The Sun Also Rises

I just finished Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises this morning. I've been working on it off and on for about 3 weeks. I woke up this morning at 5, and unable to go back to sleep , I decided to be productive and finish the book off. I teach Hemingway in my Modern American Literature course, and I thought I'd teach him better after reading what many consider to be his most important novel. Maybe I'll be better, maybe I won't. Either way, I think Hemingway is dead on.

Hemingway spent a lot of time in Paris with other writers and artists. They were known as the Expatriates, and they were influenced heavily by a woman named Gertrude Stein. She called the Americans there the "Lost Generation." They were "lost" because they had become disillusioned about life. The American Dream wasn't producing joy. The first World War had exposed them to awful realities. They figured out life was meaningless, and they didn't know what to do about it. In The Sun Also Rises, they mostly get drunk and watch bullfights. Hemingway is notorious for including autobiographical elements in his writing.

Shockingly, the characters never find happiness. If you've never read Hemingway, you keep waiting for the happy ending to occur. If you've read a lot of him, you know from the beginning that it probably never will. Hemingway sought to write about life as it is, not as it should be. And he, as well as many others in his generation, didn't see much hope in life. They didn't see much as worthwhile. Hemingway's biography shows a man who was a relentless adventurer who sought a celebrity lifestyle. Then he committed suicide.

Two pages from the end of The Sun Also Rises, the main character is in a conversation about finding happiness with the women whom he will always want but will never get. He mentions that some people have found God and seem to be happy about it. Her response is that "He never really worked very well for me." And then the subject changes, and two pages later, the book ends, with no one happy. (Sorry if you haven't read it. It's still a worthwhile read, despite the fact that you know going in that no one really gets what they want).

As I said, I finished that this morning. When I think about it, it sounds a lot like today. A lot like several current generations. Lots of money out there. Lots of toys and gadgets. Lot of luxuries, despite all the "Great Recession" news. Lot of people trying to barhop their way to happiness, or work their way to happiness, or date their way to happiness, or even play softball in an attempt for happiness (I just came from a slow-pitch game I played in: it often amazes me how much pride often gets in the way of a good time in these games).

Perhaps we are the new "Lost Generation." Or perhaps every generation has been this, just lost in something different, finding some other way to acknowledge God for one line out of 250 pages, and wondering why things just don't work out. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a novel.

Hemingway - I'm sorry you went through life feeling this empty. And I'm sorry so many others are destined for this fate. May God save us all from living a life this devoid of meaning.