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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
slow-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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
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
"Oh, don't go to hell,” I said. “Stick around. We’re just starting lunch.”
Though my normal life was going on, I felt transported into a brighter place.
The book values life and morality, though its characters do not seem able to.
The book values life and morality, though its characters do not seem able to.
This was the first Hemingway I've ever read from start to finish. Did I enjoy it? I don't know. But I certainly can't stop thinking about it, and that means something. I keep thinking about my former students who said they didn't like a book because they couldn't identify with the characters. I get that, and yet I think I've finally made it to the point where I enjoy not identifying with the characters, where that distance helps me think more broadly about the themes.
Anyway, this book is sort of nihilist but also sort of spiritual? Everyone is always drunk but also tired of being drunk? Everyone is rarely alone and often sad when they're alone but then they desperately want to be alone? As I'm nearly the apex of middle age, I totally get these dichotomies, and they add a depth that isn't readily visible from Hemingway's stripped down prose and too much time spent on talking about restaurants and streets and drinks.
At the same time that I don't think this book is meant to be enjoyed, I also don't think it's intentionally misogynist. True, the main woman--Brett--is fairly awful, but so are all the men except maybe Jake who no one respects and who is constantly being shortchanged. Near the fittingly tragic end, Jake, our narrator and a truly poor bastard, and Brett, his unrequited love interest, have this exchange:
"You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch."
"Yes."
"It's sort of what we have instead of God."
"Some people have God, " I said. "Quite a lot."
"He never worked very well with me."
And that sort of sums it up for me. It hearkens to F. Scott's. "beautiful little fools," and it seems to capture an era that echos into our age a century later. In short, Hemingway is all that everyone says. The prose is irritating, but the iceberg theory works.
Anyway, this book is sort of nihilist but also sort of spiritual? Everyone is always drunk but also tired of being drunk? Everyone is rarely alone and often sad when they're alone but then they desperately want to be alone? As I'm nearly the apex of middle age, I totally get these dichotomies, and they add a depth that isn't readily visible from Hemingway's stripped down prose and too much time spent on talking about restaurants and streets and drinks.
At the same time that I don't think this book is meant to be enjoyed, I also don't think it's intentionally misogynist. True, the main woman--Brett--is fairly awful, but so are all the men except maybe Jake who no one respects and who is constantly being shortchanged. Near the fittingly tragic end, Jake, our narrator and a truly poor bastard, and Brett, his unrequited love interest, have this exchange:
"You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch."
"Yes."
"It's sort of what we have instead of God."
"Some people have God, " I said. "Quite a lot."
"He never worked very well with me."
And that sort of sums it up for me. It hearkens to F. Scott's. "beautiful little fools," and it seems to capture an era that echos into our age a century later. In short, Hemingway is all that everyone says. The prose is irritating, but the iceberg theory works.
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not care for this one much. There was little to no plot, thus I expected it to be more character driven; however, I never felt like I knew the characters.
This book gave me great insight into a generation not much discussed in the 20th Century. History tends to be so greatly focused on World War II and it's veterans and villains that the Lost Generation tends to get lost. I picked it up one day and finished it a few hours later. Amazing dialog and character interaction.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
everyones a critic, but i will not be critiquing this piece of art. how nice to feel something so specifically and exactly, and have none of it told to you, or layed out at all? Love this. Descritions are so pretty. A little slow at parts but I dont care. Fuck Brett
What can I say, enought review can be found, its a classic, one to be read again and again.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes