When I was a student at the University of Tennessee, I checked out a copy of this book from the Hodges Library. It was beat to hell. There were corners ripped (one fell out completely while I was reading it). Somebody had even done there math homework in the back. In pen, no less. Out of curiosity, I checked the publication history in the front. Weirdly, there was only one date listed. “Oh no,” I thought… When I finished reading it, I brought the book to the front desk, and sure enough, we were holding what was left of a first edition in our hands. According to her, it should have been placed into the Rare Books catalogue years beforehand, but somehow, it had slipped into General Circulation. It’s a hell of a book, but needless to say, we both died a little that day.
*their I actually don't want you to correct this in your comment though, I like keeping the mistake in because it mirrors the wear and tear of the book you read.
Read this during my semester in Barcelona, right after I'd visited Pamplona and saw my first bullfight (brutal). Being in Spain, intimately knowing a Brett, having a Robert Cohn as a friend IRL, I felt a closeness to this novel. And at 20 that last line hit me hard.
I could Imagine from a trip to Spain I took li hasn't changed much from the basque country to spain to pamplona lifs is probably still cosisting of cava and tapas parties even if he did get his dick injured to rise another day.
I think the lack of "Carpe Diem" today has a lot to do with just how addictive the internet is. The neurological studies are pretty clear in that it saps our dopamine which is our main driver for motivation. I was born in the late nineties and even I remember a time when It was fairly common to have lengthy conversations with strangers and to see other people doing the same.
Hemingway had more real experiences in his relatively short life than any given hundred of today's soft generation. Wrote better about those experiences, too.
😢. How are you? That’s probably, no, it is, the stupidest question. You are living probably my worst nightmare. I nearly lost my husband 4 years ago from cancer and by God’s grace, he survived. But now I’m so damn paranoid every day I’m going to lose him and so life isn’t very enjoyable. I’m trying to work through it. One thing I realized when I nearly lost him is that I didn’t cherish him nearly enough. It was not a fun feeling. I pray you can find joy again, Andrew. Books are such a great comfort and I hope you can find some of them to crawl into and find some peace. Much love from Omaha.
Just came back from Paris and The Sun Also Rises was my reading. The fact that we stayed in the 7th walking the same streets Jake wandered made the trip that much more special.
I'm intrigued by your commentary at the end of the video about the travel scenes. There's a lot about Sun that I didn't appreciate on the first pass, but for me, the more bucolic scenes were the most striking. I read it about a year and a half ago and I can still picture the fishing scene ("This is country") with as much clarity as anything I've read over the last few weeks. Reading those few pages felt to me like stepping into a painting that's impossibly vivid for the scant number of brushstrokes needed to paint it.
I (and this may have been my own space in life at the time) honestly got the exact opposite feeling from the novel when I first read it last October. The characters are all trying to fill the void left by the war with partying and drinking and travel and sex and yet they keep chasing after something else because nothing gives them any purpose. Yes, it shows the decadence of the time, but it also shows the emptiness and loneliness of all these characters wandering around aimlessly with nowhere to go and nothing to do, having to deal with their own despair at how utterly meaningless their lives feel, and it's Jake, the hard-working man who has to deal with what the war literally did to him who, by the end, begins to learn and grow while everyone else wastes their lives away chasing after the wind.
Just finished reading this one. Hemingway’s prose will never die. Thank you for your fine words, Cliff. Thinking about the next Hemingway I’ll check out.
I still remember the first time I started reading “The old man and the sea”. I fell in love with his prose immediately, with the first damn paragraph. Then I read “The sun also rises”. Then “A moveable feast”… and since then, he became my favorite writer. And you are right: no one else writes like him, not even if they try.
Excellent video! I read this book at university, which was a long time ago 😂 This brought a lot of memories back, thank you. Also, I really admire what you’ve achieved with your channel, and it’s one of the inspirations for recently starting my own channel, so thank you again. Peace from Australia!
‘Everybody Behaves Badly’ was a really interesting read for me and a good source of additional information for the novel. I like that it takes a journalistic approach instead of a literary one.
Aaaah, Hemingway! I am so happy to hear how you describe his writing, his way of telling a story - because I agree completely! What a pleasure, thank you so much! Greetings from Belgium (not far from Paris 😉)
Just finished reading this novel….I struggled to grasp the meaning and have found it quite boring….but a deeper Analysis and reflection it clicks with me, particularly the disillusionment and the paralysis within the characters - strangely positive and happy
My reading notes say I read this book in 2010, and like you, Cliff, I don't remember much of it at all. Though I do remember a lot about Hemingway the man. Due for a reread, methinks. Thanks!
I have that same difficult to build physical spaces in my head, felt that reading The Tartar Steppe a few days ago, but it doesn't diminished the greatness of the book at all. Haven't read any Hemingway yet, but after your review I'll certainly look after this one. Thanks!
The first chapter is one of the best in American literature, culminating in the “Try to take it.” Repetition, absolutely devastating and probably one of the most understated depictions of masculinity in crisis that I’ve ever read.
