Post #6 - The Sun Also Rises

Since my last post I have finished my second book, The Sun Also Rises, reading a total of 116 pages. I have only just started reading my third book, A Farewell to Arms. In The Sun Also Rises, the rest of the story mainly occurs near or in Pamplona, Spain. The group of friends, that comprise the main characters, go fishing in the mountains/hills and partying during the week-long fiesta in Pamplona (known as the Running of the Bulls). They also attend multiple bullfights and interact with some of the bullfighters.

I have noticed both in The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and The Sea, that Hemingway has a particular type of relationship between man and beast. Despite the fact that it is a man killing a fish or bull, the fight itself is noble as is the ending when done properly. Only certain characters understand this quasi-spiritual relationship between the man and the animals, most other characters do not recognize the nobility and purity of it. In The Old Man and The Sea, the old man considers the fish superior and only his cunning allowed him victory. In many ways it is the same in The Sun Also Rises, the bullfighter's tricks defeat the bull but it is an honorable death in the eyes of the narrator Jacob Barnes. The same is true for the old man who has much respect for his catch, until the sharks eat it that is. I could use these observations if I write about Hemingway's view of the natural world. Possibly his war experiences desensitized him to the connection between humans and the higher power and caused him to glorify the same connection with the creatures of the Earth.

Post #5 - The Sun Also Rises

I have only gotten to Chapter 12, page 106, which is about half way through the book since my last post. The book continues with the lives of these various writers, journalists, artists, and nobility in Paris during the 1920's. The narrator, Jacob Barnes, is in love with a woman named Brett, who is divorcing an English noble, marrying a Scott, having some sort of affair with Robert Cohn (the failed Jewish writer), and spends much of her time with a lively old count. Book One is mainly about the social life of the above characters in Paris. Book Two follows the fishing trip made to Spain by Jacob, Robert, and another American author friend of Jacob named Bill; Brett and her fiancé Michael will meet them in Spain. Jacob and Bill both do not like Robert very much because they find him to be awful, Jacob is also jealous of whatever relationship Robert might possibly have with Brett. By Chapter 12, Jacob and Bill have just arrived at the village where they will actually fish.

Hemingway's writing is so distinctive. Everything is so simple yet detailed. Everything is chronological, as he writes out many of the characters actions. There is also a lot of emphasis on location in The Sun Also Rises. All of the streets are named and precise details of where the characters go and what the places look like is provided. In both books I have read so far, the narrator is also one of the main characters. So not only are the events being witnessed thoroughly described, but the narrators thoughts as well. The characters themselves are also similar. They are both single and very observant of all their surroundings, including the land (or previously ocean), people (or in Old Man the animals), and objects. Both characters also seem to have a simple outlook on life, taking each day as it comes without much anxiety or ambition. Much of the writing is on in depth descriptions of the narrator's surroundings. Basically everything is very concise, as almost all of the sentences are shorter than ten words, it is journalistic in nature because of Hemingway's experiences as a journalist.

Post #4 - The Sun Also Rises

I have finally started my second book and have so far read to page 29, or the first three chapters of Ernest Hemingway's first book, The Sun Also Rises. The narrator of the story is an American newsman/reporter named Jacob Barnes who seems based of Hemingway himself. The main character at this stage appears to be a Jewish American author Robert Cohn. Robert Cohn has a pathetic existence, his life being dominated by the few women that openly care for him, at least up until where the book begins. Both Jacob and Robert live in Paris and Jacob is definitely a veteran of World War I. So far in the book, Jacob is narrating his experiences on one particular evening, during which he has so far eaten with a woman and socialized with his friends, most of the time intoxicated.

The main theme I have picked up so far is that the pointless nature of life. All the characters don't really have any purpose and event feel themselves to be drifting with time. There is also a lot of emotional detachment, Cohn has supposedly never been in love, and women only care for him to exploit him. Jacob does not seem to particularly like his companions and feels sick from watching people enjoying themselves. All conversation is empty and deals with extremely trival subjects, such as everyone's opinion on Paris (which is mainly negative).

I have not found any symbols in The Sun Also Rises, at least yet. It is probably because I am not far enough into the book. In The Old Man and The Sea, I think the fish symbolized the honor and perfection of nature and the entire struggle of the Old Man to catch it was a symbol for the struggle of man over nature (which is somewhat obvious as that what it literally was).