Thursday 22 December 2011

How long is The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway?

The 2014
Scribner Hemingway Library edition of the novel is 321 pages, according to Amazon. The book is
of average length for a modern novel. 

It occurs to me, however, that perhaps
this question refers to the temporal time span of the novel. In that case, the first part of the
book, set in Paris, starts during an afternoon, shows Jake meeting with Brett that evening,
covers the following day and ends with Brett, the night of the second day, telling Jake she will
be leaving for Spain, as she thinks it will be easier on them both if they are apart. The first
part of the novel therefore spans about a day and half.

In book II, Jake and
his friend Bill travel to Spain to fish. They spend about five days fishing and then move to
Pamplona for the running of the bulls. In Pamplona, Jake meets up with Brett and in addition to
the running of the bulls, sees a bullfight. At the end of the novel, in book III, the fiesta in
Pamplona winds down and Jake meets up with Brett in Madrid. 

While there is a
gap of time between parts one and two, the narrative of the novel, which does not include the
break between when Brett leaves Paris and Jake decides to head for Spain, spans roughly two
weeks, with most of Jake's time in the novel spent in Spain.

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