The Sun Also Rises

This was my second go at reading Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and it was easier to read as well as more enjoyable, though not necessarily a book I would recommend, and certainly not a book I couldn't put down. 

I also get a little upset with Hemingway after reading The Paris Wife and seeing what a jerk he was to his wife, Hadley. And if I understand it right, The Sun Also Rises was written at the end of their marriage, yet he dedicates it to her!! What?!?! "Here, dear, enjoy my affair!" Puke. 

But knowing, or maybe only feeling, that The Sun Also Rises is basically Hemingway speaking as himself, one almost feels bad for him, and certainly for his character Jake. He tries to chase fun and live in the moment, but is clearly an outsider and observer, even among his friends.  he is searching for happiness and cannot find it.  It's a little bit tragic. Maybe that's why it's dedicated to Hadley? He wasn't their marriage to work, but it just can't? 

So maybe The Sun Also Rises is a little more poignant than I first realized.  I'm truthfully unsure on how to rate or recommend this book.  Becoming familiar with it does make one well read, but it's not necessarily enjoyable.  But should all books be enjoyable? If Hemingway's intentions are fulfilled  isn't that good enough? What do you think? 

Sweet Thursday

Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday takes us back to Cannery Row after the war. He carries on with the same characters, but they, and the town, have been changed by the war. They're not quite the folks we've met before. But because of the way Steinbeck has written the two novels, and perhaps didn't initially intend for Cannery Row to have a sequel, Sweet Thursday  can still easily stand on it's own as a completely independent novel. 

Following the theme of Cannery Row,  the boys are trying to help Doc, this time, by marrying him off! It's easy to slip back into Steinbeck's world and really feel for his characters. He writes in such a real way; he's almost poetic and philosophical in his simplicity. It's amazing. I really liked Sweet Thursday, as I like everything I've read of Steinbeck so far. If you haven't delved into Steinbeck yet, it's about time you pick something up! Read on! 

Fun Fact: The novel was adapted into the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Pipe Dream, which was nominated for nine Tony Awards. The movie version of the book's predecessor, Cannery Row, incorporates several of the story lines in Sweet Thursday

The Paris Wife

I've never been much of a Hemingway fan, though as a self-proclaimed vivid reader, I desire to be well versed and am familiar with his text. That being said, I was excited to read Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, the story of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley. I'm not so interested in the works of the "Lost Generation" -- but their lives have proven to be interesting, and I do need to give their works another go.

Ernest and Hadley were newly married on their Paris arrival, and he was not yet the literary genius many now consider him to be. It was interesting to read of The Shakespeare and Company, Sylvia Beach's bookstore and a gathering place for many of the "Lost Generation." We get to meet the Fitzgeralds, Zelda and F Scott; Gertrude Stein and her lover Alice; Ezra Pound and Dorothy Shakespear. Joyce is talked about but not present. Throughout the novel we see Hemingway's writing process and the journey to The Sun Also Rises, as well as see the connections from the writing to real life. Sadly, Hadley is not a character in The Sun Also Rises, and that is when the descent of their marriage occurs.
 
The Paris Wife is a love story, yes, but it is also a desperate story, a story about a writer, a story about ghosts that haunt, a story of how a couple can seem so solid, how a woman can still love a man, and their marriage cannot last. It is a love story and perhaps a tragedy. Hadley always loved Ernest, at least cared for him; he held a special place in her heart. But not so for he. 

I really liked this reading, it was thick in content, but enjoyable. It made me want to write more. It made me want to read about Zelda and Fitz (for it seems that he was Gatsby). And isn't that what good books do? Make you want to read more? Make you want to live your life just a little different? 

I have not really been exposed to the "Lost Generation" before, other than in school, and it was really neat to read about their lives and how their work was so intertwined with their very being. I can't say that I loved this book, but I highly recommend it.