The Sun Also Rises was Ernest Hemingway's first published novel, and was both a commercial and literary success. Much information about the plot is available online. The story follows the lives of a group of people living during the 1920's, in Paris, mainly. Many of them had lived through the hardships and horrors of the First World War, and this lent a kind of manic energy to their social lives and relationships, as though there was not enough time and maximum "living" had to be squeezed into as short a time as possible. The book provides the first view of themes which can be found in most of his books - conflict, bull-fighting, hunting, fishing, and the complexities of human relationships between the sexes as well as across cultures.