The Sun Also Rises (1926) By Ernest Hemingway

 

Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, has recently been reprinted by the Library of America. I thought it would make a good re-read. On second thought, I think I read it before, now I am more inclined to believe it was assigned when I was in high school, but I probably watched the movie instead of reading it. 

The novel is one of the classics of American literature, penned by perhaps the greatest of the Lost Generation writers. The Sun Also Rises takes place in France and Spain in the years between the World Wars. Significantly, The Lost Generation was a working title for Hemingway’s book.

There are two primary characters. One is the narrator Jake Barnes, an American army veteran who stayed in Europe after World War I working as a foreign correspondent. He lives in the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris and has a large clique of writer friends, some successful, some not, all of whom could be categorized as alcoholics. 

The other primary character is Lady Brett Ashley, an English woman who was a volunteer at the hospital where Jake was treated for his war injuries. They had fallen madly in love, a relationship never to be consummated as a complication of his injury and recovery. After the war, Lady Ashley returns to England and marries. 

The action in the story begins a few years later when Brett returns to Paris to escape her abusive husband. With her is a man named Mike whom she intends to marry once her divorce is finalized. He was also in the hospital at the same time as Jake during the war. Brett and Mike (also severe alcoholics) already know many of Jake’s friends – each of whom are charmed by her. There is soon a new arrival into this group of ex-patriots, the recently divorced Robert Cohn, a writer and old friend of Jake’s. He immediately falls for Brett, and they have a fling. The crux of the story then becomes how Brett handles each of these people who are in love with her, and how they compete for her attentions – not the least of whom is Jake. 

These machinations climax when they all attend the Fiesta de San Fermin (Running of the Bulls) in Pamplano, Spain where Brett falls for a 19-year-old matador named Pedro Romero. Long story short, a jealous and taunted Robert, a middleweight boxing champion when he attended Princeton, knocks out his good friend Jake, flattens Brett’s fiancée Mike (who is aware of the fling), and seriously beats up Pedro the day before his big bullfight.

While the above plot synopsis matches what I remember about my initial read (?) of The Sun Also Rises in say 1970, there is one important aspect of my reread 50 years later, that I had no recollection of: a significant streak of antisemitism. I remember the infighting and name-calling between the guys – they were all in a fierce competition for Brett – yet, now I note that the put-downs of Robert were repeatedly expressed as antisemitic slurs and stereotypes. The biggest culprit of this was Brett’s fiancée Mike, but all of the characters – including Brett -- are seen to routinely concur. This is so blatant that there is no way I could have NOT noticed it, which is why I think maybe I did not read the book.

When I finished my “reread” I decided to re-watch the 1957 movie made from the book. It is a classic in its own right, starring Tyrone Power as Jake, Ava Gardner as Brett, and Mel Ferrer as Robert.  Sure enough, none of the antisemitism from the book is in the movie (I have not watched the 2007 remake).

So, my unanswered question is this: Is this antisemitism a reflection of Hemingway, or is it a case of Hemingway observing antisemitism in the 1920s and exposing it (as in Christopher Isherwood)? I am not a Hemingway-scholar, I do not know the answer.

Recommendation: Yes to the 1957 movie, it is excellent. As for the book, it is a classic and I am not going to say don’t read it. I will however say if you read the book you must also watch the 1957 movie and take note of what has been edited out.