In Which Scandals Seem to be Revealed

Jake flags down a random pretty girl with bad teeth and claims she is his fiancée. She does not deny being his fiancée, though they don't seem to have come to any prior agreement about this. She does, however, contest his made-up last name for her. My feeling is that she doesn't want to make him look like a complete idiot, but she's putting out the alert: "No tomfoolery beyond this point!" I also think one or both of those two were lying about being sick.

Also, this "Lady Brett," who has a disconcerting name, seems to have caught the eye of Robert Cohn, who I thought was married or engaged to Frances.

Now, I think Jake is potentially secretly in a serious relationship with the Brett Lady. It's either that, or I have a terrible understanding of the type of English these people speak. "Oh darling, I've been so miserable," Brett says, as soon as the two are finally alone, right at the end of the chapter where authors think it's funny to leave "cliff-hangers." The implication seems to be that she is no longer miserable now that she is with her darling. I suppose I'll find out later.

More stereotyping ensues as well.

"Good, I detest Flamands." - page 24 (Georgette Hobin)

"She was a Canadian and had all their easy social graces." - page 25 (Jacob Barnes)

Additionally, I'd like to complain about the abundance of French words. I try to pronounce them all in my head, and they make me feel ridiculous. However, since they're in France, I suppose it's all part of the vernacular, which contributes to Hemingway's style a bit as well. His syntax is fairly simple, and he uses the French language in an attempt to add flourish to his diction and encompass the local color.