The Sun Also Rises | Literary Criticism & Book Review

The Sun Also Rises Critical Overview

Already prepared for his style by the short story collection In Our Time and the subject matter by a short story, "The Undefeated," Hemingway's readers asserted that The Sun Also Rises more than satisfied expectations. The novel was appreciated for its modern "ease" and quickly became the novel of the "lost generation." More recently, the novel has helped rejuvenate Hemingway's reputation. Critical attention to the novel can be categorized as follows: early surprise and discussion of plot (focusing on the bullfighting, Europe, or "the lost generation"); the alternative morality Hemingway provides in the face of disillusionment; the facts of impotency and gender in the novel; and finally, where the novel fits into Hemingway's reputation.

Except for Allen Tate's, the first reviews were glowing, congratulatory, and painfully aware of the ubiquitous war fatigue. Conrad Aiken, in the New York Herald Tribune, was struck first and foremost by the bullfighting...
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