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The Sun Also Rises and Other Stories
Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece about American expatriates in 1920s Europe is an essential read for lovers of classic literature.
The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, and has long been regarded as his finest work. Amid the café society of 1920s Paris, a group of American expatriates seek their identities and independence, traveling to Pamplona, Spain, for the running of the bulls and other life-affirming adventures, showing the Lost Generation as people who were full of exuberance. In addition to the acclaimed novel, this volume includes Hemingway’s novella The Torrents of Spring and the collection Three Stories and Ten Poems.
The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, and has long been regarded as his finest work. Amid the café society of 1920s Paris, a group of American expatriates seek their identities and independence, traveling to Pamplona, Spain, for the running of the bulls and other life-affirming adventures, showing the Lost Generation as people who were full of exuberance. In addition to the acclaimed novel, this volume includes Hemingway’s novella The Torrents of Spring and the collection Three Stories and Ten Poems.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 25, 2022
27 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Ernest Hemingway
2,217 books32.4k followersErnest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, on July 2, 1961 (a couple weeks before his 62nd birthday), he killed himself using one of his shotguns.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, on July 2, 1961 (a couple weeks before his 62nd birthday), he killed himself using one of his shotguns.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 12, 2023
Either a really good commentary on fragile masculinity, or just a ridiculous amount of misogyny.
January 19, 2023
i struggle to describe the story’s plot as interesting or one that is traditionally engaging. a group of friends traipsing around europe, all alcoholics, all of whom hate one another. “the sun also rises” is illuminated by hemingways sparse prose and dizzying metaphors. his craft is one of epic proportion, and this story is of the few that i’d recommend to anyone.
June 30, 2022
4.5/5 ⭐️s
Review from my Bookstagram account @pagesandcup:
6/17/22. In which I finish THE SUN ALSO RISES a couple of days ago, but still find myself thinking about it.
On its surface, it seems like just a novel about a group of friends who drink their way through each day in post-World War I France and Spain -- and decide to go to a bullfight. But I’m still thinking about each character and their decisions, which says to me that the novel is much more complicated than any plot summary I’ve read.
The novel, first published in 1926, is said to be based on Ernest Hemingway’s own experiences with fellow American and British expatriates living in 1920s France, which could be why I’m still thinking about each character in the book. Writer Gertrude Stein is credited with naming them the “lost generation.” (One of the epigraphs has her quoted in conversation saying, “You are all a lost generation.” That name stuck and is referred to those who were born between 1883 and 1900.)
On my Goodreads account, I gave this a rating of 4/5 ⭐️s. I’m now wondering if I should give it a higher rating. 🤔 P.S. Animal cruelty in this one (bull fighting scenes). Don’t read if you’re sensitive to that.😬
Review from my Bookstagram account @pagesandcup:
6/17/22. In which I finish THE SUN ALSO RISES a couple of days ago, but still find myself thinking about it.
On its surface, it seems like just a novel about a group of friends who drink their way through each day in post-World War I France and Spain -- and decide to go to a bullfight. But I’m still thinking about each character and their decisions, which says to me that the novel is much more complicated than any plot summary I’ve read.
The novel, first published in 1926, is said to be based on Ernest Hemingway’s own experiences with fellow American and British expatriates living in 1920s France, which could be why I’m still thinking about each character in the book. Writer Gertrude Stein is credited with naming them the “lost generation.” (One of the epigraphs has her quoted in conversation saying, “You are all a lost generation.” That name stuck and is referred to those who were born between 1883 and 1900.)
On my Goodreads account, I gave this a rating of 4/5 ⭐️s. I’m now wondering if I should give it a higher rating. 🤔 P.S. Animal cruelty in this one (bull fighting scenes). Don’t read if you’re sensitive to that.😬
May 7, 2024
"Immaculate Writing" "Must Read" "Literary Fiction At Its Best" "Influential/Thought Provoking"
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is some of the finest literary fiction you can read. With great characters, literary prose, inciting incidents, and AHA Moments, this book will have you turning from one page to the next. The book reads easily and the flow is easy to follow. Hemingway through dialogue and subtext reveals the emotions of the characters (particularly the MC), in a fashion that is just brilliant. I read his dialogue or narration from the book, and it resonates with me deeply.
The Sun Also Rises explores themes of love and its fickleness, self-love/assuredness, healthy/unhealthy boundaries, relationships, and bonds where one person (Brett) is manipulating the other (specifically Jake but to an extent Cohn/Mike) and taking them for granted feeling as if she has no other choice but than to hurt the MC, a man who would die for her if it called for it. Jake realizes that he has to live for himself (Trip to Spain/run with the bulls/Write), and make himself happy, instead of desiring something that seems within in reach but is never tangible (relationship with Brett).
