Contemplations

For my last blog, I want to reflect on The Sun Also Rises, just as I did on The Things They Carried. So overall, the novel was very boring to me; there are a variety of reasons for this. The biggest obstacle for me was trying to pay attention when it seemed as if Jake was documenting every step he took. At times, I honestly felt as if he was trying to make me skip entire pages; believe me, I was already fighting the urge to skip paragraphs. Another issue I had was the fact that the action didn't really come around until the last few chapters. To me, the entire first, oh, I'd say, fifty to seventy percent of the novel was just the gang running around Paris and Pamplona drinking. A final problem I had was the unrequited love situation; yes, I realize that this and the insecurities of the individuals are pretty much the entire reason for the story. However, futile love for someone has always bothered me. It annoyed me that Jake let Brett play him and use him ten times more than she does to other men. I think at some point an individual has to remove themselves from that situation, no matter how difficult it is. Furthermore, Brett needs to learn she can't use men as she does; she needs to learn her lesson in my humble opinion.
Continuing on to what I actually enjoyed about the novel...I'll be truthful: there wasn't much. One thing I did like were Hemingway's/jake's observations and thoughts about life. There are a variety of comments he makes from the beginning of the novel such as, "You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another" pg.19, to the middle, "'How'd you go bankrupt?' "Friends. I had a lot of friends. False friends'" pg.141, and to the end, "If you want people to like you you only have to spend a little money" pg.237. I found many of these quotes to be partially true. I liked reading the thoughts of Hemingway/Jake on people and life; it interested me. That pretty much covers what I enjoyed about the novel, which does make me wonder if all of Hemingway's novels are written in the same style as this one. If so, I am truly curious as to why he became a well-known, famous literary figure.