The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

You don't need me to recap the plot do you? Fine, The Sun Also Rises about a bunch of people living in 1924 Paris doing their damndest to find some kind of meaning to life. Either that or they're trying desperately to avoid recognizing the lack of meaning in their lives.

I'm pretty sure I read this during that original Hemingway phase a decade ago, but I'm less sure now than I was before this week. I definitely didn't remember there being so much Antisemitism among the characters. It didn't reflect well on them that it wasn't enough to dislike Cohn because he was a bore, or because he wouldn't stop mooning over Brett, his heritage had to be brought into it as well.

Maybe it's that I've changed since then, but I don't recall being incredibly annoyed with most of the characters, especially during the fiesta. The fact, Jake, Brett, and the rest do very little other than drink and behave like asses to each other was off-putting. While I don't drink myself, I have no particular problem with people who (basically everyone I know besides myself drinks to varying degrees), except for when they become belligerent, or if they start repeating the same phrase or sentiment. That in mind, it wasn't surprising I found myself wanting Mike Campbell to be trampled by a bull at some point, since he alternated between the two behaviors. Even when sober, his attitude was irritating. That he was bothered that someone who loaned him money in Cannes - and presumably had not been repaid - who be irate to see him living it up in San Sebastian didn't help. I'm not sure whether that's his privilege showing, or a simple lack of self-awareness.

He's almost - almost - pitiable, in that he can't seem to stop spending beyond his means. The scene near the end in the bar with he, Jake, and Bill , where they start betting to see who pays, and before you know it, he's out of money again. He seems embarrassed about it, but he doesn't seem to have any self-control, and he sort of accepts that. It's happened before, it'll happen again. They're all like that, to varying degrees, caught in these cycles, doing the same stuff over and over again. I don't think they even expect a different result, they simply can't or won't change course. Either they can't decide what they want, they know what they want but can't have it, or won't let themselves have. Brett and Jake might do well together, regardless of his war injury, but he seems to think it makes him unworthy of her, and Brett doesn't seem to think too highly of herself, either, such as her concerns she'd ruin the young bullfighter, Romero.

That whole bit was one of the scenes I found the most interesting. Jake and Montoya discuss whether Montoya should mention the wealthy Americans who want Romero to attend a party with them. Montoya asked Jake because he feels Jake has a true passion for proper bullfighting as Montoya does, and they both recognize Romero could be great. Thus, they both agree he shouldn't pass the invitation along, that those sorts of people will ruin Romero. Of course, alter that same evening, Romero ends up drinking and dining with Jake and his compatriots, becoming smitten with Brett, Jake tacitly encouraging it, out of some idea of chivalry. If he can't make Brett happy (because impotence removes all possibility of that, naturally), he'll help her pursue any man who temporarily catches her fancy, even though he ought to know by now it won't end happily for anyone. The shift in Montoya's attitude towards Jake after that, it's silly in a way, but I understand it. Ultimately, Romero's life is his own, to live as he wants. Montoya, a random hotel owner and bullfight aficionado, is irrelevant. But Montoya's a fan, and I know that fannish desire to see someone great realize their potential, and how ugly it could be to see someone he thought felt as he did turn out to be just another leech.

That whole thing reminded me of the end of A Moveable Feast, when Hemingway described his foolishly associating with wealthy people at that lodge in the mountains as he was nearing completion of The Sun Also Rises. I wonder if he incorporated that experience into this novel, or if that was simply a coincidence. Along those same lines, the first chapter gave me a clue as to why Hemingway didn't want to Fitzgerald to see the book for as long as possible. I feel like Cohn was strongly based on Fitzgerald, and Frances seems to be Zelda, with her attempts to undercut Cohn's writing, her heavy drinking precipitating his drinking as he has to attend parties to watch over her. Or maybe Hemingway simply didn't want Fitzgerald making a bunch of suggestions on how to change the book so it would sell better. I imagine Hemingway wouldn't have taken the advice, but I think he also would have struggled to tactfully ignore the suggestions.

I can't really decide about Brett. Part of me thinks she pursues men who in some way relate or connect her to Jake. Cohn, a writer, Romero, a bullfighter (Jake isn't a bullfighter, but he loves bullfighting), Campbell, someone who lost something in the way. On the other hand, maybe she legitimately likes them for a while, then either grows disenchanted with them, or starts to hate herself. Do people look askance at her for her behavior, or does she believe they do? At a certain point, I think the flings and other failed romances create a loop for her where the inability up to that point to find a lasting, happy relationship, makes her think none of her relationships will go well, because there's something wrong with her. And so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, or she breaks it off.

One character I would have liked to see a little more on was Bill. There's a part of me that thinks he's the only one of the five not struggling with someone. I could be wrong, the constant travel could be his symptom, that he's physically trying to find something, but he seems more comfortable in his skin than the others. Or he hides it better.

'"I'm sorry, I've got a nasty tongue. I never mean it when I say nasty things."

"I know it," Cohn said. "You're really about the best friend I have, Jake."

God help you, I thought.'