I read this book about 8 years ago. It is one of three Hemingway books that I have read and it ranks 2nd of those three (my favorite has been discussed in a previous post, so go find it if you care).
I didn't love this book but didn't hate it. It is typical Hemingway. Not much is going on on the surface but much more once you peel the ol' layers. On the surface it looks like a bunch of drunk writers and friends who just sit around cafes in Europe getting drunk and watching bull-fighting. But more at the heart of the matter it is about a guy who got injured in the war and the injury caused his impotence (this isn't spelled out super obviously but is hinted at here and there) and his relationship with a woman that he loves but cannot have because of his injury. The woman he loves uses him for emotional support but always abandons him to pursue other men.
Like I said, I wasn't crazy for it but there is enough in here to keep yourself interested and this may just be the book to read if you want to read a Hemingway novel.
A quote:
"There are people to whom you could not say insulting things. They give you the feeling that the world would be destroyed, would actually be destroyed before your eyes, if you said certain things." I think this is how people feel about me, ha ha.
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