Sun Also Rises
...generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. The sun also arisehÂ…"(Baker 122). A Biblical reference forms the title of a novel by Ernest Hemingway during the 1920s, portraying the lives of the American expatriates living in Paris. His own experience in Paris has provided him the background for the novel as a depiction of the 'lost generation'.
Hemingway's writing career began early; he edited the high school newspaper and, after graduation, got a job as reporter on a local newspaper. After that he was turned down by the Kansas City draft boards. He wanted to get to Europe and managed to there by volunteering as an ambulance driver. After being wounded, he recalled that life slid from him, "like you'd pull a silk handkerchief out of a pocket by a corner"(Villard 53), almost fluttered away, then returned. This was a period in his life when he became 'lost' and searched to overcome his own suffering and test his courage. His experiences in finding himself provided the background for The Sun Also Rises, which is one of the most famous novel ever written about the 'lost generation'. "It is Jake's narrative, his story, but behind Jake is Hemingway, the artist, manipulating the action"(Reynolds 73). Soon after the war, Hemingway married and he with his wife moved to Paris. There his bride gave him a letter of introduction to Gertrude Stein. When they met, she commented that "You are all a lost generation," a
casual remark, yet one which became world famous after Hemingway used it as an epigraph to his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises.
The term 'lost generation' means a great deal to Hemingway's readers. It reflects the attitudes of the interwar generation, especially those of the literatures produced by the young writers of the time. These writers believed that their lives and hopes had been shattered by the war. They had been led down by a glory...
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