Great review Clifford. And a fantastic summary of Hemingway's writing style. I've read pretty much everything he's written, and The Sun Also Rises is my second favorite (To Have and Have Not is actually my favorite, even though it is considered "critically" his worst book). I really enjoy your videos because we definitely gravitate toward similar authors/styles. For 20+ years, I've averaged 100-150 books read per year, and some of my favorite authors are Camus, J. G. Ballard, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Bradbury, Vonnegut, etc. I also read a lot of SciFi/Fantasy, so I wanted to make a recommendation for you: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I think you would absolutely love this book. Think Canterbury Tales meets modern, uncensored SciFi. It's technically a four book series, but often read as two and two. Full of amazing character development across multiple worlds and rants about religion and politics. Considered controversial as well because it is chocked-full of sex and violence. The series is a beast (about 2,500 pages across all four books) but would be totally worth the investment of time. I consider the best book ever written in the genre.
Sober and interesting analysis of this book, considering that i went through something similar to Jake Barnes. Not in the war though, but a similar consequence, so this book has been eye opening for me. Life is interesting all right, hard at times, but new dimensions open up for you when sex is no longer the default option.
A great book. A lost generation as the previous pillars of society, marriage, class, religion and patriotism were all becoming less important, had less belief and trust in them. What was left was friendship, hedonism, your personal art (eg being a writer), for some, your career. Hemingway builds on this with some fantastic dicotomy. Jake being the centre of the friendship group of hedonist people but not being able to consummate it. For Brett, the most hedonistic character in the book, she has the possible way out of that hedonistic lifestyle, Jake, dangled in front of her (no pun intended) and yet he has the physical flaw that precludes him. She feels that this is a cruel curse on her as her true love died in the war and she swore not to love again. Having fallen in love again, the curse was that it could not be consummated. One of best premises for a book I have ever heard. The sun also rises is a pun on Jake's impotence. Best wishes to you and your channel.
Friendships between men and women, indeed…not really a common subject in books, it seems. My best friends have always been male, for some reason. Genuine, long-lasting friendships. Great video!
Just picked this book off the shelve of my humble library. 3 chapters in I had to stop myself for fear I may have finished the entire novel in one sitting. Thanks for the review 😃 I'm looking forward to the next 3 chapters!
So I usually read contemporary fiction and I wanted to dive into some classics, for many of the books I read it only takes me 2-3 weeks to finish them, but with this book it took 3 months of sporadic reading. The language and style of writing was new to me and read slower than usual, also because I read this book sporadically I missed or forgot the part that gave the reader a hint that Jake was impotent! This fact alone explains so much because I grew frustrated to see Jake having to witness the woman he loves get shagged by other men left and right. I wished i would have read it properly.
The story of all of Hemingway’s injuries alone is itself dramatic and tragic-having ultimately committing suicide from, arguably, hemochromatosis and severe concussions.
I have a really hard time constructing a town layout when it’s described like “the bank is north of the river that runs south west past the school, which is bounded…” etc etc
Read this beautiful novel 30 years ago and went to Pamplona and did the bill run and met a beautiful Spanish woman there. It was the best time of my life.
Well, somehow I had missed that his injury prevented him from having sex during my recent read through, so that really adds a whole deeper layer to the book. Wow
I remember reading something by Bukowski where he said "The Sun Also Rises" was about "a guy who cannot get it up". I read Hem's debut novel about 5 times, listened to its audioversion once. Must read, must re-read, must have and must gift.
The clipped dialogue with Jake Barnes and Ashley in the back of the taxi cab without the “he said” “she said” signifiers is progressive - an inverted echo of the type of text message dialogue used by Jennifer Egan in A Visit From The Goon Squad.
In the introduction to my copy it claims that Hemingway said that he didn’t intend for jake to have a physical injury, only that the war caused him to lose his sex drive. Which I personally think fits the story better
How do we explain the bit where the Italian officer says Jake "gave MORE than his life", then? (Proviso: it's been almost fifty years since I read that novel; please don't tell me that that's not even in there!).
Before I read the sun also rises at 22 I’m sure I was still reading (unenthusiastically) young adult novels, in a massive reading slump. This book got me into all the important early 20th century writers.
I watched your review of On the Road just before this one and I see a connection between the two books in the manic movement of Brett, Jake, et al. They can't seem to sit still and are constantly looking for something fulfilling - sex, a meal, booze, a good bullfight.
Spain is the absolute shit. Hemingway enhanced my trip like no other author could do it regardless of what country one would be inspired to visit. My understanding is that this book was finished in Valencia, and when I was in Valencia I made it a mission to go to Hemingway’s favorite restaurant there, La Pepica, which was affordable as fuck and an absolute treat from the atmosphere to the joviality of the waiters to the food itself. As expected, there was a fairly large glasses panel dedicated to the man itself on one of the walls, along with perhaps hundreds of other people’s photographs all over the restaurant, a lot of them having been toreadores, of course. No trip to Spain, or Paris and Milan for that matter, should be made without a little Hemingway in the backpack. An adequate review, I’ve a feeling this is just the kind of review that would have made Papa NOT want to uppercut the critic in the jaw.
