May 23, 2013

“The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway – The Death of All Illusions

Very few of us have managed to grow up without hearing the name Ernest Hemingway being thrown around, especially in high school. Regardless of whether you have come to love or hate him, you cannot deny the impact he had on American literature, nor can you deny that some of his books can be objectively described as timeless classics and masterpieces. The Sun Also Rises is definitely one of them, and first published in 1926, it not only pushed literature forward, but it also had an impact on people as a whole.

To give you a brief idea of what it’s about, The Sun Also Rises follows Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, a rather unusual couple that undertakes an odyssey of self-discovery around Europe, right after the end of the First World War. 

However, the book is much more than the adventures of its main characters (though they are definitely entertaining as well), basically being a social commentary on the way things were after the First World War, the one many dubbed as being “The war to end all wars”. It was a very strange, difficult and confusing time for humanity, one during which people started to expand their consciousness, exploring what the world really had to offer, and most importantly, try and break the traditions of the past.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (Book cover)
Though I have obviously never lived during that time, I have to say that if things are as Hemingway describes them, it must have been a heck of a time period to live through. His style perfectly captures the atmosphere of angst and disillusionment mixed with a certain degree of nihilism and a grand hope for the future experienced by the main characters. 

The book is filled with immorality, decadence, and a basic disregard for tradition. Though today it may appear to be a bit tame, at the time it went against the grain, being a reflection on how the real world can be: cold, brutal, unforgiving, and generally messed up. 

Those of you who like to read books for the messages they transmit, the atmosphere they create and the way the characters develop will definitely enjoy The Sun Also Rises, one of Hemingway’s greatest and perhaps even more controversial masterpieces.


Ernest Hemingway 
<br />(July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

Ernest Hemingway
(July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)


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Ernest Hemingway was a famous American author as well as journalist who prided himself in having a simple style of writing, being capable of using the simplest propositions to convey the greatest of ideas. Some of his better-known works include The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls.



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