises is at the bottom of the list.

It’s not to say that it’s a bad novel, it just doesn’t compare to the other two. I finished it about a little more than a week ago, and it’s already sinking in my memory. The story just isn’t sticking with me, though I can still feel the mood of the novel, and the protagonist, Jake, does make a more lasting impression than the story as a whole. Hemingway’s protagonists always fascinate me; with how much Hemingway omits for the benefit of our interpretation, it makes me wonder if my view of the protagonist is ever going to be the same as other readers. It does create a unique reading experience that you feel is special or particular to you. 

I think there is also something to say about how emotionally Hemingway delivers a story without putting a lot of internal monologue or narration in his writing. That’s the case with all of his books, since he was a part of the modernist literary era, marked by either perplexity or lack of information to force the reader into interpretation. Hemingway’s works are so stripped back and marked by omission, but somehow the feeling Hemingway wants his readers to have always delivers. With The Sun Also Rises, it’s disillusionment, a vice-filled, quietly wild despair. 

Jake and Bill are my favorite characters simply because of how unproblematic they were in relation to the other characters. I’m not sure Lady Brett Ashley bugged me as much my first time reading as she did my second time. Now I firmly believe she’s the worst. 

I definitely was more interested in the character interactions and in the few moments where we got some sort of Jake’s monologue. The rest was more expository descriptions of setting and read more like a travelogue, which are the most forgettable parts of the novel to me. 

Overall, my ranking of Hemingway’s novels (that I’ve read so far) are thus:

1. A Farewell to Arms (1929)
   1. It’s strongest all the way through.
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) 
   1. A memorable story with a hugely impactful ending.
3. The Sun Also Rises (1926)
   1. Great characterization, but a forgettable story.

Now I feel compelled to read Old Man and the Sea. I’ve intentionally passed over this book at used bookstores because the premise doesn’t seem interesting to me. A bit too Moby Dick-sounding, whose premise also doesn’t compel me. But my Hemingway journey feels incomplete, so it looks like reading the last of his main four novels is in my future.