Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

16 reviews

tjoscelyn92's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A concise, direct style of writing informs the reader of the day to day movements of a disillusioned, unknowingly hapless group of “friends.” Hemingway’s descriptions and dialogue are so evocative of the time in which it was written, without any trappings of social messages that would be jammed into the narrative if the same story were to be written in modern times. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Gore and Violence

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, and War

Minor: Cursing, Violence, Homophobia, and Sexual content

hgbush's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Violence

Minor: War

rohwynn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was a hard read. Luckily it was short.
It was definitely a product of its time. The casual approach to racist, antisemitism, and homophobia left me grimacing a good 3rd of the book.

I'm sure it's well written but I couldn't really concentrate on that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Antisemitism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Violence

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Gore, Death, Animal death, War, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

renicula's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Addiction

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

seanml's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"The Sun Also Rises" defined the Lost Generation, and it certainly feels lost. It's very reminiscent of the very household name The Great Gatsby, published only a year earlier. We follow a group of affluent white folk who live in a world feeling jaded. They hope that each new day will be better, but their freedom brings them to poor conclusions. The characters are put in situations where they don't HAVE to do the right thing, and so each decision is just a little selfish. Usually not grossly so: they're all human, and we would act the same. But these little building disagreements, without distraction, gradually build into conflict. I like our protagonist well enough. I like Bill. I want to like Brett, I want to like Robert, and Mike, and Romero. In the end there's no reason to dislike them either. They're all lost and hurt people, formed by circumstance.
P.S.: There is a single page where the n-word is uttered casually something like 15 times. It doesn't seem malicious, but it's flagrant. Just be aware that if you read this book about problematic people, understand that the author also was a problematic person in a lost world. 8.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Death, Stalking, Cursing, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Infertility, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, and Vomit

antananarywa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Violence and War

aeudaimonia's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a great book, really well written, and unfortunately not at all to my taste. Decided to give Hemingway another chance with this one (hated The Old Man and the Sea when I read it in high school, but loved For Whom the Bell Tolls). It's not that The Sun Also Rises fell flat for me necessarily; the characters are for the most part 3-dimensional and subtle, and the story, though verging on "no plot, just vibes," serves the characters and themes perfectly well. But the plot is so dependent on the characters, and the characters are so unlikeable, that reading the book became my least favorite chore - though less than 200 pages it took me over three weeks to finish. I'll probably come back to the book in a few years or so, and reread The Old Man as well; maybe I'll see them though new eyes. But for now I am so, so relieved to be done.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Homophobia and Violence

kendramichele's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

2.0

Hemingway is very good at what he's trying to do, capturing a generation dealing with the aftermath of a world war, characters isolating and intersecting, drifting towards some semblance of possibility and authenticity. His writing is incredibly distinctive. I just couldn't connect with the sparse, repetitive style. It isn't that I was expecting an action-packed read, or that I generally dislike novels that are more slow-paced; there's something deeply human to the aimlessness of these characters, yet it failed to deeply engage me. 

Sometimes books resonate, sometimes they don't, and for me this one simply didn't. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Violence, and Homophobia