A Farewell To Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
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Book Reviews of A Farewell To Arms
Book Review: I finished my first Hemingway novel
Summary: 5 Stars
A Farewell to Arms is frequently touted as the semi-autobiographical novel of Ernest Hemingway's life during World War I. While Hemingway was in the Italian Army in WWI and was an ambulance driver who was injured in combat, the similarities of Hemingway's life to the events of the novel probably end there, however. Hemingway did court a nurse employed at the hospital where he recuperated, it seems no long term relationship developed, unlike the romance between characters Fred and Catherine.
While this novel does contain soldiers, shootings and sadness, A Farewell to Arms really isn't a story about the war at all. This novel is about relationships with people and their reactions to impossible situations. A Farewell to Arms doesn't glorify the exploits of an advancing army but rather focuses on the lives and challenges of the people caught in the grips of war.
Personally, I truly loved Hemingway's stripped-down writing style. Hemingway didn't fill the pages with flowery descriptions, but rather relied on sparse descriptions that were reminiscent of a newspaper account. Take, for example, when Fred returns to the front in Chapter XXV:
"The mulberry trees were bare and the fields were brown. There were wet dead leaves on the road from the rows of bare trees and men were working on the road, tamping stone in the ruts from piles of crushed stone along the side of the road between the trees. We saw the town with a mist over it that cut off the mountains. We crossed the river and I saw that it was running high. It had been raining in the mountains."
This scene is clear without any unnecessary grandiose filler. The writing is hard-hitting and to the point which seems to mirror what the character Fred would have been feeling at the moment. At this point in the novel, Fred is returning to the front and leaving his love behind. Flowery poetic adjectives in the writing would have been terribly out of place.
Another aspect of this novel that was truly impressive was the character development in contrast to the war raging on everywhere. Fred and Catherine focus on hotels, food and what drinks are available, without much conversation and thought really given to the war at all. This irony is summed up in one of my favorite sentences in the book when in Chapter XXXVIII Fred muses, "The war seemed as far away as the football games of some one else's college."
Book Review: Not Hemingway's Best
Summary: 3 Stars
I read this in high school about twenty years ago, and recently decided to revisit this work. I think this is an important thing to do. As our lives change, quite often the meaning of great books change to us also, and we can gain an even richer experience. I am sorry to report that this is not the case with this novel. At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I would suggest that this book is a long way from resembling the great canon of work that is Hemingway's. Now don't start screaming yet. Please bear with me. To begin with, don't we seem to have a rather idealized version of our hero's girlfriend? She is blonde, slender and beautiful; falls in love with him immediately; and without any complications. Every time she is with him, everything is just "grand." Isn't this just a little too perfect? We know she is Scottish, but what else? She has no brothers, sisters, or mother and father that we know of. What indeed, is she doing in Italy, other than simply being available? She's not much of an idealist. After all, it didn't take much convincing for her to leave the war, just as our hero did. Who is she?
For that matter, what about Mr. Henry? He is an American fighting in the Italian army as an ambulance driver during World War I. Yes, I know this is true of Hemingway's life, but as fiction, we need more clarity. Isn't this a little unusual? Why is he there? He never explains. He's there, he gets wounded, he fights again, he gets sick of it, he leaves. Even more annoying, his family always seems to send him money when he gets in a jam. The perfect out. Who are they, and why do they do this?
Even worse is the contrived ending. I won't give away the details, but wow, he sure comes away clean. As George Carlin said in a comedy routine: "Boy, you ARE a good sport!" It is a bit much.
Don't get me wrong. Hemingway was a great writer, and there is a lot of good stuff in here. His relationships with the Italians and his description of the retreat ring true. But there is too much missing for this to be considered a great novel on its own. If you want the best of Hemingway, you have to go further. Start with "For Whom the Bell Tolls," if you don't believe me, or any of the hundreds of great short stories he has. Even this one is a very good read. But remember, he wrote it at the tender age of 30, and clearly, his best work was yet to come.
Book Review: Hemingways Intense Call for Peace
Summary: 4 Stars
I think at times the comprehensive relationship between Catherine and Henry bogs down Hemingway's overall objective of the novel. He wants to leave the reader with a feeling that war is wrong and that history shouldn't repeat itself. It is important for him to show how love and war coexist with each other and how they shape each other. But sometimes, in the book, the love affair gets boring to the reader, and we lose sight of Hemingway's anti-war message. There is a deeply underlying theme of diversity in this book that is very interesting. It certainly would aid the entitlement of the Nobel Prize. This diversity exists in several different ways throughout the novel, and one must think about the fact that World War I is the time period. Henry is an American who joined the Italian army who falls in love with Catherine, who is British. Catherine's best friend in the novel is Helen Ferguson, a Scot, who expresses in the beginning of the novel how Scottish people do not like the British. There is also a priest who Henry befriends, even though Henry is unemotional and not a very religious person.
