The Sun Also Rises

By Jason Chambers

JC: Two coinciding events led me to Hemingway recently.

A couple of weeks ago, we posted Greg Olear’s essay for the When We Fell In Love series, in which he wrote about The Sun Also Rises. Around the same time, we posted D. R. Haney’s WWFIL about William Faulkner. Over at The Nervous Breakdown, we had quite a few comments preferring one author or the other for various reasons; I fell in behind Uncle Bill, but admittedly hadn’t read any Hemingway since high school, aside from the stray short story.

About the same time, the broadcast of the Academy Awards drove me to the local library, when, seeing that the Coen Bros. had a film that I missed this year, I followed a whim or two. Searching for more information online, I discovered that their next film is True Grit. So I went looking for Charles Portis, which was kindly shelved where it oughtto have been. Perusing the fiction section, I uncovered an old Ron Rash, and eventually found myself in front of Hemingway, TSAR in my hand. A pretty good haul.

It takes about two pages to learn two things. Hemingway is a hell of a writer and Norman Mailer owes him a fair chunk of his royalties. Or did, anyway. I’m a big Mailer fan, read all the fiction, and some of the nonfiction, and I knew that he owed Hemingway a debt, but never realized how much. The resemblance is uncanny. EH’s prose is tighter, and NM’s lewder, but it’s there.

Hemingway’s funny too. I didn’t recall that from any previous readings. The dialogue in the Parisian section is sharp, the repartee cutting. It’s reminescent of FSF in a lot of ways. The empty-headed, self-congratulatory celebration of Jake, Brett and the gang.

As the partiers move from Paris to Pamplona, their temperature rises along with the feverish pace of the fiesta. Fueled by booze and the blood of bulls and matadors, Jake and company devolve into jealousy and violence. They are torn alternately by passion and disillusionment.

I can see why Greg wrote that he’s read it many times over the years. I like the book more after thinking about it for a week than I did immediately upon finishing it, and I liked it then. I’m reminded of EH’s Iceberg Theory on writing, which I’ve heard paraphrased often enough, but here it is as he put it:

If a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.

—Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

That fits. Hemingway leaves a lot unsaid in TSAR, which the reader interprets. That’s good, because it keeps the critics busy and out of the bars. It also leaves a lot for the rest of us to think about. How much of the treatment of Cohn is anti-semitism, how much is his inattendance at the war, and how much is because he’s a lovesick loser? How far does the postwar disillusionment extend? What’s the significance of Jake essentially pimping the matador? Lots more.

I had one problem, and it’s not Hemingway’s fault. It’s television’s fault. You see, the running of the bulls in Pamplona is an iconic scene in the novel – raw, bloody – and it ought to be meteoric and shocking. But it’s not, because every year every news channel shows 20 seconds of the running of the bulls, hoping to catch some dope being trampled or tossed on a horn, accompanied by a jackass newsreader making a joke. Of course, the only reason they cover it at all is because of Hemingway’s novel. A paradox. I can’t remember having that sensation before – that my prior knowledge of a scene made me disappointed in it.

It’s odd to say that someone as well known and read as EH might be underrated, but that might be the case, because he seems quite out of favor. I still prefer Faulkner, but I want to read something from the more mature Hemingway, so this week I’m planning to pick up a copy of either For Whom The Bell Tolls or A Farewell to Arms.

