THIS HISTORY OF THE CRITICISM OF The Sun Also Rises shows not only how Hemingway’s first major novel was received over the decades, but also how different critical modes have dominated different decades, and what, besides tenure, critics of different eras looked for in it. As such, it shows what has interested critics, how they have reinterpreted the novel, and how they have seen the characters playing different roles. Thus the novel becomes a mirror, reflecting not only Paris and Spain in 1925, but us.

Although the book is reasonably comprehensive, I have not sought to account for every word that has been written about The Sun Also Rises. For example, Hemingway’s first bibliographer, Louis Henry Cohn, listed in 1931 twenty-three initial reviews of the novel and missed some that I have included. Of those he lists, I have not sought those from the Oregon Journal, the Buffalo Sunday Times, or Bridle and Golfer (although the last might have been interesting), nor all the foreign books and articles. I have sought to include most books and articles that mentioned the novel in some detail or discussed Hemingway’s art in a way that is relevant to The Sun Also Rises. Thus I have not included most studies of The Sun Also Rises’ influence on other novels, and I was more selective of inclusions during the 1980s and ’90s when criticism seemed literally endless. The flood of critical writing on Hemingway continues: even as I write, a listing of books published in 2009–10 for librarians indicates twenty-eight books with “Hemingway” in the title; writing on Hemingway criticism is like trying to hit a moving target or subdue the Hydra. Critics of The Sun Also Rises have often produced reflections of their own faces in the mirror rather than convincing interpretations of the novel, but their critical biases are indicative of what they have thought important, and I have tried to include most that seemed valuable. I have been unable to attain some articles that are probably worthy of note. On the other hand, I have included some interpretations I thought extreme, especially when published in reputable journals, to give an indication of the range of criticism that has been published.