Have you ever read or heard of the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts? I just finished it and am now telling literally anyone that will listen to read it, that shit made HP lovecraft feel like scary stories to tell in the dark. That shit was so terrifying it made me question if God could exist if the ideas proposed are true. Everyone who sees this comment should read it and Clifford, I will give you a fat kiss on the mustache if you talked about it in a video
Not a day goes by when I wouldn't think that if only I could destroy this whole digital "culture", including the internet, I would do it without hesitation and I would not miss it. So, maybe I could read this book and get a taste of the times when you had time to "waste" with friends, not doing much else than observing other people, talking, sharing meals, drinking etc. And totally without somebody reminding that this or that is unhealthy (like smoking, cigarettes) and that you should hurry here or there. I'm glad that I got to live a good portion of my life before the world went digital. Life REALLY was better before. So f*n much better.
@@ottol.1716 Practically impossible to live without any digital connection. Only homeless people may do it, but their lifestyle is not appealing. I personally don't have a smartphone, but any meeting with friends will involve digital interference via their gadgets.
A lovely sentiment. As a child of the 80s and 90s I feel so lucky to not have grown up with the internet. I feel we all had more freedom, more friends, more time, more fun and a heckload less anxiety.
@@Liisa3139 the thing is, probably by intentional design, that it's all connected isn't it and on your phone and most people need their phone for work, despite how self-disciplined you it's almost impossible to not get sucked back in. I ended up making a political vid after avoiding politics for months just because I happened to look at Reddit and see the wrong thing. And here I am now discussing the whole thing with you!
So far people either love this book or they hate it. Where's the disconnect? I can see how reading the story can seem tame and boring, but if you were watching the bull fights yourself it definitely wouldn't be. Do people just have impotent imaginations?
Hemingway.... I want to go on record as saying that I love "The Sun Also Rises"....and that I'm the only known person who really likes Hemingway's "Across the River and Into the Trees" (and is looking forward to the Liev Schreiber film this autumn).
Absolutely beautiful novel. I love most of the novels of his, that I’ve read, but this is the one that I can truly relate to the most. For good or bad. There does seem to feel like a liberating freedom throughout the book, to just experience life to the fullest without any inhibitions. I know what you mean though, everything has a fake sheen of positivity (when everyone seems miserable), they say nice things, but it all is a facade and they try to sell you that every single moment of life is profound. And then finishing it by trying to sell you a Lexus.
Fun, I just got this out, because I love his short stories. I must say in other countries there is a joie du Vivre, every night social, COMMUNITY! We are off the rails here, chasing the $
You da man, Cliff. Awesome review. Where can people send you books? Quite of my output is blue collar, and have one entitled You're Gonna Have Trouble that I would like to send in to you to look at, sir. Thank you.
I am currently reading this book, it is not only the worst Hemingway I’ve read so far, but it is the worst novel I have read in a long time. It is basically a bad journal, and a depiction of travelling from what I call a surface traveller (a typical male middle aged American tourist). But I’m glad someone gets to enjoy it
So interesting I’ve read my fair share of Hemingway and this was my favourite 😂 probably because I like stories that reflect the spirit of the time it was written in. Glad he wrote other novels so we all have something to enjoy by him.
@@taylor5065 Especially after reading the other possible endings he plotted my broken appreciation increased He surely chose the most devastating one. It was so sudden just like death itself brilliant!
While reading this I was like WTF ? Short choppy sentences, drinking, eating, drinking, drinking... But by the end, reading the final page i was overwhelmed, so great, soon after saw the PBS biography of Hemingway, what a character, truly larger than life 👍👍👍
Have been loving your patter. Most entertaining and informative. I don't know if this is the place for it, but I wanted to recommend to you Under the Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino. You mentioned in this video that you don't have strong visualisation. Well, give these a go.. This collection was Calvino's attempt at writing a story for each of the 5 senses. He was 3 deep when he kicked the bucket. Deeply hallucinogenic. I suspect you would like it. They're un-feken-real.
"I think Hemingway's drunkenness was a rebellion against the stiff and stodgy sobriety of his parents.....and of course, also to get fucked up." 🤣 Thanks, I really enjoy all your reviews.
It's ironic that you used the phrase "grabbing by the balls" considering the plight of Jake Barnes. This is one of the books that I read and reread when I was learning to write, there's a lot to be learned in Hemingway, especially As the Sun Also Rises.
Take a look at Hemingway’s story “a cat in the rain“. Now compare it to his novel The Garden of Eden. It’s the same story. You’ll need to be familiar with esoteric Jewish creation myths involving Lilith. Take a look at the old man and the sea. Now consider this novel you’re reviewing here. It’s the same story… one of these days you’ll see it. Good luck out there. “ there’s a bull and a Matador dueling in the sky. Inhale, in hell, there’s heaven.”
