The Sun Also Rises

Hemingway's celebrated novel of American expatriates adrift in Europe after WWI is narrated by acclaimed actor William Hurt. Like Hemingway's stylistic choices, Hurt's reading takes a bit of getting used to. But as the novel progresses, the actor's slow cadence and emotionally understated renderings of character and dialogue emerge as the right approach for the material. Hemingway is at his best in the careful, deliberate accretion of precise physical and emotional detail--he brings scenes to life as a painter brings light and color alive on a canvas. Hurt's reading mirrors Hemingway's quiet craftsmanship and ultimately strikes the listener as not just a passable interpretation, but an inevitable one. M.G. 2007 Audies Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2022

There are a number of audio editions of Hemingway's famous debut novel, many featuring actors as narrators. Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark; Cherry) is the latest to narrate the 1926 classic. As a novel, it is a difficult script, a story firmly of its time, with offhand prejudices and a flatness to the presentation that creates reading challenges. The roman � clef is narrated by Jake Barnes, a member of the lost generation deeply damaged in World War I. He and a group of friends and acquaintances, including his former lover Lady Brett Ashley, are aimless, disillusioned, and adrift. Eventually they gather in Pamplona, Spain, to see the running of the bulls. The story circles around everyone's desires and connections, and ends where it begins, with broken lives and empty hopes. Gandolfini's reading is inconsistent. Voices change within a single character and merge between others. The pacing is also sometimes off, as are some pronunciations of place names. However, his removed, flat, overall narration does nicely match Hemingway's spare and restrained style. VERDICT There is a lot to pick up on in an audio edition of Hemingway and despite the flaws here, libraries should consider purchase.--Neal Wyatt

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In this concise and straightforward audio drama adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's hugely influential 1926 novel, a loose-knit group of American and British expatriates tire of the endless parties and soirees of Paris. They head off to the annual bullfights of the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain, in hopes of adventure and rekindling old romances. Film regulars Patrick Heusinger, as the world-weary journalist Jake Barnes, and Rhian Rees, as the dazzling and chaotic Lady Brett Ashley, lead a fine ensemble cast in exploring some of Hemingway's most important and iconic themes: broken love, man against nature, and the hopes and disillusionment of post-WWI's Roaring Twenties. A fine introduction to the voices and characters of the Lost Generation. B.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine