The History of Literature – Episode 779

“Ernest Hemingway and The Sun Also Rises” (with Mike Palindrome) RECLAIMED
Host: Jacke Wilson | Guest: Mike Palindrome
Original Air Date: February 26, 2026 (Reclaimed from 2018)

Overview

In this reclaimed episode, host Jacke Wilson and recurring guest Mike Palindrome revisit Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Sun Also Rises. They reflect on their personal histories with Hemingway’s writing, examine the enduring allure and criticism of his style, and explore the novel’s structure, themes, and literary significance. The discussion weaves together literary insight, personal anecdote, and close textual analysis—offering both a critical re-appreciation and a heartfelt conversation about how Hemingway remains relevant to new generations of readers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Connections to Hemingway

• [03:00] – [07:30]
  Jacke recounts youthful dreams of travel, mirrored in Hemingway’s own early adventures. He reflects on first encountering Hemingway and the seductive allure of falling into his literary circle:

  "Hemingway is a great one for saying, 'I know things you can learn from me...but only if you're the right sort of person who can gain this knowledge.' He’s a very seductive writer in that sense. You read Hemingway and you want to be his friend or in his circle, one of his crowd...or I did, anyway." – Jacke Wilson [06:10]

2. Who Is Hemingway? – Biographical Sketch

• [10:00] – [15:00]
  Jacke summarizes Hemingway’s background:
  • Born in 1899, Oak Park, Illinois
  • Early journalism, experiences in WWI (ambiguous war heroism, wounded in Italy)
  • Restlessness after returning home, Paris in the 1920s (lost generation, modernist circles)
  • Hemingway’s synthesis: modern style, emotional depth, and new American identity.

3. The "Lost Generation" and Modernity

• [13:00] – [15:00]
  Discussion of Paris as a cultural crucible and the community of expatriates building modernism.
  • Connections with Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Fitzgerald, etc.
  • The Sun Also Rises as celebration and critique of this cohort.

4. Hemingway’s Enduring Appeal and Flaws

• [17:26] – [21:30]
  Jacke and Mike reflect on love/hate reactions to Hemingway—his style’s directness, his myth, and his reputation:

  “I don’t think there’s a writer that I have a stronger love-hate relationship with than Hemingway.” – Jacke Wilson [18:26]

• Mike identifies favorite works: A Movable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, “Hills Like White Elephants.”

5. How to Introduce New Readers to Hemingway?

• [19:00] – [21:35]
  Jacke suggests starting with short stories, then moving to novels; Mike leans towards The Sun Also Rises as a perfect entry point.
• Recognition that Hemingway’s fiction may resonate differently at various ages.

6. Paris vs. Spain – The Sense of Place

• [21:35] – [32:24]
  The novel’s structure: Mike and Jacke discuss how Hemingway evokes both Parisian and Spanish landscapes, using specificity without being heavy-handed.

  “You do feel like you’re there...the details are just perfect.” – Mike [30:56]

• The tactile, sensory pleasures of food and travel as essential Hemingway elements.

7. Language and Style–Economy, Clarity, and Sound

• [32:24] – [37:05]
  Deep dive into Hemingway’s stylistic signatures:
  • Minimal adjectives and adverbs
  • Plain but evocative prose
  • The pursuit of “the truest sentence”

  “He achieves a kind of poetry through it. Sometimes it can feel mannered or forced, especially in his later writing, but when he’s at his best, it’s so easy to read, it’s so vivid, and it feels so substantial, I think, because you’re getting this...all-protein diet: nouns and verbs.” – Jacke [35:59]

8. Masculinity, Vulnerability, and Critique

• [22:31] – [29:54]
  They reflect on Hemingway’s “bullying” persona, moments of sensitivity, and how The Sun Also Rises’s main character, Jake Barnes, complicates simplistic readings:

  "He can be this big bully...but then he also, you know, he writes poetry...he has a sentimental streak...it was easier to kill a man in war than to end the life of a friend." – Jacke [24:08]

• Discussion of Jake’s wounds—his impotence, his emotional restraint, and the interplay of bravado and tenderness.

9. Antisemitism and Character Complexity

• [28:03] – [29:44]
  Jacke and Mike examine the novel’s problematic depiction of Robert Cohn:

  “The anti-Semitism...I’ve forgotten how anti-Semitic it is. But then about 2/3 of the way through, I was writing notes like, is this Cohn's revenge?...he’s really the toughest guy here.” – Jacke [28:03] Mike contextualizes:
  “He gives Robert Cohn the first 70 pages...showing how being Jewish really loomed large for Jake and his friend Bill.” – Mike [28:56]

10. Structure and Thematic Pairing

• [29:26] – [30:23]
  Noted appreciation for the book’s structural symmetry—Cohn at the beginning, Pedro Romero at the end.