Sure looks like Florida. Tampa possibly. Florida definitely. Books tend to mold pretty darn quick out there if you leave them out on the patio table. Still good for dog chews if you do. Still good for killing skeeters if the dog won’t. Bad ones are for whacking a neighbor who hits your house with a hack drive. Love books. They are so useful.
I attended preparatory Catholic high school that was all about English lit, and we never read any Hemingway. And in my adult life I've never read Hemingway. I'm in my 50s, and I finally picked up this book to read. And I have all these preconceptions about it because all my life I've heard all these stereotypes about Hemingway and his writing. Granted I'm only 3 chapters in, but I don't see the manliness and focus on masculinity and virility that everyone says characterize his writing. The people drinking all the time doesn't seem manly or masculine to me, and I don't think Hemingway himself viewed that as being a manly behavior. The women are alcoholics too. It seems to me that Hemingway is presenting it as a dysfunctional quality, a human excess, but nothing macho. Also, I don't view the short sentences as being masculine at all. I just see them as being matter of fact and direct.
I felt the same way attempting to "see" the landscape depicted by Hemingway and appreciate you bringing this up. It's not easy like looking at a painting for example. Like you, I don't view this as a negative, just that it requires imaginative work. On the subject of grabbing life by the balls, no one did it better than Brett and I mean that literally and figuratively. I'm curious to know if you thought it was insinuated that Brett had an affair with the black drummer calling out to her while she danced at the Cafe Select (?). If the cause for Brett's promiscuity is that the man she loved was killed in battle or her second husband mistreated her, than it's probably a good thing (dare I say this) Jake couldn't function as a man. I think the only thing keeping their love alive is that she couldn't have him in a carnal sense. Had she been able to Jake would've eventually worn the same horns as Robert Cohn, Bill Campbell, Pedro Romero and countless others.
You look so much like Arthur from Peaky Blinders. I’ve been trying to place the face and just started rewatching it. Is he a long lost brother? Are you a Shelby? You have that class about you.
One of my literature professors once told me I should stop proudly admiring Hemingway’s work because he was sexist and misogynistic. Poor lady. Really put a bad taste in my mouth.
When I was a student at the University of Tennessee, I checked out a copy of this book from the Hodges Library. It was beat to hell. There were corners ripped (one fell out completely while I was reading it). Somebody had even done there math homework in the back. In pen, no less.
Out of curiosity, I checked the publication history in the front. Weirdly, there was only one date listed. “Oh no,” I thought…
When I finished reading it, I brought the book to the front desk, and sure enough, we were holding what was left of a first edition in our hands. According to her, it should have been placed into the Rare Books catalogue years beforehand, but somehow, it had slipped into General Circulation.
It’s a hell of a book, but needless to say, we both died a little that day.
I also went to UT I wonder if it’s still there
@@perry6762 The chances are good, though I’m not sure what state the book might be in now. I miss that library.
*their
I actually don't want you to correct this in your comment though, I like keeping the mistake in because it mirrors the wear and tear of the book you read.
th-cam.com/video/rgUHjS2noEw/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
Took me nearly 200 pages to realize that “tight” meant drunk
OHHH TQSM WGAT
This is so helpful u have no idea
literally lmao
You talked so passionately about The Old Man and the Sea that you made me read the book and it was an amazing experience. Hugs from Brazil.
não consigo mais ver um vídeo sem achar comentário brasileiro kkkkkkkkkk salve meu compatriota
Try A Farewell to Arms!
This book still has one of my favorite last sentences: "Isn't it pretty to think so."
Read this during my semester in Barcelona, right after I'd visited Pamplona and saw my first bullfight (brutal).
Being in Spain, intimately knowing a Brett, having a Robert Cohn as a friend IRL, I felt a closeness to this novel.
And at 20 that last line hit me hard.
The last line is "isn't IT pretty to think so?". What you said completely changes the context my friend.
@@quitefranklyjosh hahaha sorry for the typo. Def changes the context lol
Spoiler alert.. lol
I could Imagine from a trip to Spain I took li hasn't changed much from the basque country to spain to pamplona lifs is probably still cosisting of cava and tapas parties even if he did get his dick injured to rise another day.
I think the lack of "Carpe Diem" today has a lot to do with just how addictive the internet is. The neurological studies are pretty clear in that it saps our dopamine which is our main driver for motivation. I was born in the late nineties and even I remember a time when It was fairly common to have lengthy conversations with strangers and to see other people doing the same.
Hemingway had more real experiences in his relatively short life than any given hundred of today's soft generation. Wrote better about those experiences, too.
@@bluegregory6239 The PBS documentary on his life by Ken Burns is amazing if you haven't seen it
Interesting point about the era allowing people to actually "breathe."
Omg, this hit hard. I agree.
I wonder if that’s just European life though
Glad to see this review, my wife recently passed away, and we both loved this novel.
