The Sun Also Rises

By: Ernest Hemingway, Colm Toibin

Narrated by: William Hurt

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Originally published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises is Ernest Hemingway’s first novel and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style.​

A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. In his first great literary masterpiece, Hemingway portrays an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions.

Who's your papa? Listen to more from Ernest Hemingway.

©1926 Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright renewed 1954 Ernest Hemingway. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form (P)2006 Simon and Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon and Schuster Audio Division, Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

2007 Audie Award Finalist for Classics

"An absorbing, beautifully and tenderly absurd, heart-breaking narrative....It is a truly gripping story, told in lean, hard athletic prose...magnificent." (The New York Times)

“The ideal companion for troubled times: equal parts Continental escape and serious grappling with the question of what it means to be, and feel, lost.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Classic

One of my favorites, by my favorite. Hemingway never disappoints. I also enjoyed William Hurt.

Excellent Narration

Hemingway’s spare prose can sometimes come off as grating, but the dialog (and the unsaid) is often masterful. William Hurt’s narration was pitch perfect. He’s suitably glib and his characters stand out from each other remarkably well. I’ll be listening again to this one. Highly recommended.

Super Narration

William Hurt does a super job on this classic text. His reading adds perfect tone and pitch bringing out the subtlety of Hemingway's characters and images. A super listen.

Wonderful listen, great narrator

William Hurt was the PERFECT choice for narrating this old but still incredibly well written book. Enjoyed his reading of it very much.

Great Novel ... Grating Performance

All I can ask is: what the heck was William Hurt smoking when he narrated this masterpiece?! His overall reading of the book was misguided and annoying, but listening to him interpret the lines and conversations of the key characters was unbearable. After a while, I just sat back with some sort of horrid fascination and listened to him mangle and destroy and misrepresent Hemingway's masterpiece ... and then I pulled the plug.

Great novel - abysmal performance. For shame!

William Hurt is a terrible narrator

Rereading this classic, would have been a complete pleasure but for William Hurt's flat performance. He did a good job with the characters' dialogue. As narrator, his odd cadence clashed with the tone of the book.

Great performance by William Hurt

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sun Also Rises to be better than the print version?

Yes. William Hurt really brought to life the characters

Who was your favorite character and why?

While I didn't really have a favorite I liked Cohen the least.

Have you listened to any of William Hurt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. This was my first experience.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Parts of it really made me laugh

A must read in one's personal cannon.

A perfect novel and great audiobook. Bigoted Language reflective of the 1920s. Nothing to be proud of there.

Narrator ruins a classic

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Any other narrator.

What did you like best about this story?

It's pacing. The characters. Everything.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of William Hurt?

Anyone else capable of speech.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Sun Also Rises?

In this version? All of it. The narrator has committed an unspeakable act of violence to this text.

Any additional comments?

This is the first audiobook that I have had to stop reading because of a narrator. I'm not too picky and can stand sub-par narration. But this was a horror show. This is my favourite book. I have read it countless times. I was excited to hear the audiobook for the first time. Oh boy, was I was let down. I couldn't keep going after only fifteeen minutes. It hurt my soul to hear this book read so blandly with wild, careless inflections. It was read as if for the first time and like every other sentence surprised the speaker. There are some other reviews which detail the poor narration better than I and anyone reading this should check them out too.

I hastily got a refund only to find there are no other versions on audible and I couldn't leave a review without owning it. So I respent the credit and I will prbably keep the book. I may even listen to it again at some point but I will not enjoy it.

It is a travesty that so many others have left such good reviews. The score for this audiobook should be much lower. It is also a shame that the audiobook will probably sell so well merely because it is the only version on audible.

William hurt

Great great story but the reader comes close to ruining it. Horrible accents, would love to hear it again with someone else reading it