The Sun Also Rises: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Hemingway's 1926 debut novel distilled Paris café talk, Pamplona bullrings, and a hard-won theory of omission into the prose style that reset American fiction. Its sources run from Gertrude Stein's salon tutorials to Cézanne's canvases and Turgenev's hunting sketches. This mix traces the expatriate circle that made it and the lean-prose descendants it produced.

The Kynda mix for The Sun Also Rises

• Key Influence · The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein (1925). Stein was Hemingway's Paris mentor from 1922, reading his early sketches at 27 rue de Fleurus and pressing repetition, present-tense immediacy and plain vocabulary on him. He helped correct proofs of her vast novel for serialization in the transatlantic review, a close reading of her method at manuscript level. Her remark about a 'lost generation' became the novel's epigraph, and the flat declarative cadence of Jake Barnes owes her directly.
• Influencia Obscura · A Sportsman's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev (1852). Hemingway borrowed Turgenev heavily from Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company lending library in the early 1920s; the borrowing cards survive. These loosely linked hunting sketches, where landscape is rendered precisely and human cruelty registers obliquely, shaped the fishing idyll at Burguete, the novel's moral still point. Hemingway rated Turgenev among the writers he had to beat, and called the Sketches a book he reread.
• Local Roots · Ulysses by James Joyce (1922). Published in Paris by Sylvia Beach the year Hemingway arrived, Ulysses was the gravitational center of the Left Bank scene he entered. Hemingway drank with Joyce, helped smuggle copies of the banned book into the United States, and absorbed the modernist license to build a novel out of one city, a few days, and wandering talk. The Pamplona fiesta functions much as Dublin does: a place that organizes drift.
• Beyond the Medium · Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne (1904). Hemingway haunted the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris to study Cézanne and said he was learning to write landscape the way Cézanne painted it — built in planes, nothing decorative, the structure doing the feeling. The Spanish countryside passages and the Irati river sequences in the novel are the clearest evidence: terrain described in clean successive strokes, emotion carried by what is omitted rather than stated.
• Peer · Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos (1925). Dos Passos knew Hemingway from wartime ambulance service in Italy and was part of the Paris and later Key West circle; he joined Hemingway on Spanish trips. Published a year before Sun, his fragmented city novel pursues the same postwar project of modernist form for American disillusion, and the two writers traded manuscripts and arguments for years before politics in Spain split them permanently.
• Key Collaborator · The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925). Fitzgerald read the Sun typescript and sent Hemingway a long critical letter attacking the opening chapters as smug and derivative; Hemingway cut roughly the first fifteen pages, a change that gave the book its abrupt start. Fitzgerald had also steered Hemingway to Scribner's. Gatsby, finished the previous year, is the partner text: another lean American novel narrated by an onlooker to other people's ruin.
• Legacy · The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson (1998). Thompson retyped The Sun Also Rises in full as a young writer to feel the rhythm of the sentences in his fingers, and traveled to Ketchum after Hemingway's death to write about him. His first novel — American journalists drinking and brawling through a foreign port, narrated by a detached newcomer — is openly modeled on it, right down to the expatriate press corps and the ruinous love triangle.

What influenced The Sun Also Rises

• The Sun Also Rises (1957 film) by Henry King. The novel was adapted into a film with a screenplay by Viertel. “Directed by Henry King and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox, the film featured an all-star cast led by Tyrone Power as Jake Barnes and Ava Gardner as the unforgettable Lady Brett Ashley.” (Ernest Hemingway Official)
• The New Woman. Brett Ashley is described as representing the New Woman. “Brett and Jake emerge as the paradigmatic couple who best represent the shift in the perception of gender following World War I.” (New Essays on The Sun Also Rises, Cambridge University Press)
• Harold Loeb by Harold Loeb. The novel’s Robert Cohn is based on Loeb. “Cohn is based on Harold Loeb , a fellow writer who rivaled Hemingway for the affections of Duff, Lady Twysden (the real-life inspiration for Brett).” (Wikipedia)
• Cooper by James Fenimore Cooper. Bloom relates the novel’s fishing scene to a literary theme exemplified by Cooper. “On another level it reflects "the mainstream of American fiction beginning with the Pilgrims seeking refuge from English oppression"—the prominent theme in American literature of escaping into the wilderness, as seen in Cooper , Hawthorn…” (Wikipedia)
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) — titan for The Sun Also Rises “Drawing on the Bible, Walt Whitman and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Hemingway wrote in deliberate understatement and he heavily incorporated parataxis, which in some cases almost becomes cinematic.” (Wikipedia)
• Sherwood Anderson. Anderson’s connection is established by the separately stated parody used in this publishing maneuver. (also via Winesburg, Ohio)
• Ecclesiastes. The novel’s second epigraph quotes Ecclesiastes. “the other epigraph is a long quotation from Ecclesiastes : "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” (Wikipedia)
• Edith Wharton. Wagner-Martin proposes Wharton’s conception of a hero as a possible model. “Wagner-Martin speculates that Hemingway may have wanted to have a weak or negative hero as defined by Edith Wharton , but he had no experience creating a hero or protagonist.” (Wikipedia)
• L'Estaque, Melting Snow by Paul Cézanne. Berman compares the novel’s river landscape with Cézanne’s pictured landscape. “Writer Ronald Berman draws comparison between Cézanne's treatment of this landscape and the way Hemingway imbues the Irati River with emotional texture.” (Wikipedia)
• Pedro Romero. The novel’s matador takes his name from the historical Pedro Romero. “Hemingway named Romero after Pedro Romero , an 18th-century bullfighter who killed thousands of bulls in the most difficult manner:” (Wikipedia)
• Henry James. Trodd connects Hemingway’s sentence style to an observation by James. “His skeletal sentences were crafted in response to Henry James 's observation that World War I had "used up words," explains Hemingway scholar Zoe Trodd,” (Wikipedia)
• Nathaniel Hawthorne. Bloom relates the novel’s fishing scene to a literary theme exemplified by Hawthorne. “On another level it reflects "the mainstream of American fiction beginning with the Pilgrims seeking refuge from English oppression"—the prominent theme in American literature of escaping into the wilderness, as seen in Cooper , Hawthorn…” (Wikipedia)
• Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne (1902). Mont Sainte-Victoire (Paul Cézanne) — culture for The Sun Also Rises “In Translating Modernism: Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Ronald Berman compares Hemingway's treatment of landscape with that of the post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915). The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford) — ghost for The Sun Also Rises “Staying with the artistic community in the Latin Quarter of Paris, Ford befriended James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and Jean Rhys, all of whom he would publish (Ford was the model for the character Braddocks in H…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (1919). Winesburg, Ohio (Sherwood Anderson) — titan for The Sun Also Rises “In December 1925, he quickly wrote The Torrents of Spring, a satirical novella parodying Sherwood Anderson's novel Dark Laughter, and sent it to Boni & Liveright.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mark Twain. Bloom relates the novel’s fishing scene to a literary theme exemplified by Twain. “On another level it reflects "the mainstream of American fiction beginning with the Pilgrims seeking refuge from English oppression"—the prominent theme in American literature of escaping into the wilderness, as seen in Cooper , Hawthorn…” (Wikipedia)
• Gertrude Stein by Gertrude Stein. The passage identifies Stein’s phrase as the source of one of the novel’s epigraphs. “The first is an allusion to the " Lost Generation ", a term coined by Gertrude Stein referring to the post-war generation;” (Wikipedia)
• Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau. Bloom relates the novel’s fishing scene to a literary theme exemplified by Thoreau. “On another level it reflects "the mainstream of American fiction beginning with the Pilgrims seeking refuge from English oppression"—the prominent theme in American literature of escaping into the wilderness, as seen in Cooper , Hawthorn…” (Wikipedia)
• The Making of Americans. The Making of Americans (Gertrude Stein) — titan for The Sun Also Rises “The first is an allusion to the "Lost Generation", a term coined by Gertrude Stein referring to the post-war generation; the other epigraph is a long quotation from Ecclesiastes: "One generation passeth away, and another generation comet…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Herman Melville. Bloom relates the novel’s fishing scene to a literary theme exemplified by Melville. “On another level it reflects "the mainstream of American fiction beginning with the Pilgrims seeking refuge from English oppression"—the prominent theme in American literature of escaping into the wilderness, as seen in Cooper , Hawthorn…” (Wikipedia)
• Walt Whitman (1819). Bloom identifies Whitman as a source Hemingway drew on for the novel’s prose. “Drawing on the Bible, Walt Whitman and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Hemingway wrote in deliberate understatement and he heavily incorporated parataxis, which in some cases almost becomes cinematic.” (Wikipedia)
• Lost Generation. The novel’s first epigraph invokes the Lost Generation. “The first is an allusion to the " Lost Generation ", a term coined by Gertrude Stein referring to the post-war generation;” (Wikipedia)
• Cayetano Ordóñez. Ordóñez is identified as an influence on the experiences behind the novel. “Against this background was the influence of the young matador from Ronda , Cayetano Ordóñez , whose brilliance in the bullring affected the spectators.” (Wikipedia)
• Duff, Lady Twysden. Lady Twysden inspired the novel’s Brett Ashley. “Cohn is based on Harold Loeb , a fellow writer who rivaled Hemingway for the affections of Duff, Lady Twysden (the real-life inspiration for Brett).” (Wikipedia)
• La Tauromaquia by Francisco de Goya (1816). La Tauromaquia (Francisco de Goya) — culture for The Sun Also Rises (wikidata.org)
• A Sportsman's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev (1852). A Sportsman's Sketches (Ivan Turgenev) — ghost for The Sun Also Rises

