"You are all a lost generation." -- Gertrude Stein
I had much less motivation to read this book than the Tim O'Brien novel. This novel has just been...well...boring. O'Brien has wonderful stories that are captivating [I mean, not everyone knows someone who died in a poop field...], and there is more depth to the plotline, while this novel follows the pattern of eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, sleep with the occasional fight and bullfight in there.
I said this in a previous entry, but Hemingway is one heck of an articulate drunk. I feel like he was completely wasted while he was writing this novel, and yet he still makes it difficult to understand without truly paying attention to the words. I also noticed how they never have to use the restroom. Actually, I suppose I can't say that for a fact, but they never mention that they need to use the restroom. I mean, come on, that's bound to happen with how much they drink. They wake up every morning, find a pub, and drink. What a life they live. I guess that's what the starving artists of their time did as opposed to our starving artists today who sit around starbucks and drink coffee bemoaning their lives.
I absolutely love the quote at the beginning of the novel before the story even starts. The epigraph that Stein uses basically captures the essence of the "lost generation" stuck in a continuous cycle. Not one particular generation is "lost" so to speak, but they all are. Who actually knows what they want to do with their lives at every moment they live? It's difficult to figure out who you are let alone what you want to do for the rest of your life. You can ask anyone who is in this class actually...we're all doing just that right now. Woo cooolleeeggeee causes so much stressssss.
I had much less motivation to read this book than the Tim O'Brien novel. This novel has just been...well...boring. O'Brien has wonderful stories that are captivating [I mean, not everyone knows someone who died in a poop field...], and there is more depth to the plotline, while this novel follows the pattern of eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, sleep with the occasional fight and bullfight in there.
I said this in a previous entry, but Hemingway is one heck of an articulate drunk. I feel like he was completely wasted while he was writing this novel, and yet he still makes it difficult to understand without truly paying attention to the words. I also noticed how they never have to use the restroom. Actually, I suppose I can't say that for a fact, but they never mention that they need to use the restroom. I mean, come on, that's bound to happen with how much they drink. They wake up every morning, find a pub, and drink. What a life they live. I guess that's what the starving artists of their time did as opposed to our starving artists today who sit around starbucks and drink coffee bemoaning their lives.
I absolutely love the quote at the beginning of the novel before the story even starts. The epigraph that Stein uses basically captures the essence of the "lost generation" stuck in a continuous cycle. Not one particular generation is "lost" so to speak, but they all are. Who actually knows what they want to do with their lives at every moment they live? It's difficult to figure out who you are let alone what you want to do for the rest of your life. You can ask anyone who is in this class actually...we're all doing just that right now. Woo cooolleeeggeee causes so much stressssss.
August 13, 2010 at 10:49 PM
EMILY! You're a genius! I didn't even notice that pun! You've made my day.
August 22, 2010 at 11:02 PM
so you're saying that The Sun Also Rises needs more poop?