Sorry for your loss, I hope reading the novel you both loved gives some moments of reprieve
😢. How are you? That’s probably, no, it is, the stupidest question. You are living probably my worst nightmare. I nearly lost my husband 4 years ago from cancer and by God’s grace, he survived. But now I’m so damn paranoid every day I’m going to lose him and so life isn’t very enjoyable. I’m trying to work through it. One thing I realized when I nearly lost him is that I didn’t cherish him nearly enough. It was not a fun feeling. I pray you can find joy again, Andrew. Books are such a great comfort and I hope you can find some of them to crawl into and find some peace. Much love from Omaha.
I am deeply sorry to hear that Andrew. I hope you are as well as can be. Thank you for watching.
I know this is late and I’ve already enjoyed a few drinks like Barnes in the book, but you have my deepest condolences and I wish you are doing well.
I think the last chapter is stunning as well. One of my favourites sections from any book. Really moving.
I love this book... I love the last page so much I wanna cry....
I first read this book in high school and loved it. What I loved more, though, was A Farewell to Arms. That struck me hard.
Just came back from Paris and The Sun Also Rises was my reading. The fact that we stayed in the 7th walking the same streets Jake wandered made the trip that much more special.
I'm intrigued by your commentary at the end of the video about the travel scenes. There's a lot about Sun that I didn't appreciate on the first pass, but for me, the more bucolic scenes were the most striking. I read it about a year and a half ago and I can still picture the fishing scene ("This is country") with as much clarity as anything I've read over the last few weeks. Reading those few pages felt to me like stepping into a painting that's impossibly vivid for the scant number of brushstrokes needed to paint it.
I (and this may have been my own space in life at the time) honestly got the exact opposite feeling from the novel when I first read it last October. The characters are all trying to fill the void left by the war with partying and drinking and travel and sex and yet they keep chasing after something else because nothing gives them any purpose. Yes, it shows the decadence of the time, but it also shows the emptiness and loneliness of all these characters wandering around aimlessly with nowhere to go and nothing to do, having to deal with their own despair at how utterly meaningless their lives feel, and it's Jake, the hard-working man who has to deal with what the war literally did to him who, by the end, begins to learn and grow while everyone else wastes their lives away chasing after the wind.
That was my interpretation too
Just finished it; same here.
Just finished reading this one. Hemingway’s prose will never die. Thank you for your fine words, Cliff. Thinking about the next Hemingway I’ll check out.
I still remember the first time I started reading “The old man and the sea”. I fell in love with his prose immediately, with the first damn paragraph. Then I read “The sun also rises”. Then “A moveable feast”… and since then, he became my favorite writer. And you are right: no one else writes like him, not even if they try.
I'm with you about the physical descriptions being harder to grasp than even the more complex of concepts.
I bought this book last year, this review makes me really want to finally sit down and read it.
But the purchase of a book doesn't inspire such actions. Interesting.
Good luck. It’s a snoozer.
"Everybody Behaves Badly" is an amazing read!
Excellent video! I read this book at university, which was a long time ago 😂 This brought a lot of memories back, thank you. Also, I really admire what you’ve achieved with your channel, and it’s one of the inspirations for recently starting my own channel, so thank you again. Peace from Australia!
‘Everybody Behaves Badly’ was a really interesting read for me and a good source of additional information for the novel. I like that it takes a journalistic approach instead of a literary one.
Timeless Masterpiece! Great Review!
Damned good review. One of my favourites too and it is nice to have someone give a more analytical slant to it than I can.
Love this book too! I'll get around to rereading it at some point because I know it will all the more incredible.
Aaaah, Hemingway! I am so happy to hear how you describe his writing, his way of telling a story - because I agree completely! What a pleasure, thank you so much!
Greetings from Belgium (not far from Paris 😉)
Just finished reading this novel….I struggled to grasp the meaning and have found it quite boring….but a deeper Analysis and reflection it clicks with me, particularly the disillusionment and the paralysis within the characters - strangely positive and happy
My copy just came in the mail today 🥂 can’t wait to dive in!
My reading notes say I read this book in 2010, and like you, Cliff, I don't remember much of it at all. Though I do remember a lot about Hemingway the man. Due for a reread, methinks. Thanks!
Thanks for this. I've read this long ago but I'm going to actually read it now, if you understand.
I have that same difficult to build physical spaces in my head, felt that reading The Tartar Steppe a few days ago, but it doesn't diminished the greatness of the book at all.
Haven't read any Hemingway yet, but after your review I'll certainly look after this one. Thanks!
Reading now! Ty for the review.
The first chapter is one of the best in American literature, culminating in the “Try to take it.” Repetition, absolutely devastating and probably one of the most understated depictions of masculinity in crisis that I’ve ever read.
Great review Clifford. And a fantastic summary of Hemingway's writing style. I've read pretty much everything he's written, and The Sun Also Rises is my second favorite (To Have and Have Not is actually my favorite, even though it is considered "critically" his worst book). I really enjoy your videos because we definitely gravitate toward similar authors/styles. For 20+ years, I've averaged 100-150 books read per year, and some of my favorite authors are Camus, J. G. Ballard, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Bradbury, Vonnegut, etc. I also read a lot of SciFi/Fantasy, so I wanted to make a recommendation for you: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I think you would absolutely love this book. Think Canterbury Tales meets modern, uncensored SciFi. It's technically a four book series, but often read as two and two. Full of amazing character development across multiple worlds and rants about religion and politics. Considered controversial as well because it is chocked-full of sex and violence. The series is a beast (about 2,500 pages across all four books) but would be totally worth the investment of time. I consider the best book ever written in the genre.
