Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, Free University of Berlin (John-F.-Kennedy-Institut), 6 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In 1926 a man named Ernest Hemingway wrote a book. It was called "The Sun Also Rises" (as it also travels) and it recounts a recreational journey undertaken by the protagonist, Jake Barnes, and his companions. Jake is very fond of traveling. He is also very fond of getting drunk and seeing people and animals hurt each other. It is hard to tell which he favors more, since he travels in order to get drunk and see violence, although it would not be necessary, since violence and alcohol can be encountered at selected locations all across the world. Traveling must therefore have a more vital function in Jake's life. As multitudinous as Jake's motivations may have been, there seems to be one constant element that can be named as the driving force behind all of Jake's travels. This element is escape. Escape from a dismal and boring life in his home country and in Paris, escape from happiness in Spain and with (or without) Brett, or escape from his war experiences. Since it is such a fundamental part of his life, he, as the narrator, also portrays the other characters as fugitives from themselves and from others. In order to verify this statement, I will examine Jake's possible reasons for expatriation in general. Then I will try to further examine the individual travel stops that Jake visits during his journey. I will show that each location has a different meaning to him, although the guiding theme remains. Then again I will attempt to shine a light on the driving powers behind the restlessness of the three central characters: Jake, Brett and Robert. Although the narrator does show some insight into their motivations, there are still deeper ones that he might not realize because they are also inherent in himself.

A dazzling depiction of the genesis of The Sun Also Rises and how Ernest Hemingway created his own legend

Still the most popular of Hemingway's books, The Sun also Rises captures the quintessential romance of the expatriate Americans and Britons in Paris after World War I. The text provides a way for discussions of war, sexuality, personal angst, and national identity to be linked inextricably with the stylistic traits of modern writing. This Casebook, edited by one of Hemingway's most eminent scholars, presents the best critical essays on the novel to be published in the last half century. These essays address topics as diverse as sexuality, religion, alcoholism, gender, Spanish culture, economics, and humor. The volume also includes an interview with Hemingway conducted by George Plimpton.

In the tradition of other great ex-patriot stories like The Sun Also Rises or All the Pretty Horses, Native Moments is a coming-of-age adventure set among the lush landscape of Costa Rica. After the death of his brother, Sanch Murray leaves for a surf trip as a way to cope and sets out on a quixotic search for an alternative to the American Dream. Set in 1999 Costa Rica, Sanch and his friend Jake Higdon wander the dirt roads of Tamarindo and surrounding areas chasing waves as a way to live out the romantic fantasy lifestyle of traveling surfers. Jake Higdon, six years Sanch's senior, takes on the role of the wise leader and Sanch as his young apprentice. Sanch's adventure leads to encounters with people who share world views he had never considered and could potentially shape his own changing perceptions about life. Through sometimes humorous episodes such as trying his hand as a matador at a roadside rodeo or in his not so humorous battle with dysentery, Sanch explores life's beauty and wonder alongside the darker undercurrents of humanity. Along his journey, Sanch befriends a shamanic traveler named Rob, young revolutionaries from Venezuela, numerous expatriates from around the world trying to escape whatever it is that keeps chasing them, and a beautiful local girl named Andrea, who Sanch suspects is a prostitute but can't help falling for.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The timeless classic from the acclaimed author of American Psycho about the lost generation of 1980s Los Angeles who experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. • The basis for the cult-classic film "Possesses an unnerving air of documentary reality." —The New York Times They live in a world shaped by casual nihilism, passivity, and too much money in a place devoid of feeling or hope. When Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern college, he re-enters a landscape of limitless privilege and absolute moral entropy, where everyone drives Porsches, dines at Spago, and snorts mountains of cocaine. He tries to renew feelings for his girlfriend, Blair, and for his best friend from high school, Julian, who is careering into hustling and heroin. Clay's holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs and also into the seamy world of L.A. after dark. Look for Bret Easton Ellis’s new novel, The Shards!

Harmless camp pranks can quickly spiral out of control, but they also provide a perfect opportunity for two social outcasts to overcome and triumph. A boy and a girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the "goats." The kids at camp think it's a great joke, just a harmless old tradition. But the goats don't see it that way. Instead of trying to get back to camp, they decide to call home. But no one can come and get them. So they're on their own, wandering through a small town trying to find clothing, food, and shelter, all while avoiding suspicious adults—especially the police. The boy and the girl find they rather like life on their own. If their parents ever do show up to rescue them, the boy and the girl might be long gone. . . . The Goats is a 1987 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year.