Hey everyone,
After class today I did a little brainstorming trying to think of a great book by a Catholic author that we didn't touch on in class. I'm a huge fan of Hemingway, and I honestly cannot believe that he didn't cross my mind and that I had to brainstorm at all. (He was a convert to Catholicism during his first marriage to his wife Pauline, though he did leave the faith--friends of his after his suicide said he had "funny ties" to his faith) If you get the chance, a book called 'The Sun Also Rises' is really great. It's kind of Fitzgerald/Great Gatsby-esque in some ways, but a great book nonetheless. It's about Paris and the 'lost generation' (Binx Bolling, anyone?) dealing with this guy named Jake Barnes who is this expatriate journalist living in Paris. He's impotent following an injury in WWI, falls in love with this girl but there's no real chance of a lasting relationship, etc. Anyway though, the book is full of bullfights, anti-semitic remarks, prostitutes, etc. All of the things that make for great Catholic reading (kidding. totally kidding). Oh, I think I forgot to mention that it's actually split into three books, much like Brideshead Revisited.
Enjoy!
I only just read the introduction to "The Sun Also Rises," and I realize that Robert Cohn is Jewish, but do you think that there is any way that he may have been loosely inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald? The low self-esteem, the Princeton connection, the published book that the narrator didn't think was too awful or too great. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were friends, but I may be jumping to conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI probably should take a look at this book. In my other english class my professor used it alot to provide counter arguements during class discussions so now that it has been mentioned in a second class it must be worth looking at.
ReplyDeleteBullfights, anti-semitic remarks and prostitutes. Definitely a contrast from Hemmingway's "Old Man and the Sea". Great author though; love him.
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