The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To me, I read this book as a book about history.

It's not that the existential crisis of our lives ever really went away or anything, or that we can't understand what it's like to get our junk blown off in WWI, or that nothing, anywhere, seems to make a damn difference, so why not get drunk and flit about Europe, being super sociable while hating everyone know know, and just PRETEND like you're living your best life?

I don't love this book for the EXAMPLE that Jake Barnes or Brett or any of the Lost Generation kiddos set. I love this book for the hard look it CAN let us have about ourselves, society itself, or that dead feeling we have inside when we're forced to play out these nasty little puppet shows.

Is it the most genuine thing in the world to be a Bull Fighter? To give yourself over, utterly, to that one glowing idea or ideal, to wish you had it for yourself while knowing it will NEVER be for you?

Yeah, I still love this novel. It's just not a modern novel.

It IS a novel that doesn't hold its punches... as long as you are reflecting upon it.


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