Sober and interesting analysis of this book, considering that i went through something similar to Jake Barnes. Not in the war though, but a similar consequence, so this book has been eye opening for me. Life is interesting all right, hard at times, but new dimensions open up for you when sex is no longer the default option.
A great book. A lost generation as the previous pillars of society, marriage, class, religion and patriotism were all becoming less important, had less belief and trust in them. What was left was friendship, hedonism, your personal art (eg being a writer), for some, your career. Hemingway builds on this with some fantastic dicotomy. Jake being the centre of the friendship group of hedonist people but not being able to consummate it. For Brett, the most hedonistic character in the book, she has the possible way out of that hedonistic lifestyle, Jake, dangled in front of her (no pun intended) and yet he has the physical flaw that precludes him. She feels that this is a cruel curse on her as her true love died in the war and she swore not to love again. Having fallen in love again, the curse was that it could not be consummated. One of best premises for a book I have ever heard. The sun also rises is a pun on Jake's impotence. Best wishes to you and your channel.
Friendships between men and women, indeed…not really a common subject in books, it seems. My best friends have always been male, for some reason. Genuine, long-lasting friendships. Great video!
Just picked this book off the shelve of my humble library. 3 chapters in I had to stop myself for fear I may have finished the entire novel in one sitting.
Thanks for the review 😃 I'm looking forward to the next 3 chapters!
Clifford Lee “Suns Out, Guns Out” Sargent
This book completely bored me to death. Always lovely to see how different folks perspectives can vary so much!
Same here.
Likewise
Think I see The Obscene Bird of Night by Jose Donoso on your shelf. Incredibly based.
So I usually read contemporary fiction and I wanted to dive into some classics, for many of the books I read it only takes me 2-3 weeks to finish them, but with this book it took 3 months of sporadic reading. The language and style of writing was new to me and read slower than usual, also because I read this book sporadically I missed or forgot the part that gave the reader a hint that Jake was impotent! This fact alone explains so much because I grew frustrated to see Jake having to witness the woman he loves get shagged by other men left and right. I wished i would have read it properly.
I've struggled to get into this during my one and only attempt prior. I'll give it another go at some point.
The story of all of Hemingway’s injuries alone is itself dramatic and tragic-having ultimately committing suicide from, arguably, hemochromatosis and severe concussions.
Clifford Lee Sargent: "Whoever you are...just grabbing life by the balls and going as HARD as you can..."
Jake Barnes: "Not cool."
WOW!!!!! this video is so good!
Great review. You are very good at this .
Enjoyed the positivity in this book and in the review….the carpe diem idea is not as embraced anymore, as Cliff said.
I have a really hard time constructing a town layout when it’s described like “the bank is north of the river that runs south west past the school, which is bounded…” etc etc
Read this beautiful novel 30 years ago and went to Pamplona and did the bill run and met a beautiful Spanish woman there. It was the best time of my life.
Best book reviewer on TH-cam!!
Well, somehow I had missed that his injury prevented him from having sex during my recent read through, so that really adds a whole deeper layer to the book. Wow
Next do a farewell to arms and wear a long sleeved shirt
"it's a story of virility shot to pieces" that's one hell of a pun
I always like to think that Jake's impotence is a metaphor for Hemingway's marriage
That was a damn fine good video
I remember reading something by Bukowski where he said "The Sun Also Rises" was about "a guy who cannot get it up". I read Hem's debut novel about 5 times, listened to its audioversion once. Must read, must re-read, must have and must gift.
The clipped dialogue with Jake Barnes and Ashley in the back of the taxi cab without the “he said” “she said” signifiers is progressive - an inverted echo of the type of text message dialogue used by Jennifer Egan in A Visit From The Goon Squad.
An excellent follow up to ‘the sun also rises’ would be Steinbeck’s first acclaimed novel “in dubious battle”.
Thank you!!
You should consider doing a podcast. I think you’d nail it.
"Isn't it pretty to think so?" One of the Ten Best Novels in American History, and quite arguably Hemingway's best.
In the introduction to my copy it claims that Hemingway said that he didn’t intend for jake to have a physical injury, only that the war caused him to lose his sex drive. Which I personally think fits the story better
That rings true with me, Taylor. Somewhere, somehow I was taught that by someone I respected. I think that makes it even sadder.
Yes, Hemingway said Jake didn't actually lose his jewels. Not sure what the "injury" was.
@@dianal.clausen8118 agreed :)
@@jackwalter5970 I believe a potential symptom of PTSD is lack of sex drive, so I guess there’s one explanation
How do we explain the bit where the Italian officer says Jake "gave MORE than his life", then? (Proviso: it's been almost fifty years since I read that novel; please don't tell me that that's not even in there!).
