The Sun Also Rises Summary

Plot overview

The Sun Also Rises follows Jake Barnes, an American expatriate and journalist in 1920s Paris, as he navigates friendships, love, and the quiet dislocations of a postwar generation. Told in a spare, direct voice, the novel sketches a circle of expatriates and their neighbors: the restless and insecure Robert Cohn, the magnetic and unattached Lady Brett Ashley, Jake’s loyal friends Bill and Mike, and the young matador Pedro Romero. Their lives revolve around cafés, dances, and drinking, with underlying tensions that surface as loyalties and desires clash.

The story begins in Paris, where Jake introduces readers to Cohn’s past, the complicated entanglements around Brett, and plans that take the group from city nightlife to the ritual fervor of the Pamplona fiesta. The narrative tracks days of fishing and quiet camaraderie in the Spanish countryside, escalating into the charged spectacle of bullfights and jealous confrontations. Brett’s impulsive attractions and Cohn’s volatility create strained confrontations that test the bonds among the characters, while Jake observes and reflects with wry restraint.

The novel endures because of its economical prose, its acute social observation, and its evocation of a particular time and mood. Hemingway’s focus on behavior and dialogue grounds the emotional stakes without melodrama, making the book a lasting portrait of longing, dislocation, and the rituals people use to live with loss.

Chapter summaries

1. Chapter 1: Introduction to CohnJake introduces Robert Cohn, tracing his boxing past, marriage and literary life in Europe, and shows Cohn's relationship with Frances.
2. Chapter 2: Cohn's RestlessnessRobert Cohn returns changed from America, grows restless and talks to Jake about a romantic plan to go to South America.
3. Chapter 3: Night Out in ParisJake picks up Georgette, eats and dances with expat friends, encounters Brett and Cohn, then leaves with Brett in a taxi.
4. Chapter 4: Late-night with BrettJake and Brett ride in a taxi, argue about intimacy, go to the Select, and Brett returns drunk to Jake's apartment late at night.
5. Chapter 5: A Morning in ParisJake spends a pleasant Paris morning, works, meets colleagues, and has a tense lunch with Robert Cohn about Lady Brett Ashley.
6. Chapter 6: Afternoon at the SelectJake waits for Brett, drinks at the Café Select, meets Harvey, Cohn and Frances, and watches the tense social jostling before leaving for home.
7. Chapter 7: Brett, the Count, ChampagneJake hosts Brett and Count Mippipopolous; they drink champagne, dance at Zelli's, and Brett declares she will marry Michael as she and Jake part that night.
8. Chapter 8: Return to Paris EveningsJake reunites with Bill and briefly with Brett in Paris; they dine, talk about travels, and plan nights out including a fight.
9. Chapter 9: Preparing for PamplonaJake arranges the Pamplona trip, meets Brett and Mike, travels with Bill, and reunites with Robert Cohn at Bayonne.
10. Chapter 10: Journey to PamplonaJake, Bill and Cohn travel from Bayonne to Pamplona, settle at the Hotel Montoya, and plan to go trout-fishing while awaiting Brett and Mike.
11. Chapter 11: Bus to BurgueteJake, Bill and Robert travel by bus into the hills to Burguete, share wine with Basques, reach a cold mountain inn and settle in.
12. Chapter 12: Fishing in the Irati HillsJake and Bill hike into the hills, fish at a dam on the Irati, eat lunch, drink wine, and return to Burguete after several days of good fishing.
13. Chapter 13: Arrival in Pamplona & BullsJake and his friends return to Pamplona, reunite with Brett, Mike and Cohn, and watch the bulls unloaded into the corrals.
14. Chapter 14: Night Thoughts and PamplonaJake lies awake drunk, reflecting on love and morality, then the group settles into the quiet, workmanlike preparations in Pamplona before the fiesta.
15. Chapter 15: Fiesta and Bull‑fightsThe fiesta of San Fermín erupts, the group is swept into dancing, wine and bull‑fights, and Pedro Romero emerges as a remarkable young matador.
16. Chapter 16: Rain, Romero and DesireA rainy fiesta day shifts to tense social crossings in the café as Pedro Romero is introduced and Brett begins to confess her attraction to him.
17. Chapter 17: Morning after the FightJake is attacked by Cohn after a confrontation about Brett; the next morning he watches the running of the bulls and learns of a man's death.
18. Chapter 17: Aftermath and GossipJake, Bill and Mike drink and trade gossip about Cohn's visit to Brett and the bull-fighter, describing a violent scene in Romero's room.
19. Chapter 18: Fiesta and the Bull-ringThe crowd floods Pamplona's streets; Brett visits Romero, Mike sleeps off drinking, and Romero gives a triumphant bull-fight that captivates Brett and the audience.
20. Chapter 19: After the Fiesta / MadridJake leaves Pamplona with Bill and Mike, visits Bayonne and San Sebastián, receives Brett's telegram and goes to Madrid where Brett confesses and departs.

Characters

• Jake BarnesNarrator
• Robert CohnMajor character
• Lady Brett AshleyMajor character
• Mike CampbellMajor character
• Bill GortonMajor character
• Frances ClyneMinor character
• MontoyaMajor character
• Pedro RomeroMajor character
• Wilson-HarrisMinor character
• Count MippipopolousMinor character
• GeorgetteMinor character
• BelmonteMinor character

All 14 characters ›