The Sun Also Rises

This book explores the Lost Generation of young people living in the aftermath of World War I, but what stood out to me is how relevant the themes are for today’s youth. Millennials and Gen Z, nearly a century later, face similar struggles with angst, trauma, loneliness, excessive consumption, and false friendships. There is a lot of drinking and bullfighting, yes, but what resonates with me is how the characters hint at their fears and insecurities. Characters like Jake Barnes, Brett Ashley, and Harold Loeb feel eerily modern because their problems are so familiar.

"The Sun Also Rises" captivated me with its raw portrayal of the post-World War I "Lost Generation." Hemingway’s prose captures the existential malaise and disillusionment of his characters, who navigate love, identity, and meaning in a fractured world. I admired how he painted their struggles not in dramatic monologues, but through subtle gestures, sparse dialogue, and unspoken tension.

The story’s setting—Parisian cafes, the Spanish countryside, the vibrancy of the bullfight, the vivid places reflecting the characters' inner turmoil. Jake’s complex relationship with Brett was particularly moving: Hemingway’s restraint allowed their unfulfilled romance to resonate more powerfully, speaking to the ache… show more.

When I first read this book, I was somewhat mystified by what the fuss was all about. All I could see was a story of a group of dissolute and disillusioned expats living a pointless life of pettiness and drinking. However, as I separately learned more about Hemingway and his writing style, I was drawn back to the book, and on subsequent readings, I was able to discern more in the characters and the plot than was apparent in my first reading.

The protagonist Jake Barnes, impotent because his penis appears to have been shot off as a result of… show more.

I came to Hemingway later in life than most. I was lucky enough not to have to read him in school, and for that reason, perhaps, I was able to approach his work without the baggage of tests, essays, and grades. If Travels with Charley is a look at a national road trip, this is an international one between France and Spain. Ostensibly, it’s about some friends traveling from Paris to Pamplona, but of course, there’s a lot more to it.

Sometimes, the right book finds you at the right time, and this book was that for me. I first… show more.

I admire Hemingway’s measured empathy for the war-torn social outcast. This classic novel pictures a post-WWI environment where survivors have been physically and mentally maimed by their war experience; I like how Hemingway creates a vivid cast of characters struggling to find their way in a society that seems no better than before the conflict began.

I'm not sure the 1957 movie version of Hemingway's 1926 first novel, with terrific performances by Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, and Errol Flynn, is a great movie, but when I first saw it on my old black and white TV in the early sixties, I was so deeply affected. I had to immediately read the book.

Hemingway, was, of course, himself an expatriate American in Paris in the 1920s. What I love about the book is Hemingway's ability to capture the atmosphere of the time and place, as his Lost Generation characters booze, fight, love, and perhaps try to come… show more.

If you’re over thirty you should have outgrown your infatuation with Papa by now, methinks; but still it’s nice to revisit this lark of a roman a clef.

You’ll either shudder or joy (or both) at the scenes where the roisterers on the bus are shooting wine into each others’ mouths via boda bag. Did I spell boda bag properly? It’s been a long time, mate.

I know Hemingway has fallen out of wokeness, but it's the original Lost Generation/Gen-X/Emo book about being young and partying through life (across Europe) while wondering what the hell does it all really mean? Toss a doomed love story and running with bulls in there, too and you have a classic.

What would any list of expat literature be without this classic? The plot, if it can be called that, is basically American and British expatriates traveling from Paris to Pamplona, Spain. The heart of the novel however, is the relationships between the travelers. While the running of the bulls and bullfighting provides most of the physical drama, the psychological drama is inherent throughout. Particularly in the doomed romance between the promiscuous Lady Brett Ashley and war-wounded newspaper correspondent Jake Barnes. This is the novel most associated with the term, the lost generation. It should never get lost however, among the… show more.

I’m recommending The Sun Also Rises because it was the first book to capture the essence of soldiers who struggled to return to civilian life. They used alcohol to hide their pain and drown their PTSD, their struggles with masculinity or to regain it, and inability to love. I like the way this book captures the feelings soldiers have when they leave the service, such as loss of purpose. Soldiers today returning from the wars similarly struggle with alcohol, drug abuse, and all too prevalent suicide. However, the sun will rise tomorrow.