a member shares her book review on The Sun Also Rises

thank you marti for sharing your post with us on. i have read this a few times in my life each time longing for quiet time in a village by the river with a friend and other times not wanting to be any of them yet being so curious about all of them.


( new book coming this Monday) will share another members review
on the the elegance of a hedgehog sunday)

The Sun Also Rises

For book club this month, One silent winter at La Porte Rouge selected this Hemingway classic.


Originally published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway’s first big hit. Less than ten years after the end of World War I, the novel helped define his generation: disillusioned young people whose lives were profoundly affected by the war. Hemingway bore the physical and emotional scars of the war for the rest of his life, just like the troubled characters he created in The Sun Also Rises, and the novel expresses the uncertainty and aimlessness of this "Lost Generation" 

Jake Barnes and his expatriate friends live in the sensual and self-indulgent world of post-World War I Paris. They spend most of their time partying, drinking, and arguing. From Jake’s perspective, we meet the characters of the story: the most important among them are Robert Cohn, a weak-willed, down-on-his-luck Princeton grad and unsuccessful writer, and Lady Brett Ashley, an exciting, beautiful, and unpredictable British divorcee.

Although Jake and Brett are actually in love, they aren’t together, presumably because a mysterious war wound has rendered Jake impotent. Cohn falls in love with Brett (as everyone does) and, despite the fact that she’s not terribly impressed with him, she secretly goes on a trip with him to the Spanish resort town of San Sebastian. Cohn is infatuated with Brett – he’s completely smitten. Brett is engaged to a wealthy, charming, and utterly inept drunkard named Mike. Jake’s friend Bill returns to Paris from a trip and a plan is born: everyone agrees to go to Spain for some fishing and the running of the bulls in Pamplona. 
On their brief fishing trip, Bill and Jake have a splendid time They return to civilization and meet up with Brett, Mike, and Cohn in Pamplona for a weeklong orgy of bullfights, alcohol, and high drama. Jake has a true passion (aficion) for bullfighting, but everyone else is simply there to have a good time. Brett begins a rather scandalous affair with a passionate and talented young bull-fighter, Pedro Romero. Jake feels terrible for many reasons – among them is the fear that he has corrupted Romero by introducing him to Brett. Cohn’s thwarted infatuation with Brett leads to arguments with everyone and, finally, he beats Romero to a bloody pulp. As the fiesta winds down, everyone leaves Pamplona in various states of anxiety, depression and frustration.

Jake heads to San Sebastian, where he intends to be alone for a while, but desperate telegrams from Brett arrive immediately. He goes to her in Madrid, where she is alone, having sent Romero away. For the first time, we see Brett afraid, and guilty. The future looks just as bleak – Jake and Brett agree again that, even though they love each other, they can’t be together.

There are several major themes in this book--Dissatisfaction (fun but not contentment)--Identity (none of the characters are what they appear to be)--Masculinity (all the men are insecure so there is constant tension among them)--Drinking (all the characters are problem drinkers)--Post WW1 generation (disillusioned young people)

It was good to revisit an Ernest Hemingway novel.  His ability to make the common place memorable, to build depth of character through simple events, and develop themes that are still relevant today makes for a good read.

Member shares post on the Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot

Thank You Marti for your wonderful post. If you have never visited Marti blog please do, she has so much to share and reading it will transport you.

The Idiot

This month's book selection sponsored byOne Silent Winter was the Idiot, a classic Russian novel. As with many Russian novels it is a dark look into 19th century Russia.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. His literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th-century Russian society. He is often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest and most prominent psychologists in world literature.  The Idiot looks into the life of a troubled prince.

Twenty-six-year-old Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to Russia after spending several years at a Swiss sanatorium. Scorned by the society of St. Petersburg for his trusting nature and naivete, he finds himself at the center of a struggle between a beautiful kept woman-- Nastassya Filippovna--and a virtuous and pretty young girl--Aglaya Yepanchin, both of whom win his affection. Myshkin is torn between his romantic love for Aglaya Yepanchin and his compassionate love for Nastassya Filippovna, but in the end he loses both of them. Unfortunately, Myshkin's very goodness precipitates disaster, leaving the impression that, in a world obsessed with money, power, and sexual conquest, a sanatorium may be the only place for a person such as he.

This was a very well written novel, characteristically Russian in its somber timbre.  Within the first few pages, the author had set your view of the characters.  You felt that you knew them well.  Like a symphony, the action rose and fell, sweeping you along until the bitter conclusion.
Throughout the book many of the conversations revolved around tea. Tea was taken with all meals and pretty much any other time of the day. Samovars were present in all the homes, Tea was appealing to the Russian life-style because it was a warm and hearty brew. They preferred a strong, dark brew which was sweetened with sugar, jam or honey. 

a shared post on a Portrait of a lady

Here is a lovely post shared by Joanne of Rhubarb in the Garden.  i do know what she means i found myself doing the same thing at times. i am like her mum as well but not when reading a book but when watching a film that has my heart in knots, i tend to run to the computer and read the wikepedia on it so i can prepare myself for heartbreak. thank you Joanne.

Book Club Report..

I have read the Henry James Classic - I had not read before...and will admit to struggling through the lengthy detailed realism and perhaps skimming over some passages of what seemed to my contemporary eyes unnecessary descriptive information....but then the characters, and fate of this American Lady in Europe had to be discovered...she could not possibly come to a bad end...it had to all end well didn't it?  And then - the uncomfortable realisation of how her mistakes were manipulated by those 'friends' around her...and recognising the similarities of deception in my own story....well, it became very contemporary indeed!  And I promise the next time I read it - I shall savour the details (now that I know the ending).

The next book is another I have not read.....which was why I joined up to this book club in the beginning!

"Silas Marner"  George Eliot.

Have you read it yet?  Is it a good ending?
I promise I shan't be like my mother and read the end first - this is something she always does - and when I once asked her why she spoiled the story by doing this - she said that she could not bear a sad ending.....which is very much like her..oh and "Happy Birthday Mum" xx

a travelling hippie shares her post about ethan frome

Book Club Ethan Frome

A little bliss when I can get it, is to sit on this chair and read something lovely.

It's hear that I have squirmed and enjoyed Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome.

Before reading Frome, I was memorized by Afterward, having never read Ethan Frome I was

 excited to see what kind of issues and themes Wharton would have me questioning. 

Apart of me thought at first that Ethan was such a pathetic character, 

Be a man!

I would scream sometimes at the pages, disappointed that such a talented and promising individual

 could be so lost and  trapped. Yet as the plot developed, something interesting happened. I realized that anger

 towards Ethan, was as a result of me seeing droplets of my life in Ethan's situation.

My mountain wasn't a miserable, distant and sickly wife.However my sickly wife has manifested

 in dreams and disappointing pursuits. Because of how cruel and strict the later has been, I have

 felt as though some of my dreams have died. I am alive yes, but am I really, without my hopes 

and dreams?

A sigh of relief went into the last few words of the story. I wished that Ethan, though 

held captive like many of us, would have dared to hold on to the promise of hope and love. 

Thank you so much Omoy for sharing your post about Ethan Frome, i too questioned why he did not stand 

ground, for what he cared for, i suppose being a man was not that easy in such times under such circumstances.

 thank you again, hope you enjoy My Antonia- it is a joy to read.