Ernest Hemingway, Why Do You Hurt Me So? (Part 2)

The book wasn't horrible. Cutting off my pinky would definitely have been worse. It was a struggle to read the book each day for class and not because I can't read, because I certainly can. No, the book was just bad.

The characters are completely crazy. I was finally able to see what happens when Brett can't immediately get what she wants, which is Romero, a young bullfighter. She actually needed an introduction to meet this new man. She's in awe at Romero's strength and jealous of Jake for being able to talk with such ease.

Jake is instigating the whole situation by pushing the two together. I believe, and sparknotes agrees, that Romero is a sexual replacement for Jake, who, because of the war, can't have a physical relationship. After Jake introduces Brett to this young man, the scenery changes and the whole setting is wet, muddy, and dirty.

Cohn, having had sex with Brett, follows her like a puppy dog but is instead shooed away and verbally harassed by Mike, Brett's fiance. Although Mike doesn't care if Brett runs around with men, Cohn is the only idiot to still follow her around.

When Cohn realizes that Jake has actually helped Romero and Brett get together, he accuses Jake of being a pimp. Jake then, probably from the stress of having given Brett away, swings at Cohn. He misses. Cohn knocks Jake out and then strikes Mike. Jake has officially become as silly as Cohn by giving in to his sentimentalism. Cohn vanishes after fighting, and failing to bring down Romero.

Romero continues with the scheduled bullfighting even though he is injured from the fight. He excels. Jake has ruined the insider reputation he had in Pompolona and destroyed his friendship with Montoya, a bullfighting aficionado and native. Jake leaves. In France, Jake overtips in order to buy friendships and places where he is welcome.

Afterwards, Jake meets with Brett who tells him, to make herself feel better, that she has sent Romero away. Brett is getting old and probably doesn't want to look foolish by following some youngster around. She then, like the crazy lady she is, tells Jake that if they could have sex, it would have been good between them but Jake knows this is all a game.

The book ends. The climax wasn't great (my summary was probably better) and all the good stuff happened at once that Hemingway could have condensed the rest of the book easily. I was not impressed and still wonder why Hemingway is so popular. Good thing I purchased the old, yellowed, and cheap version of the book for class.

Ernest Hemingway, Why Do You Hurt Me So?

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, is a required reading for my Contemporary Literature class. Why this book is so extraordinary is beyond my comprehension.

Now keep in mind: My major is product design, not english, or literature, and I have never read anything written by Ernest Hemingway.

The book, as far as I've read, is about a group of young to middle aged people partying their lives away. It's about the characters masking the way they feel about the war that just ended, their insecurities, and the way that booze and dance really just makes them feel worse. And yet they continue on the same path.

The main character, Jake Barnes, is introduced through his introduction of Robert Cohn. Everything that Barnes feels about Cohn reveals his own personality. This is an interesting way of introducing a character but this is where my interest in the book ends. Barnes is still hung up on a girl, Brett Ashley. Her character seems to use all the men in the book in order to make herself feel important and, I believe, if nobody paid attention to her, she would undoubtably feel lost and without a purpose. I believe what Hemingway is describing is the "Lost Generation". A group of youths leftover from the war.

The book and all the dialogue seems too passive. It seems like there is no climactic point in the horizon and that everyone will go on pretending to be happy until the end of time. Another thing that really bothers me is the way Hemingway feels he must describe each and every turn that the characters make when traveling in Paris. Paragraphs upon paragraphs are spent in naming streets. Why? I've never lived in Paris and these names conjure up no images to go along with the plot.

I will keep you up to date as I continue reading and hopefully will change my mind about the book.