
The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway · first published 1926
82mentions
27recommended by
71HN commenters
2008–2026first – last mentioned
38% recommend59% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, easy-to-read Hemingway novel about the Lost Generation, praised for spare prose, sharp dialogue and power of understatement; often suggested as the best first Hemingway and rereads well.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Hemingway's profile of the Lost Generation captures life among the expatriates on Paris' Left Bank during the 1920s, the brutality of bullfighting in Spain, and the moral and spiritual dissolution of a generation.
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…that way. A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway) My personal favorite (along with his short stories, which I highly recommend), but if it's your first time reading Hemingway, might be better to go with The Sun Also Rises. Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates) On the Road (Jack Kerouac) *One of my personal favorites, but most people either love or hate it, so maybe save this towards the end. On my own reading list: Speedboat…
on “Ask HN: I have no commitments for the next 6 months – what books should I read?” ↗Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut 1984 by George Orwell To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918) On the Road by Jack Kerouac The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2013” ↗Even better is The Sun Also Rises (which I've currently just been re-reading over and over). Hemingway's short stories also are astonishing, but The Sun Also Rises seems be the best example of the power of understatement (which is Hemingway's…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - http://www.amazon.com/Brave-World-P-S-Aldous-Huxley/dp/00617... Burmese Days - George Orwell - http://www.amazon.com/Burmese-Days-Novel-George-Orwell/dp/01... The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway - http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Also-Rises-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/074... Catch 22 - Joe Heller - http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-50th-Anniversary-Joseph-Helle... The Road - Cormac McCarthy…
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations?” ↗Here are the first books that crossed my mind. The Road. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. How to Read a Modern Painting: Lessons from the Modern Masters. The Sun Also Rises. The Wind Up Bird Chronicles. Reamde: A Novel. 1984.
on “Ask HN: Book recommendations?” ↗…condition so as long as we exist, so will the darkness. In my mind, the key is to turn off the news, shut down a web browser and simplify, but my key likely won't work in your lock. Have you ever read The Sun Also Rises?? Hemingway struggles with similar questions and he's a far better writer than I am!! :)
on “Today is the end of sheloshim for my beloved husband” ↗The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway ( great book ) Hooked How to Build Habit-Forming Products - Nir Eyal ( great book very insightful ) The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg ( interesting topic, long book ) Bandit Algorithms…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗…Falcon - Dashiell Hammet (Surprising just how much San Francisco is in it) The Postman Always Rings Twice - James Cain Seveneves - Neal Stephenson (recommended) Pattern Recognition - William Gibson The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway (recommended, refreshing language) Non-fiction: Running Lean - Ash Muraya Lean Customer Development - Alvarez Talking to Humans - Giff Constable Hooked - Nir Eyal (probably not need the…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗I'd recommend The Sun Also Rises or The Old Man And The Sea for a first Hemingway book. They are both within novella length, so they make for easy reading. Farewell To Arms is probably my favourite, if only because of the last page.…
on “Lessons Learned from “On Writing Well”” ↗Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” is another phenomenal book which embraces the post-war era and the Lost Generation theme in a much more central way. I highly recommend it!
on “The Great Gatsby: Misunderstood Novel” ↗Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. For the language and the story. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. For the language and the story.
on “Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?” ↗The books that (I think) made the biggest impact on my writing are Zinsser's On Writing Well, everything Hemingway (e.g. The Sun Also Rises, A Moveable Feast), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Wind, Sand and Stars, and Beryl Markham's West with the Night. The common theme being simplicity and informal, but correct, speech.
on “What to read to become a better writer” ↗…of subjectivity here and it's really up to the reader to decide what they like. I didn't like Tender is the Night too much, and I love Hemingway's novels more than his stories (generally), chiefly The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Do I know better than you or do famous critics know better than me? I don't think so.
on “H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)” ↗> I love Hemingway's novels more than his stories (generally), chiefly The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think it's in some ways unfortunate the way we have high school students ready things like A Farewell to Arms, maybe For Whom the Bell Tools, or Old Man and the Sea, rather…
on “H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)” ↗I've been working my way through Hemingway's first novel, The Sun Also Rises. It's good. Also recently bought the Herbert Mason translation of Gilgamesh, because I remember enjoying it when I was younger. It's cool to think that Gilgamesh gave us the Flood Myth, as well as the…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading these days?” ↗