In conclusion, throughout the novel Hemingway puts an awful emphasis on tragedy and destruction. We see the brutality from the Italian military police, and the destruction from the different battles. Hemingway's perspective on the Italian front in World War I is certainly a uniquely interesting one, posed from a very neutral angle. This neutrality in the book is shown more when Catherine and Henry move to Switzerland; it being the only neutral country in Europe.
With the depressing themes of death and war in A Farewell to Arms, after reading it one could definitely be left with a bad taste in one's mouth. This is not an uplifting book in any way, shape or form, but this is exactly Hemingway's point. Like I said before, this book is a historical account of what war can do to people and their relationships. After reading it, it certainly makes me have anti-war feelings. Overall, A Farewell to Arms is a book that makes you think and makes you wonder about the world's future. It really makes you wonder what could happen in the world if we don't stop and think about what has happened. It is those underlying themes and Hemingway's ability to show them in such an intricate manner that warrants Ernest Hemingway a Nobel Prize winning author.
Book Review: The sweetest book
Summary: 5 Stars
How can love and war exist at the same time? I always thought it was not possible, but in the novel A Farewell to Arms it happened. Ernest Hemingway is the author that made what I thought impossible, possible. A Farewell to Arms is based on Hemingway's own life. The character Lieutenant Fredric Henry is a mimic of Hemingway's life in World War I. The novel is the best because of how Hemingway made a realist visualization of how war was; the dialogue brought me into the conversation, and it shows how strong love can really be.Throughout the story Hemingway describes life of fighting on the front lines. He made the war come to life. "Passing where the shells had landed I avoided the small broken place and smelled the high explosive and the smell of blasted clay and stone and freshly shattered flint" (24). While I was reading this sentence I could see and smell what he was describing. This is what made me want to read on. My interest grew rapidly to see what was going to happen next. I have never been over seas or in a war so it was interesting to me how he was describing everything.
Not only did Hemingway describe life on the front line, he used a lot of dialogue which brought me right in on the conversations. When reading the dialogue it was like hearing a movie. There were times that I had to go back and figure out who said what line, but most of the time it flowed so well that it was obvious. Whenever Lieutenant Henry was talking to the soldier with the rupture in his leg, when they were talking the soldier said he was from Pittsburgh. He states, "Sure, in Pittsburgh, I knew you was an American" (35). This use of dialect made reading the story interesting.
Reading about how horrible life on the front lines could be through the use of the dialogue was neat, but out of all the hate and anger surrounding Lieutenant Henry and Catherine. Yet they can still love another. This was love was my favorite part of the book. The love between them was so cute. At first, Lieutenant Henry was not in it for love, but then he grew to love her. This was my first love story I have read on my own, and I really enjoyed it.
I would recommend the novel. A Farewell to Arms, for me was great. Usually I like nail biter books, but the romance in this book was good. It was just neat to see how love and war could exist at the same time.
Book Review: Mixed Feelings
Summary: 3 Stars
A Farewell to Arms was the first book I've read by Hemingway. Seeing as he's such a well known author, I figured I'd try reading one of his books. But, I'm not exactly sure what to think about this book. I'm not sure if I really understand the main theme of the novel. At first it seems to focus on Henry's, the main character, time as an ambulance driver in Italy(although he's American himself), but after he gets hurt the novel makes a sudden change and focuses on his relationship with the English nurse Catherine Barkeley, whom he had met previously. But, the relationship between them seems to rushed. They claim to be in love with each other, although they've known each other for only days. Although I don't think it's impossible to love someone after only a few days, it seems as if the relationship wasn't given enough time to develop, perhaps maybe to get the novel moving. Anyway, after Henry's injured, he decides to flee with Catherine to Switzerland and his journey to get to her(while facing danger since he is apparently deserting the military) before they flee together and their journey together takes up most of the book. One thing I found particulary strange about this book was the dialogue, mainly between Henry and Catherine. It consisted of fairly short simple sentences and they never seemed to have real conversations. Also, and this may sound kind of weird, they seemed to agree too fast. I mean, it seemed as if as soon as one of them suggested doing something or going somewhere, the other one quickly agreed with out any discussion or protestation. They way in which they always were so willing to do what the other one wanted just seemed too simple and unrealistic. Also, often I found their conversations, mainly what Catherine said, to be comical, but I don't think that was the author's intention. The only part of this book that really touched me, was the end, but of course I won't mention what happened and ruin things.Anyway, I'm glad I read this book just to see what Hemingway's work is like and although I didn't enjoy the novel a lot or see clearly what the point to it was, I'll admit that perhaps it's one of those novels you'd have to read more than once to really appreciate. The book was fairly easy reading and if you read at a good pace and are interested in this book, or you're a big fan of Hemingway's, I think this book is worth reading.