http://www.foodserviceeast.com susan holaday
Nice to be reminded of Hemingway’s great works – I’ll try to re-read some this summer. My usual re-reads every few years are “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wind in the Willows” – not major literary works but seem to have a lasting relevance in many ways!
http://www.foodserviceeast.com susan holaday
Nice to be reminded of Hemingway’s great works – I’ll try to re-read some this summer. My usual re-reads every few years are “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wind in the Willows” – not major literary works but seem to have a lasting relevance in many ways!
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Hi Susan,
You could probably make a pretty good argument for AIW and WITW as pretty major literary works. I tend not to reread books, as there are so many in the pile waiting to be read. Every once in a while, however, I’ll peruse the shelves and see something that I want to revisit: Fred Chappell, or the final pages of A Feast of Snakes. I reread Anna Karenina a little while back and it held up, which is often my concern in rereads.
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Hi Susan,
You could probably make a pretty good argument for AIW and WITW as pretty major literary works. I tend not to reread books, as there are so many in the pile waiting to be read. Every once in a while, however, I’ll peruse the shelves and see something that I want to revisit: Fred Chappell, or the final pages of A Feast of Snakes. I reread Anna Karenina a little while back and it held up, which is often my concern in rereads.
Greg Olear
So glad you enjoyed the book…it always makes me nervous to recommend something.
I’d never heard the iceberg theory before, but it makes perfect sense, especially when applied to TSAR. It’s interesting to think about that with respect to masculinity. EH is known as an uber-manly writer, but Jake Barnes is, paradoxically, not able to fulfill the most basic manly duties. There is something feminine about him, but it is understated wonderfully.
The running of the bulls was a rustic event, and is only famous because of Hemingway and that book. At least, that’s my understanding. I believe there’s a statue of him in San Sebastian.
Finally: I felt the same way you did about NM when I watched “The Great Dictator” for the first time. That Mel Brooks especially was just a watered-down version of the great Chaplin.
Thanks!
Greg Olear
So glad you enjoyed the book…it always makes me nervous to recommend something.
I’d never heard the iceberg theory before, but it makes perfect sense, especially when applied to TSAR. It’s interesting to think about that with respect to masculinity. EH is known as an uber-manly writer, but Jake Barnes is, paradoxically, not able to fulfill the most basic manly duties. There is something feminine about him, but it is understated wonderfully.
The running of the bulls was a rustic event, and is only famous because of Hemingway and that book. At least, that’s my understanding. I believe there’s a statue of him in San Sebastian.
Finally: I felt the same way you did about NM when I watched “The Great Dictator” for the first time. That Mel Brooks especially was just a watered-down version of the great Chaplin.
Thanks!
http://progressofhorrornovel.com/default.aspx Patrick T. Kilgallon
I probably would think it’s funny when the newscaster says, “It looks like the bull seized him by the horns instead of the other way around,” or “Boy! Talk about horns of dilemma, either elbows your fellow runner aside for him to get trampled and look like a low down dirty shameful jerk on t.v. or get stabbed in the back by a bellowing animal that weighs a ton.” Have they say anything like that?
http://progressofhorrornovel.com/default.aspx Patrick T. Kilgallon
I probably would think it’s funny when the newscaster says, “It looks like the bull seized him by the horns instead of the other way around,” or “Boy! Talk about horns of dilemma, either elbows your fellow runner aside for him to get trampled and look like a low down dirty shameful jerk on t.v. or get stabbed in the back by a bellowing animal that weighs a ton.” Have they say anything like that?
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Patrick, I’m not sure you could find a newsreader who could use the phrase “horns of dilemma”, but I’m sure I’ve heard that first one before.
Greg, you’re right about the EH and the bulls, it’s only covered due to the influence of TSAR, although had it not been written, surely someone would have seen the literary opportunity there eventually.
I did find interesting the masculine inadequacy of Jake vis a vis Hemingway’s reputation. Also, EH is recognized for his archtype of the hero, which was lacking in TSAR, except perhaps for the matador, before he is corrupted.
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Patrick, I’m not sure you could find a newsreader who could use the phrase “horns of dilemma”, but I’m sure I’ve heard that first one before.
Greg, you’re right about the EH and the bulls, it’s only covered due to the influence of TSAR, although had it not been written, surely someone would have seen the literary opportunity there eventually.
I did find interesting the masculine inadequacy of Jake vis a vis Hemingway’s reputation. Also, EH is recognized for his archtype of the hero, which was lacking in TSAR, except perhaps for the matador, before he is corrupted.
Greg Olear
Interestly, I don’t much like the more archetypal Hemingway stuff. I could never get through FWTBT, and FTA didn’t impress me (although it did impress the guy who wrote The English Patient, clearly).
In some ways, first novels are like first albums by a rock band — usually they are raw, and not as flashy as what comes later, but there’s something there that speaks to something true. Something they have not yet learned to conceal.
