Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises

Linda Wagner-Martin

From Shelf: Books for the roaring 20's

Opening up discussions of war, sexuality, personal angst, and national identity, this novel has become synonymous with modernism, both in theme and style. It is often used as either a starting point for courses in modernism or as a representative modernist novel.

Still the most popular book of Hemingway's to teach, The Sun Also Rises captures the quintessential romance of the expatriate Americans and Britains in Paris after World War I. As the international vacationers move from Paris to Pamplona for the bullfight festival, the characters wend their various narratives through the impressionistic colours of modern European life. The text provides a way for discussions of war, sexuality, personal angst, and national identity to be linked inextricably with the stylistic traits of modern writing. Both in theme and style, this novel has become synonymous with modernism and is often used as either a starting point for courses in modernism or as a representative modernist novel in broader survey courses. This collection of essays presents ideas published throughout the last half of the twentieth century, touching on topics of sexuality, religion, alcoholism, gender, Spanish culture and economics - as well as humour. Five of the essays have been published since 1995, and they represent the most current thinking about the novel. The volume also includes an interview with Hemingway conducted by George Plimpton.

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