Appearance
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
I started listening to this book off of a cd my friend burned for me, so I did not know who the reader was. After the 9th chapter, I was so moved and impressed by the reader that I went online to find out who it was so I could check out the other titles he reads (I listen to 3+ audiobooks a week.)It made sense to me that it would be an accomplished actor. William Hurt is reading it with a humorous lilt and angst that conceptually matches the style and content. It isn't a flat reading of the text-- my god, who would want that?!-- but a very smart actor who is bringing his profession's strengths to a collaboration. I AM STUNNED that anyone would disparage this performance.great book, great reader.
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
Hemingway truly at his best. Can read or listen to it time and time again and never be bored - there is always something new to pick up on. Description of fishing expedition, bull fights, and life in the 20's in Europe is extraordinary. His ability to bring the characters to life is unmatched.
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
Read it first as a teenager, of course...then our book club decided we should sprinkle in a few classics, and this was the first of our selections. I had forgotten what a great writer Hemingway is, how clean, and spare, but still manages to paint a vivid picture of the characters and places he travels. Sublime, really, would read it again in a few years.
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
World War 1 is now over and life goes on, but for many who survived the carnage complete recovery seems impossible. Jake Barnes is an American ex-soldier now working as a journalist in Paris. His days are spent at the typewriter diligently working, and much of the night is spent walking from bar to bar to café, enjoying the scenery and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Jake's friend Robert Cohn is an apparently successful writer of novels but inside he longs to really live life. He longs to experience life as truly 'real.' According the Jake the problem with Cohn is that he only knows life from books. Now Cohn has read the "intensely romantic" book _The Purple Land_ and wants to go to South America because he is convinced that he will finally 'be alive' there. He wants Jake to come with him. Jake refuses and suggests, as an alternative, that Cohn come with him and his friend Bill Gordon on their annual trip to Pamplona in Spain. They will first spend a week fishing and then enjoy the fiesta for another week. Cohn agrees to come. Mean while Jake has run into Brett Ashley, an attractive, passionate woman who he has known since the war. Jake has a friendly but unhappy relationship with Brett as he cannot find a way to fully express his love for her. On hearing about the planned trip to Spain Brett asks if she and her current fiancé Michael can come too. Jack agrees. Mean while, however, Britt has a brief romantic liaison with Cohn. Despite this seemingly explosive web of relationships the partly sets out for Spain.Writing after the Second World War the Existentialist philosophers stressed the need for man to live 'authentically,' that is, not lying to oneself, not sleepwalking through life without truly experiencing it. _Fiesta_ in many ways prefigures those philosophic arguments. Who in the story truly lives, at least for a while? When is Jake most truly authentic? Closely allied with this theme of authenticity is the topic of triviality. How many drunken conversation can these characters, or the reader, stand? The first quarter of this book, while the characters are still in Paris, in fact becomes boring, but Hemingway has deliberately written it this way in order to make his point. During the crazy time of the fiesta the book truly takes off and it is easy to see how this story in many ways inspired the now booming tourist trade in Pamplona. Hemingway has vividly portrayed each of his characters, but the reader must ask himself do any of them change or grow? Why, or why not?This book was first published in 1927 and is Hemingway's first novel. It has been critically studied in some depth and acclaimed to a fair degree. If you enjoy reading this book you may also like his later works A Farewell To Arms (1929) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). In 1954 Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
It's tough to say anything bad about this a classic, always included in "Best Novels of the 20th Century" lists. The story is about a group of partying American ex-patriots living in Paris, and their weeklong sojourn to Spain. It's full of drunkenness, love triangles and assorted debauchery. But the strength of the novel is the style. Although the book was originally published in 1926, it still feels fresh. Sure, some of the language and details are dated, but it's hard to miss how much Hemingway's style influenced modern writing. It's sharp and insightful, with crisp dialogue and characters that are all relatable in one way or another. While I wouldn't put it on my list of favorite books, the style alone is worth the read.
Fiesta [The Sun Also Rises].
A meandering novel with many meaningless conversations that really don't amount to very much. There were a few high-lights - the bull-fighting scenes towards the end were, I suppose, vintage Hemingway. Also the setting at the fishing village (or vacation spot) had the beginnings of some introspection, but was not taken very far. The first one hundred pages in Paris were repetitive and bland.