Goodreads Challenge 44/85: The Sun Also Rises

I decided to read a book by Ernest Hemingway because I heard an article on NPR about the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. They were interviewing the actor who played Hemingway in the movie, and I thought to myself--why haven't I read anything by Hemingway since  Old Man and the Sea in eighth grade? So I hit up the library.

I have many things to say about The Sun Also Rises. Where to start?

1. Hemingway's style is so simple I found it annoying. Reading this was like reading field notes by an ethnographic sociologist--which happens to be my graduate school specialty. That's not exactly what I'm looking for when I read a novel. Anyway--it's written in the voice of Jake Barnes--he's supposed to be a journalist, but he sure doesn't have a journalistic flair. I appreciate the subtlety but don't really care for it.

2. The "lost generation" characters were so unappealing that ultimately I was hoping they would all get gored by a bull. Everyone is either nasty or pathetic. Or both.

3. Having just come off reading In Cold Blood (a book where every word perfectly painted a picture), I just wanted to say: Is that all you have to offer, Mr. Hemingway?

4. On the other hand, the dialogue was realistic and amusing. It felt like reading a Seinfeld script, down to every despicable character. Nothing much happens, people complain a lot, and it feels like real life. (although these people get drunk an awful lot).

I wavered between three and four stars--the characters were so believably hateful I gave it four, plus the dialogue was superb. I don't really care to read another by Hemingway, though. Or maybe I'll wait another thirty years.