Hemingway’s Style

I have finished The Sun Also Rises. Good book? Yes and no. From a literary point of view, I loved it. Hemingway’s style and craft and command of the language humble me as I seek to become a better writer. He can do things with words and dialogue that most can’t. He can speed and slow the pace at will, and he tells a great story of a man alone among the crowd. He brings out Jake’s character well. I feel like I knew what he would do on more than one occasion. I don’t think this was because the writing was predictable, but it was because the reader knew Jake well after a time. 

Now, the book was depressing. I have heard it said that it glorifies drinking and sex. I am not sure “glorify” is the word I would use. I think it clearly shows the ugly side of heavy drinking and the loneliness that comes from a promiscuous lifestyle. In that sense, it might be a corrective to how drink and sex are often portrayed in today’s media. But it is a depressing read. Will I read it again? Probably, but maybe just bits and pieces to see how Hemingway does what he does. Would I recommend it? Depends upon what you are looking for. If you love good literature, and by that I mean good craft, then yes, by all means. If you are looking to be uplifted or encouraged, skip it and hug your kid instead.

I feel; therefore, I am.

Jake says, “That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward.”

Jake would fit in well in our culture. Morality by feeling guides the conscience of the country, bringing about the culture wars: abortion, sex, free speech, hate speech, restricted speech, the environment, capital punishment, racism, sexism, etc. Whether or not you agree with the concepts outlined in the Ten Commandments, the removal of such a marker of morality throws open the door of ambiguity. I do not mean that some document like the Ten Commandments avoids all vagueness, yet without some solidified code, a republic, such as ours, governs by feeling.

One may argue this point by saying that we are governed by a “majority rules” system. We must not forget that this is a republic not a democracy. Rules are rarely voted on by the masses. Even then, do you think the majority of the masses make their decisions based upon what is best for all or what is logical or how they feel? What about the senators, congressmen, and judges who make decisions? Are they not swayed by feeling? Oh, they may couch their rulings in the language of law or precedent or logic, but were it so clear cut, dissent would be minimal. Our country, for good or ill, is governed by feeling. 

That is why laws change. Peoples’ perceptions change. Television producer Yvette Lee Bowser said this, “Maybe if we can have a good laugh, we’ll all be less uptight about it.” She was referring to the promotion of an interracial show. Her interviewer then asked, “Sort of like what Will and Grace has done for gay        issues?”  I am not claiming some Hollywood secret homosexual agenda; I am just stating that we change as we become accustomed to ideas. And the feelings of this country have changed in the last 50 years about a lot of things: race, sex, and the environment seemingly being the hot topics at this time. Education has some effect on people. Logical arguments have some effect on people, but getting people involved emotionally has the largest effect.

We live in a secular society. The United States was set up as a secular society. To argue differently is to twist the facts. Now, a vast majority of those who made up the society in those days were religious and held to certain morals. But to say that because the people were religious equaled a religious government is a non sequitur. The views of the people of this country have changed. Therefore, it appears that our government is more secular. 

So, Jake is right, not just about himself, but about our country as well. Yet, Jake really wouldn’t fit in here well. You see, things that disgusted him, might not disgust us today. That is why it is important to have a marker of morality that is less whimsical than my feelings. For me, that is the Bible. Is it immune from vagueness? Certainly not. Is it fraught with ambiguity and discrepancy as some claim? Certainly not. Do I understand it all perfectly? No. Does that invalidate it as a useful guide? By no means! I must look through a Biblical lens to determine my stance on any issue. Do any other lenses come into play? Certainly. The Church has an impact. The society and culture I am in have a say as well.

Feelings, however, are poor guides and fuzzy lenses.

Ignoring the tension

“It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people.” The Sun Also Rises Chapter 13

Sometimes people deal with others who disgust them by drinking: nobody quite as offensive that way. As I was reading this, a person came to mind. Now this person does not behave quite like the person Jake was referring to, but this person does get on my nerves. I’m not into drinking. (Can’t really stand the taste of the stuff. Someone once told me that it was an acquired taste. I’ve also heard that about foods like intestines, bugs, and dung.)

So how can I deal with people who get on my nerves? And what do I do with this sort of whiny person that came to mind as I was reading? Never ask the question if you really don’t want the answer. The next thought that came to mind was “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” Hmmm… This person is not my enemy, nor do I feel particularly persecuted—bothered, annoyed, but not persecuted.

And that is the point. If I am to do that for an enemy, why can’t I do that for the annoying person. So, because I will have contact with this person off and on over the next few weeks due to circumstances, I will do two things: 1) I will pray (daily), mainly for me and my attitude, but also this person. 2) Because love is an action and not a feeling, I will come up with some action that is loving. Don’t know what that is yet, but I am sure something will “come to mind.”

