Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

8 reviews

sbgage's review against another edition

adventurous reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Violence

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hemingway's thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the world are deeply flawed due to his racism, sexism, and antisemitism, but goddamn do I love the way he writes. I love his short, sharp prose though. Each word is thoughtfully chosen and deployed.

The main character is Jake—who is so clearly a self-insert that it’s almost laughable—and we see the world only through his eyes. He’s self-centered, broken by war, desperately sad, and serious. In between jazz age parties, you watch this man crumble beneath the weight of his suffering, and even though he kind of sucks, you can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.

Jake's travels in France and Spain read like a journal/travelogue. He’s simultaneously numb and in pain, but he also sees beauty in everything. He’s a walking, talking contradiction.

The prose is melancholy, wistful, and reflective. You end up feeling bad for almost all the characters, who have all wrecked their own lives or been wrecked by others or some combination. This is the first novel of Hemingway's that I’ve read, and despite some of my qualms with it, it makes me want to pick up more of his work. He's writes a compelling, fascinating read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: War

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and War

renicula's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

ezulc's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Infidelity

Moderate: Death, Blood, Antisemitism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

bookish_bry's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'll admit from the beginning that I don't really jive with Hemingway's style. I appreciate it as someone who writes themself, but as a reader, it makes it hard to get into. The entire first part of the book was very slow and the style made it hard to connect to any of the characters. However, later in the book I did start to enjoy it a lot more. While Hemingway doesn't use many metaphors the ones he does (pretty much just bullfighting) are used very effectively. I ended up being able to see the complexity of the characters and their relationship, and I appreciated them by the end.

It was a good representation of the lost generation and that sense of hopelessness and loss of real identity. It's definitely an important read, and I'm sure there are people who would appreciate the style more than I do at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

A big part of this book is about watching bullfighting with all of the violence towards animals and all of the danger to humans that implies. Bulls are killed by bullfighters, steers are injured by bulls, and a man is killed by a bull.

shadestate's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Misogyny and War

carlagh's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol