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)

Could’ve been better

I love Hemingway books and this is one of my favorites but the narration could’ve been a lot better.

William Hurt’s Performance was Incredible

I have always loved this book. I try to read it at least once or twice a year. Tonight I read of William Hurt’s passing and wanted to tell how much his narration of The Sun Also Rises means to me. He helps the story to come alive for me and I enjoy listening to his voices, particularly Mike Campbell and Brett. Mr. Hurt was a great actor and his narration was top notch. I would have loved if he could have narrated other Hemingway favorites of mine like A Moveable Feast or islands in the Stream. Mr. Hurt will be missed.

Flavorful

Oh, to be free and whimsical in France and Spain in the early part of the 20th century! Over the years, I heard about this book. Hurt did a wonderful job in delivery and performance, but as for the story itself, I kept waiting for at least one shoe to drop. From another perspective, I read this while in Pamplona and felt that I could relate to the atmosphere and setting that Hemingway had been in nearly 100 years ago. Overall, and enjoyable listen.

Spain in 1920’s

This is the third Hemingway novel I have read and have found there is not a lot of excitement in his writing. He sort of plods along in a rhythmic manner. This book was by far the best of his books I have read. William Hurt was not a very good narrator. His French and Spanish were excellent but he gave the story no emotion. The bull fighting was extremely explicit and brutal.

Great performance by William Hurt

It was so great to be able to spend 8 hours listening to William Hurt's talent and just overall coolness. He will be missed. Hurt is surprisingly great with all the accents and captures the spirit of Hemingway's tour of France and Spain post WWI. I definitely recommend listening at 1x speed to capture all the nuance.

William Hurt’s narration was Incredible

That was the best narration on audible that I’ve ever heard. It makes me want to go back and re-rate write all the others because nothing compares to this. I hate that. I waited so long to hear it, to experience it Hemingway is Hemingway. His terse clipped language is like no other. I enjoy it but I couldn’t stick with it full-time, I need a little bit of flowers

Great Book well read

Loved William Hurts reading of a great story. He has the right intonation for the time period. I agree his accents may not be perfect but he conveys the characteristics of the people really well.

William Hurt’s reading bringing the characters alive!

William Hurt doing accents and his role playing brought the characters absolutely alive!!!! An amazing reading !!!

Hurt's reading adds a new dimension to the novel.

What did you love best about The Sun Also Rises?

The endless description of food, coffee, fishing and bullfighting is hypnotic. Many readers cant stand it, but one gets caught up in the flow of the small events that comprise the larger narrative. The famous Hemingway terseness is a jarring read on the page, but Hurt's reading interprets the repeated description of

What other book might you compare The Sun Also Rises to and why?

Any aficionado of the American novel should contrast this one with The Great Gatsby and one of the early Faulkner novels, e.g., Sanctuary.

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

no -- just his movie and stage work. He is a good actor.

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

no extreme reactions

Gorgeous Title, Quite Unexceptional Story

If you're reading this and haven't read the novel, you may have been captured by the title (and, of course, the author); I certainly was because I like Hemingway's short stories and the book indeed has one of the most gorgeous titles in all literature: **The Sun Also Rises**. On my mission to read all novels deemed classics, this book has been the considerably least impressive.

After reading it, I researched a bit to find out why this is a "classic," besides by automatic qualification based on reverence for Hemingway. According to commentary I read, the novel is apparently held in high esteem, more now, for Hemingway's style than for the story's substance. Specifically, his short sentences with little punctuation are intended to, and mostly do, create a collage of visuals. He was a master at quasi-cinematic techniques of cutting quickly from one scene to the next and seamlessly blending one scene into the next. Also, the story is known for drawing maybe the most vivid picture of American and British expatriates living in Paris during the 20s, it led to Americans romanticizing the place and era, and its portrayal of Lady Brett (a twice-divorced, liberated lady) created a fad for short hairdos for 1920s American females.

The novel, a roman à clef based on the lives of Hemingway and a few of his friends, follows protagonist Jake, a vet rendered impotent by a war injury, and his writer/artiste/riche pals, only one of whom is female, Lady Brett Ashley. They hang out in Parisian nightclubs, Jake and a buddy go fishing, and then all head to Pamplona, attend the bullfights, drink and be merry. Jake is in love with Brett Ashley; yet, he cannot fulfill her needs. Robert Cohn, a former boxer turned writer, is also in love with Lady Brett, yet all in their group detest Cohn, who is Jewish (the novel could be considered anti-Semitic). Lady Brett (a new feminist of the 1920s) is attracted to and seduces the young stud bullfighter, who is half her age.

I was unaffected by this novel, except to feel empathy for Jake for his impotence and inability to consummate his love and a bit of anger for the general mistreatment of Cohn.