The Sun Also Rises - Unabridged recap

American journalist Jake Barnes lives among expatriates in 1920s Paris and remains in love with the English aristocrat Brett Ashley, though a war injury prevents the relationship they want. Brett briefly becomes involved with Jake's insecure friend Robert Cohn, then joins Jake, Bill Gorton, her fiancé Mike Campbell, and Cohn in Spain. A peaceful fishing trip gives way to the crowded fiesta at Pamplona, where drink, jealousy, and romantic rivalry split the party. Brett falls for the gifted young matador Pedro Romero. Cohn, unable to accept her rejection, assaults Jake, Mike, and Romero before leaving in shame. Brett goes away with Romero but soon ends the affair, believing she would damage his future. She summons Jake to Madrid, and he again helps her without gaining the life with her that both can imagine. The novel closes with them together in a taxi, contemplating a happiness that remains hypothetical.

Jake Barnes, an American journalist in Paris, introduces his friend Robert Cohn, a wealthy expatriate writer whose earlier insecurity led him to learn boxing. Cohn lives with Frances Clyne, who has helped manage his literary ambitions and expects marriage. Restless after reading romantic travel writing, Cohn urges Jake to leave Paris with him, but Jake dismisses the plan as an attempt to escape dissatisfaction by changing places. That night Jake meets a young prostitute named Georgette and takes her dancing. At the club they encounter Brett Ashley, an English aristocrat surrounded by admirers. Jake and Brett leave together, and their intimacy makes clear that they love one another even though Jake's wartime injury prevents the conventional sexual relationship Brett wants. Their reunion offers closeness but no solution.

Jake's work and café routines continue while emotional tensions sharpen. Cohn is immediately drawn to Brett, and Jake reluctantly tells him that she is engaged to Mike Campbell. Frances, realizing that Cohn's attention has shifted, humiliates him in front of Jake while describing his reluctance to marry her. Brett visits Jake late at night and again admits that separation has not weakened their love, but neither sees a workable future together. She later arrives with the wealthy Count Mippipopolous, whose appetite for pleasure rests on a more settled philosophy than the younger expatriates possess. Brett and Jake dance and talk, moving between tenderness and pain, and she prepares to leave Paris for San Sebastián. The group remains socially connected, but Cohn's fascination with Brett and Frances's anger have begun to disrupt it.

Jake's friend Bill Gorton returns, and the two travel to Spain for a fishing holiday before the Pamplona fiesta. Cohn is supposed to meet them, but he waits in San Sebastián because he expects Brett to return there, revealing that he and Brett had a brief affair. Jake and Bill continue to the mountain village of Burguete. Their days of trout fishing, meals, and companionship with an English veteran named Harris provide a calm interval away from Paris. Bill jokes constantly but also speaks with genuine affection for Jake. When the fishing stay ends, Jake and Bill return toward Pamplona, while Cohn's fixation and Brett's impending arrival promise to reunite the strained group.

In Pamplona, Jake and Bill meet Brett and her fiancé Mike Campbell. Mike drinks heavily and repeatedly taunts Cohn for following Brett after their affair has ended. Jake's hotelkeeper friend Montoya welcomes him as a knowledgeable admirer of bullfighting. The fiesta begins, filling the city with music, crowds, alcohol, and ritual. At the first bullfights the party sees Pedro Romero, a very young matador whose control and purity of style impress both Jake and Montoya. Brett is immediately attracted to Romero and asks Jake to help her meet him. Despite knowing the pain this will cause and the complications it may create, Jake introduces them. Cohn's refusal to accept that Brett does not want him now stands against Mike's hostility, Brett's new desire, and Jake's divided loyalty.

Brett leaves with Romero, and Cohn demands that Jake reveal where she has gone. When Jake refuses, Cohn knocks him down, then also attacks Mike. He later finds Brett and Romero together and badly beats Romero, whose youth and dignity make Cohn's violence especially destructive. Romero nevertheless refuses to be intimidated and returns to Brett. Cohn, sobbing and ashamed, apologizes to Jake and leaves Pamplona. The fiesta continues around the damaged friendships. Jake learns more of the aftermath while Mike alternates between bitter attacks and collapse. The party that came together for pleasure has broken apart through jealousy, possessiveness, and drink, while Brett's involvement with Romero continues toward the final bullfight.

Romero performs brilliantly in the final bullfight despite the injuries Cohn gave him, while the older matador Belmonte struggles against age and the crowd's expectations. Brett leaves Pamplona with Romero. Jake, Bill, and Mike separate, and Jake travels alone to San Sebastián, hoping for quiet after the fiesta. A telegram from Brett calls him to Madrid. There she tells him that she has sent Romero away: he wanted to marry her and tried to shape how she looked and behaved, while she feared that staying with him would harm his youth and career. She plans to return to Mike and claims her decision marks an end to her destructive conduct. Jake settles her hotel matters and comforts her. Riding together through Madrid, Brett imagines how happy she and Jake could have been. Jake answers with weary recognition, leaving their love intact but their imagined shared life unattainable.

After the fiesta, Jake leaves Pamplona and spends time alone in San Sebastián. Brett sends an urgent telegram asking him to come to Madrid, where he finds that she has ended her affair with Pedro Romero and sent the young matador away. She says she did so because she feared damaging him and resolves to return to Mike, while also declaring that she will no longer behave destructively. Jake takes care of the practical details and rides with her through Madrid. In the taxi Brett imagines that she and Jake might have had a happy life together. Jake's reply acknowledges the appeal of that fantasy without pretending it could become real. They finish where they began: deeply attached, able to depend on one another, but unable to turn their love into the shared life Brett imagines.