I resonated deeply with this book because I had a Brett in my life, one I was always there for, one I ran to rescue whenever she was in need because I cared about her, I loved her with my entire being. She knew this and often put me on the back burner while I had to watch her move from one asshole guy to the next who used her for sex or some other selfish gain. Meanwhile, I was there ensuring she had her bills paid, her kids were taken care of, and they had everything they needed. I bore the brunt of the responsibility in the household and the children weren't mine but I did it out of love. I gave up my dreams, desires, and aspirations to fulfill hers. But now after being rejected and told through actions/words that I don't matter as much as a man she calls a "husband" whos been using her for money, a place to stay, easy sex, and he still goes out and cheats on her, talks to other girls, slaps their ass and their name is Mike as well, the man in the end Brett chooses to be with.
All in all, this is a great classic read and you are robbing yourself of spiritual growth and enjoyment if you don't read this book. I am an inspiring author and a journalist just like Hemingway so excuse my bias but even looking objectionably it doesnt change a thing, this book is Hemingway's magnum opus and you need to read it.
Rating: 5/5 shelved as favorites for life, will read again.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is some of the finest literary fiction you can read. With great characters, literary prose, inciting incidents, and AHA Moments, this book will have you turning from one page to the next. The book reads easily and the flow is easy to follow. Hemingway through dialogue and subtext reveals the emotions of the characters (particularly the MC), in a fashion that is just brilliant. I read his dialogue or narration from the book, and it resonates with me deeply.
The Sun Also Rises explores themes of love and its fickleness, self-love/assuredness, healthy/unhealthy boundaries, relationships, and bonds where one person (Brett) is manipulating the other (specifically Jake but to an extent Cohn/Mike) and taking them for granted feeling as if she has no other choice but than to hurt the MC, a man who would die for her if it called for it. Jake realizes that he has to live for himself (Trip to Spain/run with the bulls/Write), and make himself happy, instead of desiring something that seems within in reach but is never tangible (relationship with Brett).
I resonated deeply with this book because I had a Brett in my life, one I was always there for, one I ran to rescue whenever she was in need because I cared about her, I loved her with my entire being. She knew this and often put me on the back burner while I had to watch her move from one asshole guy to the next who used her for sex or some other selfish gain. Meanwhile, I was there ensuring she had her bills paid, her kids were taken care of, and they had everything they needed. I bore the brunt of the responsibility in the household and the children weren't mine but I did it out of love. I gave up my dreams, desires, and aspirations to fulfill hers. But now after being rejected and told through actions/words that I don't matter as much as a man she calls a "husband" whos been using her for money, a place to stay, easy sex, and he still goes out and cheats on her, talks to other girls, slaps their ass and their name is Mike as well, the man in the end Brett chooses to be with.
All in all, this is a great classic read and you are robbing yourself of spiritual growth and enjoyment if you don't read this book. I am an inspiring author and a journalist just like Hemingway so excuse my bias but even looking objectionably it doesnt change a thing, this book is Hemingway's magnum opus and you need to read it.
Rating: 5/5 shelved as favorites for life, will read again.
November 2, 2025
I think the only thing I genuinely liked about this book was when Jake and his other buddy went on that fishing trip. The rest of the story was just soo boring and frustrating, particularly on Jake's side. Like what do you mean Brett literally sent him a telegram TWICE on his relaxing vacation in San Sebastian to come spend time with her after dumping the bull-fighter and her crying about it. Seriously, Brett and Jake can't decide whether to follow through with their damn feelings and start a relationship or just... not? And don't get me started on Cohn, that weirdo deserved what he got for being an absolute freak with Brett... 😒
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2023
This is the book that made me stop completely hating Hemingway. I still don't like his work all that much, but The Sun Also Rises is a solid book. But, the alcoholism rings throughout this story (maybe the point? Maybe the author needing help??) and I lost momentum with it. No spoilers, but the ending was perfect.
This review and rating is NOT for the extras in this particular copy. I gave up on them - they were just bad lol
This review and rating is NOT for the extras in this particular copy. I gave up on them - they were just bad lol
July 9, 2025
I really enjoyed Jake Barnes as a character — damaged masculinity, yet arguably the most moral and authentic character in the book. Hemingway himself, clearly somewhat homophobic himself and obsessed with the idea of traditional masculinity, was still authentic enough to portray, in my opinion, how fragile and weak an attachment to masculinity makes a man.
Want to read
April 1, 2023Table of Contents
The Sun Also Rises
The Torrents of Spring
Three Stories & Ten Poems
The Canterbury Classics leatherbound edition (by the same publisher) contains these works, as well as In Our Time (1925) and a collection of newspaper bylines.
The Sun Also Rises
The Torrents of Spring
Three Stories & Ten Poems
The Canterbury Classics leatherbound edition (by the same publisher) contains these works, as well as In Our Time (1925) and a collection of newspaper bylines.
June 12, 2025
I read The Sun Also Rises in college, and didn’t remember a single thing about it. After rereading it 8 years later, I know why.
The existentialist in me wants to love this story, but aside from a few banger lines, it’s just not my cup of tea 🤷🏻♀️
The existentialist in me wants to love this story, but aside from a few banger lines, it’s just not my cup of tea 🤷🏻♀️
May 30, 2023
A different style of writing for me.
August 30, 2023
Review coming soon.
January 12, 2025
Overall good, would give 3,5, it can be a bit hard to understand, but that might be my vocabulary
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews