Want a drink? How about another? Sex, anyone? How about another drink? Alcoholism…the theme of “The Sun Also Rises“. I’m no stranger to a good cocktail, but the characters in the book take day drinking to championship levels. This book makes you want to drink just so that you’re not the odd-man out.
Understanding the post-WWI setting in France and Spain, I tried my best to appreciate that the social behaviors of the characters are intentionally somewhat escapist and depressed. Europeans had been through years of war, loss, and struggles. I can’t say myself that I wouldn’t have fallen victim to finding sleep at the bottom of a bottle and love in the arms of those merely accessible and kind had I been there. None-the-less, I found this hard to read without wanting to just ask the characters to buy some condoms and have a breakfast of more than brandy and cigarettes.
Fundador Brandy, by Pedro Domecq, seems to be referenced in every other sentence once the traveling characters arrive in Spain. Its prominence in the book is so significant, that a few pages into the Spanish adventures I went a bought a bottle (for research purposes, of course.) Made at the oldest bodega in Jerez, Spain, it dates back to the 1730s. 80 Proof, it is aged in the traditional Solera system in used sherry barrels giving it its dark golden color. Slightly sweet and priced to sell it’s very easy to drink. Okay, so I get the attraction to it…but back to the story.
The Sun Also Rises is an easy read but didn’t leave me with any lasting needs to continue my relationship with the characters. Had they been people I met on a trip, I would hope that they’d lose my email address had they been sober enough to write it down properly. They are the people you go home and tell your friends about, “Fun to drink with, but, there’s just something ‘off’.” What I wished most for them was inner peace, an STD-free life, a quiet place to detox, and perhaps some group therapy.
Now, whose thirsty?
Year Published: 1926
Total Pages: 256
Goodreads Abstract
The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
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