Ashland University professor, Dr. Russell Weaver, recently published his fourth book entitled “The Moral World of The Sun Also Rises”.  

Weaver’s book analyzes the different themes throughout Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel. 

 The Sun Also Rises follows the tale of non-natives as they travel through Europe in the 1920s. The novel is filled with themes of male insecurity and the effects of love.  

Weaver looks to dig deep into these themes throughout the book and answer questions about the text’s meaning.  

“I teach a thing that I call the text view,” Weaver said, “Which asks, what are the basic values of the text? Does the text, in fact, think that being in love is good if one of the ideals of masculinity is to be in control? When you’re in love, you’re not in control.”  

This is a dilemma throughout Hemingway’s novel that Weaver seeks to address. 

Ernest Hemingway’s writing is not always easy for the average reader to understand. He commonly writes in short direct sentences that give the reader a third of the meaning and allows the rest to be discovered.  

Weaver criticized this writing style for its complexity but noted how it was used to enhance The Sun Also Rises.  

“In this book, [Hemingway] uses short sentences to probe human consciousnesses very deeply,” Weaver said.  

This is one of the main reasons he chose Hemingway’s novel to teach to his students and to analyze further in his book.  

“I want books that students can grasp, but you can never quite finish knowing them. It’s understandable but not fully graspable,” said Weaver. 

Of all the books Weaver has written, this one was the most time-consuming.  

“This took me almost ten years to write,” said Weaver.  

Regarding it’s difficulty he said, “This was harder –   There was always another twist of things.”  

Weaver joined Ashland University in 1986 and has taught courses on romantic and Victorian British literature as well as a Russian novel course. He is aware that the type of literature that he teaches is not for everyone but encourages everyone to step outside of their comfort zone throughout their education.  

“Find something that really moves you, and work on it. I encourage you to take courses that you aren’t sure you are going to like”. Weaver suggested.  

Dr. Weaver will be speaking about his book at his faculty book presentation on Jan. 22 at 4:00 p.m. This event will take place in the Ronk Lecture Hall in 138 Schar and is open to the public.