11. Hemingway’s Myth vs. Reality

• [39:30] – [43:03]
  Separation of Hemingway the literary craftsman and Hemingway the self-promoter/masked manly image.

  "For all the love-hate relationship with Hemingway, the thing that always kind of redeems him is how much he cared about literature." – Jacke [37:59]

• Stories of Hemingway’s own struggles, rejections, and humbleness despite the bravura.

12. American Identity, Maturity, and the Adolescent Mind

• [48:45] – [61:25]
  Comparing Hemingway to contemporaries like Fitzgerald and Woolf; contrasting American and European literary figures; Hemingway’s characters seen as "permanently adolescent."

  "[Van Wyck Brooks] said Hemingway was, in his way, a typical American, and there was something permanently adolescent about him." – Jacke [48:45] Discussion of the appeal for adolescent or young adult readers; whether his work loses its impact if read later in life.

13. The Aficionado’s Club – Exclusion vs. Allure

• [51:17] – [56:19]
  Jacke critiques Hemingway’s tendency to set up in-groups of understanding—whether with aficionados, writers, or bullfighters.

  “It can be kind of seductive...you realize that really it's just the club of Hemingway, that he's just trying to sort of set himself apart.” – Jacke [51:17] Mike and Jacke then comically discuss the low bar of American adulthood and group belonging.

14. Who Should Read Hemingway?

• [62:32] – [63:41]
  Agreement that The Sun Also Rises is still a worthwhile recommendation—especially for travelers. Debate over which short stories merit deep-dive analysis next.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Hemingway’s Literary Style:

  “He achieves a kind of poetry through it…when he’s at his best, it’s so easy to read, it’s so vivid, and it feels so substantial, I think, because you’re getting...nouns and verbs.” – Jacke [35:59]

• On the Allure and Seduction of Hemingway:

  “You read Hemingway and you want to be his friend or in his circle, one of his crowd...or I did, anyway.” – Jacke [06:10]

• On Hemingway’s Vulnerability:

  “It was easier to kill a man in war than it was to end the life of a friend who had been so true to him.” – Jacke [24:08]

• On American Literary Adolescence:

  “There’s something permanently adolescent about him that stood for certain immaturity in the American mind.” – Jacke, quoting Van Wyck Brooks [48:45]

• On The Sun Also Rises as a Traveler’s Classic:

  “It really is one of the first books that come to mind as a recommendation. When someone’s traveling, everyone should pack it in their bag.” – Mike [62:32]

• On Masculinity and Restraint:

  “Every kind of macho sentiment and every tendency that Hemingway has to...make it about manly things is completely balanced out by the fact that his narrator and kind of the hero physically is not manly.” – Jacke [61:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|------------------------------------------------| | 03:00–07:30 | Personal travel + first encounters with Hemingway | | 10:00–15:00 | Hemingway's biography & context | | 17:26–21:35 | How has Hemingway held up? | | 21:35–32:24 | Paris vs. Spain; sense of place | | 32:24–37:05 | Prose style; adjectives & adverbs | | 22:31–29:54 | Masculinity, sensitivity, anti-Semitism | | 39:30–43:03 | Hemingway the mythmaker; hardships | | 48:45 | Literary adolescence & American identity | | 51:17–56:19 | In-groups, the ‘aficionado’ problem | | 62:32 | Is Hemingway for travelers/young readers? |

Tone & Atmosphere

Conversational, warm, reflective—Jacke and Mike blend humor with thoughtful critique, opening up Hemingway to both nostalgia and modern skepticism. Both emerge as admirers but not uncritical devotees, and their long friendship suffuses the discussion with trust and candor.

Conclusion

The Sun Also Rises and Hemingway’s legacy are examined with the benefit of both youthful enthusiasm and adult distance. The episode provides rich insight into why Hemingway continues to be recommended to travelers and newly minted readers, yet remains problematic and hotly debated for his style, attitudes, and cult of personality. A must-listen (or, thanks to this detailed summary, a must-read) for anyone curious about why Hemingway endures.

Next up: Chekhov, a contemporary novelist, a philosopher king, and lots more. Don’t miss it!