THURSDAY, OCT. 11
TUESDAY, OCT. 23
10:30 a.m. Fiction Book Group: “The Sun Also Rises” In support of McCarter Theatre’s limited engagement of “The Select,” an inspired staging of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece novel, librarian Kristin Friberg leads a discussion of the book. Conference Room
OCTOBER 5-31
“Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time” This traveling exhibit, produced by The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, features nearly 70 photographs from public and private collections. The exhibit will be on display throughout October. Second Floor
7 p.m. Books on Tap Book Group: “The Sun Also Rises” Librarian Kristin Friberg leads a second discussion of Hemingway’s classic in the historic Nassau Inn. Bring your library card to get $2 and $3 selected beer specials and a 10 percent discount on an appetizer. Yankee Doodle Tap Room, Nassau Inn
THURSDAY, OCT. 18
THURSDAY, OCT. 25
7 p.m. McCarter Live at the Library Director John Collins of the internationally acclaimed Elevator Repair Service discusses McCarter Theatre’s upcoming production of “The Select,” based on the Ernest Hemingway novel “The Sun Also Rises.” Community Room ABOUT “THE SUN ALSO RISES”
MONDAY, OCT. 22
Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Film: “Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea” Hemingway’s groundbreaking novels and stories, and the complicated personality behind them, are explored in this film from the PBS American Masters series. 1 hour, 30 minutes. Community Room
The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, “The Sun Also Rises” is one of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, “The Sun Also Rises” helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Discussion questions and resources on back panel.
7 p.m. Talk: “Hemingway Through His Letters” Penn State American literature professor Sandra Spanier, general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, will discuss how the author’s letters reveal less familiar sides of Hemingway that unsettle the stereotypes and may surprise those who know him mainly by his tough-guy public persona. The Hemingway Letters Project is an effort to create a comprehensive scholarly edition of the writer’s nearly 6,000 letters. Spanier serves on the editorial board of The Hemingway Review and consulted on several documentary films about Hemingway. She is working to conserve Hemingway’s papers in Cuba. Community Room
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1
One of Hemingway’s original titles for the book was ”The Lost Generation.” In what ways are the people in the novel lost? Is there evidence that moral or spiritual cleansing ever takes place in the novel?
2
When Jake Barnes rebuffs Georgette because he is “sick,” she says, “Everybody’s sick. I’m sick, too” (p.23). Is Georgette’s observation an appropriate description of the people in the novel? Why is Jake’s emasculating wound such an effective symbol? Read closely and analyze one of the longer passages in which Hemingway describes bulls or bullfighting. Does the passage have symbolic possibilities? How do these passages function to develop themes and motifs? How would you describe Jake Barnes’s relationship with Brett? How does he see her at the close of the novel?
3
4
FURTHER RESOURCES “The Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of José Robles“ by Stephen Koch. Non-F 813.52 Koc “Hemingway on war” by Ernest Hemingway ; edited and with an introduction by Sean Hemingway ; foreword by Patrick Hemingway. F Hem “Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961” by Paul Hendrickson. New Books, Non-Fiction B H4885 “The Hemingway Reader” selected, with a foreword and 12 brief prefaces by Charles Poore. F Hem “The Letters of Ernest Hemingway” edited by Sandra Spanier and Robert W. Trogdon. New Books, Non-fiction B H4885 “The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain” F MCL “A Reader’s Guide to Ernest Hemingway” by Arthur Waldhorn Non-F 813.009 Wal “Midnight in Paris” (video recording) DVD F MID