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)

Great actor, terrible reader, kills classic

What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?

His foreign accents are abominable. Even his performance of the main character is completely flat. Frankly, I didn't even finish listening because the accents were so distracting!

Disappointed with narration

Wished I had read rather than listened. Very weak narration as compared to other audible books. Hemingway no problem.... Weak acting

WORST preformance of an audio book! Ever!

Would you try another book from Ernest Hemingway and/or William Hurt?

Ernest Hemmingway - yes. William Hurt - never again.

Would you be willing to try another one of William Hurt’s performances?

No. No. No. Such a boing performance. I've read this story 2 times and thought I'd try listening to my (once) favorite story. Almost abandoned listening to the story multiple times. No tone change in the character's voice. It was like listening to a teenager tell a story he really doesn't want to tell. Monotone and boooreing!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The story is fantastic.

Any additional comments?

If you're a fan of Ernest Hemmingway, stick to the printed version of this book and try For Whom the Bell Tolls in audio version.

love Hemingway, not Hurt

I'm sorry but William Hurt hurts this novel. He does fine with the dialogue passages which makes sense i guess as an actor, but his voice and bored rendition of the narrative passages is just plain poor. At times as he's reading it seemed that he was seeing the text for the first time, his emphasis and inflection is off all over the place.

This is a great novel and I wish they would get the reading by Adams that Books on Tape had that I bought the cassettes of years ago. Much better reading. Adams did many of EH's novels and did them well, and though then I may have wished for variety in voices, I'd take those now.

Nice idea to have distinctive voices for EH, but you need some more dynamic readers, not ones that sound bored by the project. Donald Sutherland is a great actor, but a terrible reader of Old Man. Get the Charlton Heston versions of Old Man and Snows if you can and Scourby's reading of Macomber is awesome, Heston and Scourby are perfection.

William Hurt captures 'The Lost Generation'

I have been a long-time Audible customer (and before that, Books on Tape . . . ). I have never written a review before, but was prompted to do so by the many scathing reviews of William Hurt's narration of this title. Let me just say, I strongly dissent -- and I say that as someone who is not a particular fan of Mr. Hurt as an actor. This book is, at its heart, a vivid portrait of "The Lost Generation," devastated by The Great War; disillusioned by the United States they found at home after the war; and now broken and adrift in a fog of alcohol as they wander about Europe. To my ears, Mr. Hurt's narration captures this morally exhausted mindset perfectly. He sounds world-weary, benumbed by all that has happened to him and his friends. Indeed, he seems exactly like I would expect Jake Barnes to sound if he were sitting across the bar at 2 AM, many empty bottles of wine sitting between us, as he tells me the story of his adventures with Lady Brett Ashley and the rest of his hard drinking, hard living crew. For anyone who admires this classic novel -- or who wants to experience it as I suspect Hemingway would have intended -- I highly recommend this audible version. And kudos to Mr. Hurt for truly bringing this tragic story to life in a way the mere reading the book never did for me.

Utterly painful droning narration.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Insomniacs. People who unreservedly love William Hurt

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sun Also Rises?

Giving up and turning the awful droning off.

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

I cant stay awake through the "Hurt" I realize there are all different tastes and people prefer different narrational styles. However William Hurt to my ears is so painfully flat, droning, and lacking any real character depth in his narration as to make this book listenable. I have had this book for over 6 months and have tried to listen to is many times without success. This is very rare for me to be unable to listen to a story (especially a well written story) due to the narrator. I have narrators I prefer not to listen to (Scott Brick) however I still managed to listen through a @40 hour book (The Company) multiple times in the years it has been in my library. This book however is possibly the first time in my @15 years as an Audible subscriber I can't manage to finish to a book I purchased. Hell I doubt I have managed to stay awake through more than the first couple of hours. As for who to read this story, I would say Campbell Scott. He did a fantastic job on For Whom the Bell Tolls. For me Campbell Scott just gets the Hemingway pacing, cool and tonality.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Hugely disappointed by the monotone narration. Such a waste of a good story and a credit.

Any additional comments?

Listen to the sample very carefully, It doesn't get any better and probably gets much worse. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Can I get a refund for this wasted credit?

Great story badly read.

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

William Hurt's bizarre phrasing of the narrative portions was a Major distraction. His rendering of Spanish and French accents was very good, but Bret's English accent was truly bizarre.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sun Also Rises?

The bullfights, beautifully, graphically, tragically described mirrored the encounters of the main characters, always coming closer to each other, to love or to fight, and then backing away, a tangled dance like that of matador and bull, dodging, feinting, charging and ending, not in death, but still with a sense of tragedy.

Would you be willing to try another one of William Hurt’s performances?

No. Not ever.

Meh

Narrator seems unmotivated by the story and so was I. Not sure why this is a classic. Maybe better in text.

Awful reader.

Would you try another book from Ernest Hemingway and/or William Hurt?

Yes I would read another book by Ernest Hemingway, and no, I will never buy a book read by William Hurt. He was awful. I couldn't get past ch. 1.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't have one. I only got through chapter one because William Hurt was awful at the reading. He read so slow and deliberate; I couldn't stand it.

What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?

I felt like he was reading to a Kindergartner. He read so slow and he enunciated too much. Even during dialogue, he didn't have any personality.

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

I don't know....didn't hear much.

Any additional comments?

I wish there were another version with another reader.

Fun in Paris with a Finish in Spain

I really liked the characters and how Hemingway introduces and then holds true to their persona in the book. I liked the flow and pace of the book, I think the descriptions of Paris and the Spanish country were telling.

Great book but not the best Hemingway

I like Hemingway’s style. Some snobs will call it simplistic but it works and, if you compare it with the writing in some modern best sellers, it is actually a great style.
If you want to learn about bullfights from someone who loved them, this is a great book. I have miss feelings about bullfights. I used to hate them but I’m starting to see why someone like Hemingway liked them. It also paints a fantastic picture of the Spanish landscape.
Over all I do not regret purchasing this book although if I have to pick only one book by the author I’d go for For Whom The Bell Tolls.

The Lost Generation

I love being immersed in Hemingway’s world, and feeling part of the Lost Generation.

However, the book lost 1 star due to William Hurt’s awful Scottish accent which seemed to morph from vaguely Scottish, to Welsh, to Russian.

terrible narration

accents awful. emotion misjudged entirely. bizarre delivery by dipsomaniac narrator with no understanding of the english idiom.

The Redemption of a Great Last Line

If anyone but Hurt had read it I think I'd have given up. It's sexist and all the posturing and macho drinking just pretty dull. Empty people being empty, but a very good depiction of that. He can write. All very vivid. And the last line is so wonderful I forgave him for being Hemingway.

William Hurt is superb

The painful fall of a war-struck generation that has lost its path to the future, which really looks like our deprived, disorientated young generation.
Jake and Brett's true love is breathtaking.

I long for a time...

I long for a time when such things, and such people, are possible...sadly I feel that I missed it, and them.

Sad for it to come to an end

Thougherly enjoyed this adaptation. I was especially impressed with the narrators repertoire of accents, which seems to be an issue in some other reviews, but not for me. I felt like I was transported back to the 1920s and really got a feel for the characters.

Excellent Book.

A classic novel that stay forever. Fantastic narrator. Enjoyed it very much!

Painfully boring

Worst book ever. Childlike writing style. Contentless story. Don't waste your time with this book.

Wonderful if listened to at 1.5x speed!

Loved it so much but my oh my is his performance ssssslllooooooooowww.

Was great when I listed sped up 1.5 x