This months book club book was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. The girls and I were excited to read this as none of us had ever really read any Hemingway before. We figured now is the time and why not read the one that Time labels as a top book of all time. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us thought this was a super book by any means. I spent most of the time waiting for something to happen or to have some epiphany as to why this book and Hemingway are considered so great.
This book is suppose to "encapsulate the angst of the post-World War I generation" but it rarely spoke of war or other problems other than basic money problems. To me this book read like a sophisticated college road trip log. It details a journey with friends that begins in Paris and ends in Spain. The problem is that is it. That is what the book is in a nutshell. It gives street names that they pass, restaurant names that they eat in, and bars that they stay too long in. The love interest is every ones love interest, (Who hasn't had a trip where "the slutty girl" tags along) but you would think this would bring a lot of drama. Too bad it is downplayed and considered normal by the narrator. Really the only way I got through this book was when I decided to change my mind set and made believe that I was a man reading this story. I know that sounds weird but it worked and made the fishing expedition scenes and the details of Pamplona's bull fighting interesting and worth the read. Maybe Hemingway is a mans man writer, I don't know. (my husband loved The Old Man and the Sea) Once I left my emotions for the characters out the door and knew I wasn't going to be invested in them on a highly personal level the outlying story became much more available to me and let me enjoy the scenery and location. So while this book wasn't my ideal page turner I'm glad I read it and will definitely check out Hemingway's other works. ...but it may be awhile.
The other book I read this month is The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre. This book took awhile for me to get into as well, but that was mostly because I usually read this right before going to bed and I would fall asleep after 2 paragraphs. The next night I would re-read and fall asleep again. Vicious Cycle. Anyway, I thought this book was excellent once I really got into it and I am not a spy book lover by any means but I definitely am going to read more by this author. He sets up this complicated half informed scene and you just have to trust it and go with it. When it all comes to a head you are completely blown away at how all the pieces come together in no way that you thought they would. It is smartly written. Their is a scene that I just can't get out of my head. It is a life or death situation and the characters are having this intense discussion that includes political and social views and the ideology that supports it or negates it. It is incredible. And the end, well you will just have to read the end. Beautiful in the most ugly way.
Well that is it for this month. I've started reading Carson McCullar's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for book club next month. She is a renowned Georgia author and I'm already into the book and am excited to see where it goes. I haven't decided what else I will read this month, but whatever it is I'm sure it will be interesting.
Happy Reading!
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