It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. “Oh, darling,” Brett said, “I’m so miserable.” (56) To be completely truthful, if left on my own I find this book tedious, repetitive, and possible to sum up with two quotes:

But since I read over the whole abortion thing in “Hills Like White Elephants,” I felt obligated to do the barest amount of research into what Hemingway intended with this book. It’s hard to emphasize the quantity of booze in this book-the thought of three people sucking down three bottles of champagne only to chug wine, cocktails, and brandy with dinner and dessert makes my liver hurt. They spend their time lunching, drinking, socializing, drinking, dancing, and drinking. The Sun Also Rises follows a group of expatriates in Europe shortly after WWI. (The Frasier quote comes to mind: “Ah, but if less is more, just think of how much more more will be!”) When I picked up The Sun Also Rises, I was intrigued by the idea of more Hemingway. When you come to admire an author for their concision, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’ll like their full-length novels. The more we discussed it, the more the story opened up and the sparse, concise language conveyed more than I’d realized. In my quest to finish my homework as fast as possible, I’d read past the topic discussed by the two main characters-the only thing happening in the story. I read it quickly, too quickly, and was stunned when the in-class conversation turned to abortion. I remember being assigned “Hills Like White Elephants” in college. Most of my affection for Ernest Hemingway’s writing comes from his short fiction.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway