The Sun Also Rises Book Club Discussion Questions

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SSF Book ClubApril 2021

The Sun Also Risesby Ernest HemingwayDiscussion Guide

-- from Amazon Book Summary.

A veteran of the First World War,American expatriate Jake Barnes is awriter living in Paris. He is a member ofthe lost generation—the young men whoreturned from the war irrevocablychanged, and who now drift,disillusioned, through life. Lady BrettAshley is a young British noblewoman,scandalously divorced and now movingfrom love affair to love affair, despite herengagement to Mike Campbell.American author Ernest Hemingway’sfirst novel, The Sun Also Rises exploresJake and Brett’s unrealized relationshipfrom their time together in the cafésociety of Paris to the excitement of atrip to see the bullfights in Pamplona.Redolent with themes of love and loss,The Sun Also Rises showcasesHemingway’s trademark pared-downliterary style, and helped establish hisreputation as one of the greatest authorsof his generation

Book ReviewsV oyage of the MindThe ScarletThe Narratologist

An Interview with Ernest Hemingway's Son,Patrick Hemingway (Part I)An Interview with Ernest Hemingway's Son,Patrick Hemingway (Part II)Ernest Hemingway Recording

Author Interviews

SSF Book ClubApril 2021

The Sun Also Risesby Ernest Hemingway:Go Beyond the Book

When Jake Barnes rebuffs the prostituteGeorgette because he is "sick," she says,"Everybody's sick. I'm sick, too" (p.23). IsGeorgette's observation an appropriatedescription of the people in the novel?Why is Jake's emasculating wound suchan effective symbol?

When Jake and Bill walk during the Parisevening looking at Notre Dame, watchingyoung lovers, and savoring cooking smells,Jake asks whether Bill would like a drink.Why does Bill respond, "No...I don't need it"(p. 83)? Why does Jake say that for Cohnthe Bayonne cathedral was "a very goodexample of something or other" (p. 96)?

Discussion QuestionsApril 2021

The Sun Also Rises

Is Jake and Bill's fishing trip to Burgueterelevant to the epigraph from Ecclesiastes?How do their conversations in Burguetediffer from those they have back inPamplona? How do Robert's, Mike's, andBrett's absences from the fishing trip setthem apart from Jake and Bill? Why is theEnglishman Harris included in the Burguetescene?

How would you describe Jake Barnes'srelationship with Brett? Does he love her;understand her? Is his view of Brettconstant? How does he see her at the closeof the novel? What does he mean when hesays, "Isn't it pretty to think so," when Bretttells him that they "could have had such adamned good time together" (p. 251)?

Discussion QuestionsApril 2021

The Sun Also Rises

If Hemingway's novel is about "the lostgeneration," do we conclude that all five ofthe persons who have gone to Pamplona arelost? Is there evidence that moral orspiritual cleansing ever takes place in thenovel?How does Hemingway explore what itmeans to be in exile in The Sun Also Rises?How does Hemingway explore notions ofnationalism in The Sun Also Rises?What qualities of the new woman does Brettrepresent in The Sun Also Rises?How might the title The Sun Also Rises referto the protagonist Jake as well as to thegeneration to which he belongs?How does Hemingway explore homophobiain Chapter 3 of The Sun Also Rises?In The Sun Also Rises, how are Brett andFrances alike and different?

Discussion QuestionsApril 2021

The Sun Also Rises

What does Brett mean when she describesthe Count as "one of us" in Chapter 4 of TheSun Also Rises?In The Sun Also Rises, what do Jake'sassessment of and attitudes toward Cohnreveal about Jake's character?In The Sun Also Rises, how are theexpatriate characters corrupted by theirlives in Paris?In what respects are characters in The SunAlso Rises lost?

Questions from:https://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/fiction/8355-sun-also-rises-hemingway?start=3 andhttps://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Sun-Also-Rises/discussion-questions/page-1/

Discussion QuestionsApril 2021

The Sun Also Rises

PBSJFK LibraryThe Hemingway Resource Center

On the Road by Jack KerouacThe Sound and the Fury by WilliamFaulknerTender Is the Night by F. Scott FitzgeraldSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Resources:

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Discussion QuestionsApril 2021

The Sun Also Rises: Further Reading