Peers and kindred spirits

• F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) — peer for F. Scott Fitzgerald (also via The Great Gatsby) “He frequented Europe during this period, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Cleo Damianakes by Cleo Damianakes. Damianakes illustrated the novel’s dust jacket. “Cleo Damianakes illustrated the dust jacket with a Hellenistic design of a seated, robed woman, her head bent to her shoulder, eyes closed, one hand holding an apple,” (Wikipedia)
• Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe (1929). Look Homeward, Angel (Thomas Wolfe) — collaborator for The Sun Also Rises “After a tremendous struggle, Perkins induced Wolfe to cut 90,000 words from his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Hugh Selwyn Mauberley by Ezra Pound (1920). Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (Ezra Pound) — geography for The Sun Also Rises “As a novice writer and journalist in Paris, Hemingway turned to Ezra Pound—who had a reputation as "an unofficial minister of culture who acted as mid-wife for new literary talent"—to mark and blue-ink his short stories.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• William Faulkner. The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) — peer for William Faulkner (also via Soldiers' Pay) (openlibrary.org)
• Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos (1925). Manhattan Transfer (John Dos Passos) — peer for The Sun Also Rises “The couple returned to Pamplona in 1924—enjoying the trip immensely—this time accompanied by Chink Dorman-Smith, John Dos Passos, and Donald Ogden Stewart and his wife.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925). The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) — collaborator for The Sun Also Rises “According to Professor John Kuehl of New York University: "If you want to know about Spain, you read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Ulysses by James Joyce (1922). Ulysses (James Joyce) — geography for The Sun Also Rises “For example, Hemingway was in Paris during the period when Ulysses, written by his friend James Joyce, was banned and burned in New York.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner (1926). Soldiers' Pay (William Faulkner) — peer for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• The Enormous Room by E. E. Cummings (1922). The Enormous Room (E. E. Cummings) — peer for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach (1959). Shakespeare and Company (Sylvia Beach) — collaborator for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• Being Geniuses Together by Robert McAlmon (1938). Being Geniuses Together (Robert McAlmon) — geography for The Sun Also Rises

Who The Sun Also Rises influenced

• The Select (The Sun Also Rises). The Select is identified as a stage adaptation of the novel. “Based on the novel "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway Creation Elevator Repair Service Direction John Collins” (New York Theatre Workshop)
• Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion (1970). Play It as It Lays (Joan Didion) — legacy for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver (1981). What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Raymond Carver) — legacy for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson (1998). The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson) — legacy for The Sun Also Rises (openlibrary.org)
• Sidecar. The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) — culture for Sidecar (openlibrary.org)