The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (4/5)

The Sun Also Rises is a story following Jake Barns and his friends in the 1920s. Jake, our narrator, was a soldier that suffered an injury leaving him impotent. This impairment is the catalyst for the main “conflict” as the love of Jakes’s life refuses to be with him because of it and it causes a slew of insecurities to arise. The majority of scenes are spent watching him and his friends like Robert Cohn and Bill Gorten go bar to bar in Paris, drinking the days away. Later on, the group goes to the Fiesta de San Fermín to watch the bullfights. In general, I like character-driven stories the most and this was perfect for me. I am about ¾ through the book and am very excited to finish. The characters are complex and the use of imagery is impeccable. However, I could VERY easily see this book boring someone to death as multiple pages can be used to describe mundane things like an office. If you want suspense or action of any degree this is not for you but if you want to analyze the actions of a man suffering from feelings of inadequacy then you hit the jackpot.