Before I read the sun also rises at 22 I’m sure I was still reading (unenthusiastically) young adult novels, in a massive reading slump. This book got me into all the important early 20th century writers.
I watched your review of On the Road just before this one and I see a connection between the two books in the manic movement of Brett, Jake, et al. They can't seem to sit still and are constantly looking for something fulfilling - sex, a meal, booze, a good bullfight.
Spain is the absolute shit. Hemingway enhanced my trip like no other author could do it regardless of what country one would be inspired to visit. My understanding is that this book was finished in Valencia, and when I was in Valencia I made it a mission to go to Hemingway’s favorite restaurant there, La Pepica, which was affordable as fuck and an absolute treat from the atmosphere to the joviality of the waiters to the food itself. As expected, there was a fairly large glasses panel dedicated to the man itself on one of the walls, along with perhaps hundreds of other people’s photographs all over the restaurant, a lot of them having been toreadores, of course. No trip to Spain, or Paris and Milan for that matter, should be made without a little Hemingway in the backpack. An adequate review, I’ve a feeling this is just the kind of review that would have made Papa NOT want to uppercut the critic in the jaw.
In what way was Spain a sh*?
@@Liisa3139 when someone says it's the shit, it implies they like it as opposed to it's shit. Well, that means the obvious. It's just gen z slang😅
@@girishgowda7661 Ah, thanks, I also thought he was saying he didnt like it.
Have you ever read or heard of the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts? I just finished it and am now telling literally anyone that will listen to read it, that shit made HP lovecraft feel like scary stories to tell in the dark. That shit was so terrifying it made me question if God could exist if the ideas proposed are true. Everyone who sees this comment should read it and Clifford, I will give you a fat kiss on the mustache if you talked about it in a video
Not a day goes by when I wouldn't think that if only I could destroy this whole digital "culture", including the internet, I would do it without hesitation and I would not miss it. So, maybe I could read this book and get a taste of the times when you had time to "waste" with friends, not doing much else than observing other people, talking, sharing meals, drinking etc. And totally without somebody reminding that this or that is unhealthy (like smoking, cigarettes) and that you should hurry here or there. I'm glad that I got to live a good portion of my life before the world went digital. Life REALLY was better before. So f*n much better.
Plot twist: you still can do this!
@@ottol.1716 Practically impossible to live without any digital connection. Only homeless people may do it, but their lifestyle is not appealing. I personally don't have a smartphone, but any meeting with friends will involve digital interference via their gadgets.
A lovely sentiment. As a child of the 80s and 90s I feel so lucky to not have grown up with the internet. I feel we all had more freedom, more friends, more time, more fun and a heckload less anxiety.
@@Liisa3139 the thing is, probably by intentional design, that it's all connected isn't it and on your phone and most people need their phone for work, despite how self-disciplined you it's almost impossible to not get sucked back in. I ended up making a political vid after avoiding politics for months just because I happened to look at Reddit and see the wrong thing. And here I am now discussing the whole thing with you!
Move to Europe.
Just found your channel. I like it. This is a damn good novel. Best wishes.
So far people either love this book or they hate it. Where's the disconnect? I can see how reading the story can seem tame and boring, but if you were watching the bull fights yourself it definitely wouldn't be. Do people just have impotent imaginations?
being american cultural culture student and watching videos from 10 year or only 1 year by this man
Hemingway.... I want to go on record as saying that I love "The Sun Also Rises"....and that I'm the only known person who really likes Hemingway's "Across the River and Into the Trees" (and is looking forward to the Liev Schreiber film this autumn).
I'd say Mark Twain is THE AMERICAN AUTHOR but I will check this Hemingway guy out. Thanks.
No anesthesia!? Jesus Christ.
Anyways, Ernest Hemingway is on my list of “authors I need to read more”.
Absolutely beautiful novel. I love most of the novels of his, that I’ve read, but this is the one that I can truly relate to the most. For good or bad.
There does seem to feel like a liberating freedom throughout the book, to just experience life to the fullest without any inhibitions.
I know what you mean though, everything has a fake sheen of positivity (when everyone seems miserable), they say nice things, but it all is a facade and they try to sell you that every single moment of life is profound. And then finishing it by trying to sell you a Lexus.
i have the same edition as you! its my fave Hemingway
Fun, I just got this out, because I love his short stories. I must say in other countries there is a joie du Vivre, every night social, COMMUNITY! We are off the rails here, chasing the $
one of my favorite books
Everybody Behaves Badly is a pretty good novel about the making of Sun and Hemingway's early years. Well worth reading.
You da man, Cliff. Awesome review. Where can people send you books? Quite of my output is blue collar, and have one entitled You're Gonna Have Trouble that I would like to send in to you to look at, sir. Thank you.
Great review!
You know what you were doing in that thumbnail. 😉 💪
I am currently reading this book, it is not only the worst Hemingway I’ve read so far, but it is the worst novel I have read in a long time. It is basically a bad journal, and a depiction of travelling from what I call a surface traveller (a typical male middle aged American tourist). But I’m glad someone gets to enjoy it
So interesting I’ve read my fair share of Hemingway and this was my favourite 😂 probably because I like stories that reflect the spirit of the time it was written in. Glad he wrote other novels so we all have something to enjoy by him.
