The Sun Also Rises

Everyone in this book drinks to excess and has no qualms about it.  That pretty much sums up the book.  This is pretty much about a group of people who drink a lot in Paris and then decide to go drink a lot in Spain.  Jake Barnes is the main character and he is in love with Lady Ashley (a.k.a. Brett).  He, however, can't be with her because due to some war injuries he's impotent.  She, on the other hand, gets with just about every other man in the book, but occasionally tells Jake that she loves him too (of course she does....she loves every man).  So Brett spends the majority of the book sleeping around, Jake spends the majority of the book lamenting things, and they all spend the entire book drinking.  I think there are drinks on every page!  When I was reading another review of this book, the reviewer jokingly said that he got contact drunk......I think that's an appropriate statement! The writing is brief and nothing really happens in the book.  It's pretty much plotless and the characters are flat, but for some reason it's considered a classic.  Also, I should mention, the n-word is freely used in this book.  It was written in 1926 so I guess at the time that was acceptable.  It was still a bit of a shock when I came across it, though.