Picking up things from our friends

In chapter 13 of The Sun Also Rises, Jake, as narrator, comments on how Harris, the Englishman they had met on their fishing trip to Spain had picked up the word “utilize” from Bill. He was utilizing it quite often, I suppose, for Jake to have noticed. This got me thinking, though. What kinds of things do we pick up and repeat? Several years ago, after spending a summer working with my brother, I picked up the line, “You gonna have some of that,” meaning, “That tends to happen; what’s the big deal?” For better or worse, I am not sure I spend that much time with any one person these days besides my family. If I have picked up a phrase from someone, I am not aware of it. And then I wondered, does anyone pick anything up from me?

I don’t know about phrases, but I would hope that someone would pick up on my love for God and that it would be contagious. I would also hope that I am not picking up negative things from others: sarcasm, bitterness, complaints, …

I overheard two conversations this morning that were markedly different. One involved a guy who had nothing but positive things to say about someone else. Despite opportunities to take the bait that the other guy was offering, he refused to surrender his position of saying only nice things. I appreciate that. The other involved someone who was trying to get the easy way out. Again, despite opportunities that were offered to drop it, this person repeatedly sought the short cut. 

Now, I don’t know if these were isolated events or not. I don’t know either person. But if they are any indication, I would prefer to hang out with the first guy over the second. I wonder, if people overheard my conversations throughout the day, would they be inclined to hang out with me?

That has nothing to do with the story.

Sometimes students will insert an editorial comment in their essays for my class. One student placed in parentheses the fact that she was going to begin typing a characters name differently because it was just too long and hard. While I expect that from 8th and 9th graders from time to time, I was taken aback to see Hemingway do it. I suppose the whole novel comprises Jake’s voice in telling the story, so I shouldn’t be surprised when he inserts a random comment like this: “I went to the Ayuntamiento and found the old gentleman who subscribes for the bull-fight tickets for me every year, and he had gotten the money I sent him from Paris and renewed my subscriptions, so that was all set. He was the archivist, and all the archives of the town were in his office. That has nothing to do with the story. Anyway, …”

I go back and forth between that being rather hilarious and it being rather odd. The irony here is all the other odd details and conversations that at first glance appear to also have nothing to do with the story, but he includes those too. The whole book so far reminds me a bit of Seinfeld: a book about nothing. Nevertheless, I marvel at Hemingway’s ability to carry the story along from seemingly trivial detail to trivial detail. 

Shallow

I’ve noticed a pattern. Drink. Talk. Drink. Talk. Cab ride. Drink. Talk. Talk. Drink. Cab ride.

This sums up the plot in The Sun Also Rises through 8 chapters. And what about the talk? Hemingway reveals a great deal about relationships based upon drink! The conversations are shallow. Don’t get me wrong. Hemingway is a master at dialogue. Just read “Hills Like White Elephants” to see what he can do through dialogue alone. Here, he reveals through his craft a series of relationships that run no deeper than a puddle in the street after a brief rain. Even between Brett and Jake, no deep conversations take place. 

Lest I become too self-righteous here, I have to admit that I have had many relationships based upon the trivial. I have had relationships based upon sports, girls, a particular class at school, a job, and even theology. All of them no deeper than a puddle in the street after a brief rain. 

One of my teachers in high school said that if we could fill up one hand with true friends we were blessed. I thought she was crazy at the time: I had lots of friends. I had lots of shallow relationships. I did have some deep ones, but not as many as I thought. Today, I am not sure I can count five deep relationships. Two immediately come to mind: my wife and a dear friend who is on the other side of the world. I’ve always thought it interesting that my best friend besides my wife lives several thousand miles away. We keep in touch via e-mail, some of which are surfacy to be sure (we are both rabid Longhorn fans), but many are not, and it is the shallow and deep that make the relationship so enriching. The trivial and life changing can sit a paragraph apart. For that I am blessed.

What the night reveals.

At the end of chapter four in The Sun Also Rises, Jake is ruminating on Brett and their frustrated relationship. He says, “It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing.”

Why is it that night brings out our fears, our insecurities, our doubts? What brings out the real us? Does darkness reveal who we really are, or does the morning light show our true nature? Why the polarity? Or does the fact that the polarity exists show something about us? If it is well with our souls, are we impervious to the dark shadows and what they reveal? 

The night, not the bright light of day, reveals our true nature. We can manage to hold up under the light of day because we trust it will blind others to what ails our souls. Sleep is not hindered by a clear conscience and a settled soul.