@@cansueceklc7745 to me it is barely beaten or tied by A Farewell to Arms, it’s so hard to chose
@@taylor5065 That one was also fantastic I think it scarred me for life though. Definitely a close second for me.
@@cansueceklc7745 I had no idea it was gonna end that way, I swear I’ll always remember that shock.
@@taylor5065 Especially after reading the other possible endings he plotted my broken appreciation increased He surely chose the most devastating one. It was so sudden just like death itself brilliant!
Yes sir!
Thanks!
Thanks very much for your kind support FJ!
While reading this I was like WTF ? Short choppy sentences, drinking, eating, drinking, drinking...
But by the end, reading the final page i was overwhelmed, so great, soon after saw the PBS biography of Hemingway, what a character, truly larger than life
👍👍👍
Have been loving your patter. Most entertaining and informative. I don't know if this is the place for it, but I wanted to recommend to you Under the Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino. You mentioned in this video that you don't have strong visualisation. Well, give these a go.. This collection was Calvino's attempt at writing a story for each of the 5 senses. He was 3 deep when he kicked the bucket. Deeply hallucinogenic. I suspect you would like it. They're un-feken-real.
For me, Hemingway is one of the good nature writer. Reading Big Two-Hearted River, I felt as if I was there with him.
When I saw the thumbnail I thought you were reviewing GUNS OF NAVARONE 💪🏻😂
Hey, Cliff. How's your day going?
"I think Hemingway's drunkenness was a rebellion against the stiff and stodgy sobriety of his parents.....and of course, also to get fucked up." 🤣 Thanks, I really enjoy all your reviews.
It's ironic that you used the phrase "grabbing by the balls" considering the plight of Jake Barnes. This is one of the books that I read and reread when I was learning to write, there's a lot to be learned in Hemingway, especially As the Sun Also Rises.
Isn’t it pretty to think so?
@rattlecat that sealed the deal for me in high school when I first read it- Zing!
Take a look at Hemingway’s story “a cat in the rain“. Now compare it to his novel The Garden of Eden. It’s the same story. You’ll need to be familiar with esoteric Jewish creation myths involving Lilith.
Take a look at the old man and the sea. Now consider this novel you’re reviewing here. It’s the same story… one of these days you’ll see it. Good luck out there.
“ there’s a bull and a Matador dueling in the sky. Inhale, in hell, there’s heaven.”
Sure looks like Florida. Tampa possibly. Florida definitely. Books tend to mold pretty darn quick out there if you leave them out on the patio table. Still good for dog chews if you do. Still good for killing skeeters if the dog won’t. Bad ones are for whacking a neighbor who hits your house with a hack drive. Love books. They are so useful.
I attended preparatory Catholic high school that was all about English lit, and we never read any Hemingway. And in my adult life I've never read Hemingway. I'm in my 50s, and I finally picked up this book to read. And I have all these preconceptions about it because all my life I've heard all these stereotypes about Hemingway and his writing.
Granted I'm only 3 chapters in, but I don't see the manliness and focus on masculinity and virility that everyone says characterize his writing. The people drinking all the time doesn't seem manly or masculine to me, and I don't think Hemingway himself viewed that as being a manly behavior. The women are alcoholics too. It seems to me that Hemingway is presenting it as a dysfunctional quality, a human excess, but nothing macho.
Also, I don't view the short sentences as being masculine at all. I just see them as being matter of fact and direct.
I felt the same way attempting to "see" the landscape depicted by Hemingway and appreciate you bringing this up. It's not easy like looking at a painting for example. Like you, I don't view this as a negative, just that it requires imaginative work. On the subject of grabbing life by the balls, no one did it better than Brett and I mean that literally and figuratively. I'm curious to know if you thought it was insinuated that Brett had an affair with the black drummer calling out to her while she danced at the Cafe Select (?). If the cause for Brett's promiscuity is that the man she loved was killed in battle or her second husband mistreated her, than it's probably a good thing (dare I say this) Jake couldn't function as a man. I think the only thing keeping their love alive is that she couldn't have him in a carnal sense. Had she been able to Jake would've eventually worn the same horns as Robert Cohn, Bill Campbell, Pedro Romero and countless others.
Good review .....
Just finished it ❤
Have you read any Corfu stories by Durrell? (either of the two writers)
I'm a fan and f Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet, set in Egypt before Israel came to be. I think you'll find it compelling.
You look so much like Arthur from Peaky Blinders. I’ve been trying to place the face and just started rewatching it. Is he a long lost brother? Are you a Shelby? You have that class about you.
Thankfully Cliff doesn’t have Arthur’s … eh, personality issues!
One of my literature professors once told me I should stop proudly admiring Hemingway’s work because he was sexist and misogynistic. Poor lady. Really put a bad taste in my mouth.
Anyone have any suggestions on other books like this?