Greg Olear
Interestly, I don’t much like the more archetypal Hemingway stuff. I could never get through FWTBT, and FTA didn’t impress me (although it did impress the guy who wrote The English Patient, clearly).
In some ways, first novels are like first albums by a rock band — usually they are raw, and not as flashy as what comes later, but there’s something there that speaks to something true. Something they have not yet learned to conceal.
jonathan evison
. . . i still say hemingroids was gay, or at least extremely bi-curious! any takers?
jonathan evison
. . . i still say hemingroids was gay, or at least extremely bi-curious! any takers?
Greg Olear
His mother wanted a girl, and dressed him as such until well after she should have. Hence the macho complex.
How could he be gay? I mean, he was married four times. Oh, wait…
Greg Olear
His mother wanted a girl, and dressed him as such until well after she should have. Hence the macho complex.
How could he be gay? I mean, he was married four times. Oh, wait…
Irwin
Greg— wasn’t Hemingway’s first novel technically The Torrents of Spring? It might be considered more of a novella.
Either way, it’s a very enjoyable read…
Irwin
Greg— wasn’t Hemingway’s first novel technically The Torrents of Spring? It might be considered more of a novella.
Either way, it’s a very enjoyable read…
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Irwin, I believe that he wrote Torrents immediately after TSAR, and sold them to S&S at the same time.
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
Irwin, I believe that he wrote Torrents immediately after TSAR, and sold them to S&S at the same time.
Irwin
I’m sure Torrents was published first, but only by a few weeks…
Irwin
I’m sure Torrents was published first, but only by a few weeks…
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
That seems to be the case, Irwin. My understanding is that he wrote TSAR, then immediately after wrote Torrents. One story is that he wrote Torrents so that his current publisher would refuse it and he could be justified in moving to S&S, to whom he sold both books as a package deal.
http://www.threeguysonebook.com Jason Chambers
That seems to be the case, Irwin. My understanding is that he wrote TSAR, then immediately after wrote Torrents. One story is that he wrote Torrents so that his current publisher would refuse it and he could be justified in moving to S&S, to whom he sold both books as a package deal.
Greg Olear
I’ve only heard that TSAR was his first.
It also has the best closing line in all of literature. (JE, if you’re reading this, AAL’s closing line is pretty damned good, too).
Greg Olear
I’ve only heard that TSAR was his first.
It also has the best closing line in all of literature. (JE, if you’re reading this, AAL’s closing line is pretty damned good, too).
Duke
Jason is right about Hemingway’s motives in writing “Torrents,” but he was also taking a shot at Sherwood Anderson, whose style had a huge impact on Hemingway, in a textbook example of Harold Bloom’s notion of the anxiety of influence.
As for Hemingway’s mother dressing him like a girl when he was a kid, that was, as I understand it, a fashion of the day. He and his sister, Marcelline, who was a year older, were presented by their mother as twins. This was known to his biographers prior to Kenneth Lynn, but none, until Lynn, made much of it. I was sickened by the Lynn biography, despite the high quality of the writing. It was like reading a psychological profile stitched together by a bitter ex-wife: every utterance, no matter how trifling, is a key that opens a door to damnation. Nobody looks good when seen in such a rigorous, unforgiving light.
Apropos Greg’s remark about bands, I’ve always thought Hemingway’s first book, “In Our Time,” is his best.
Duke
Jason is right about Hemingway’s motives in writing “Torrents,” but he was also taking a shot at Sherwood Anderson, whose style had a huge impact on Hemingway, in a textbook example of Harold Bloom’s notion of the anxiety of influence.
As for Hemingway’s mother dressing him like a girl when he was a kid, that was, as I understand it, a fashion of the day. He and his sister, Marcelline, who was a year older, were presented by their mother as twins. This was known to his biographers prior to Kenneth Lynn, but none, until Lynn, made much of it. I was sickened by the Lynn biography, despite the high quality of the writing. It was like reading a psychological profile stitched together by a bitter ex-wife: every utterance, no matter how trifling, is a key that opens a door to damnation. Nobody looks good when seen in such a rigorous, unforgiving light.
Apropos Greg’s remark about bands, I’ve always thought Hemingway’s first book, “In Our Time,” is his best.
Greg Olear
With the dress-like-a-girl, I am recalling details that I literally learned at the Madison Public Library while researching a term paper I wrote about TSAR my sophomore year in high school. Was this from Lynn’s biography? I don’t know.
IN OUR TIME is the first, but is a story collection. His short stories are quite good. As is, of course, his rejoinder to FSF’s remark about rich people being different from the rest of us.
Greg Olear
With the dress-like-a-girl, I am recalling details that I literally learned at the Madison Public Library while researching a term paper I wrote about TSAR my sophomore year in high school. Was this from Lynn’s biography? I don’t know.
IN OUR TIME is the first, but is a story collection. His short stories are quite good. As is, of course, his rejoinder to FSF’s remark about rich people being different from the rest of us.

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The Sun Also Rises