A Farewell To Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
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Book Reviews of A Farewell To Arms
Book Review: I prefer his short stories
Summary: 4 Stars
The writing style is 'The New Yorker''s wet dream: self-conscious, overwritten, and smart. At novel length, over-written becomes, to me, truly over-written. "The Snows of Kilamanjaro" ranks in my top 5 short stories. I love his style; I love his writing. But this novel goes on and on and on. I hadn't read it before, and though I recall loving "The Sun Also Rises" long ago, I had to start skimming about 3/4 way through "A Farewell to Arms." It was too repitious. I don't mean it isn't wonderful in many ways, but how much of the same tone, style, content can we read before it begins to feel tedious?
Per the other comments, and official review: I'm surprised by this being called "sparse prose." One of the more striking and interesting elements is his use of run-on sentences -- truly, run-on sentences, complete with many uses of the word "and." He does this in such an interesting way, it's really sort of awe-inspiring. Very interesting.
I wouldn't call Henry detached or nihilistic as others have; I think he's stoic. I think his greatest personality trait is his stoicism in the face of great adversity. This, in conjunction with the writing style, makes the book.
I much prefer the war chapters to the "love" chapters. Since I didn't feel Henry falling in love, I felt little for their interaction until the end. Though, again, all elements become rather tedious. The chapters go something like this: war, war, hospital, love, war, war, war, love.... So I skimmed (I hate skimming). Then, at the end, the last few chapters are genuinely suspenseful. The end is breathtaking. The person who reads detachment here, I believe, is missing the emotional impact.
But -- this same end, this same style, can be found in his shorter works, and one doesn't need to skim or become bored. So I recommend buying a book of short stories, if you've become Hemingway-dismayed after reading this book, yet still hold out hope. The dialogue is far more interesting to read when not novel-length, in my opinion. (Agreed, too much alcohol for my taste -- but, it is what it is, and I always value the time in history, the place and person from where the art came.)
Four stars for sheer talent. And for documenting WWI through fiction.
Book Review: Judging by today's standards
Summary: 3 Stars
Boise is about to embark on "The Big Read," where everyone is asked to read the same book. Seminars and decorous discussions to follow. I chanced upon an audio version of the book while browsing through the library, and decided to get a head start.
I hadn't read a lot of Hemingway, but was well acquainted with the influence he had on 20th Century writers: The manly man of short, declarative sentences. I remembered how the dialogue in his short story, "The Killers" influenced me to write a short story of my own, with which I'd had some success. I remembered how The Old Man and the Sea had taught me about obsession and how to gently wake a sleeping person. Perhaps A Farewell to Arms would teach me something, too.
Hemingway's spare style has become common among contemporary writers, so I learned little from that. I could see how it set him apart from his contemporaries, but there was no particular illumination there. I probably expected much to much from the book. It was an eye-opening story about war in its time, but our eyes have been stapled open by war for so many years now by fictional and real images that Hemingway's descriptions seemed tame, almost nonchalant.
This time his skills with dialogue struck me as not nearly as sharp as they were in that short story I had long ago admired. Every character speaks in self rebuttal, making a statement in one sentence, then denying they meant it in the next. What might have been a clever character device was lost when applied universally. And, did people really talk that way? Catherine Barkley, the feminine half of the tragic romance, calls her soldier lover Frederick Henry "darling" so often, you just know she spends all her spare time reading Harlequin novels.
One must remember the novel is 78 years old. It is unfair to judge it by today's standards, many of which it set in motion.Yet, how can we not? Readers today are accustomed to the literature of later generations. Yes, we can appreciate this important stone in the foundation of our prose, but would we find ourselves compelled to read it if it were not assigned? Would the manuscript under another name get past an unsuspecting intern on the screening desk of a major publisher today? No, and no.
Book Review: A classic, but...
Summary: 3 Stars
I've heard it said before that you either love Hemingway or you hate him. In the past, I was a staunch supporter of the 'hate' side, but after reading A Farewell to Arms, I moved to the 'this is better than some things, but not what I'd choose first' side. In other words, I appreciate his talent and what his style did for modern writing, but it's still not something that's utterly enjoyable to me. A Farewell to Arms is written in classic Hemingway style: sparse, often drab, and littered with often confusing conversations which have to be read three times in order to sort out who said what. A Farewell to Arms is written from the viewpoint of Frederick Henry, a young American in the Italian army during WWI. The book follows Henry's relationship with Catherine Barkley, a young nurse, as well as his life in the Italian army.
A Farewell to Arms is a grim book. I felt very 'gray' when reading this novel; the work in its entirety points to the brutal realities of war and the frailty of anything in the face of it. This novel is semi-autobiographical, as Hemingway himself served as an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and this personal experience seems to have lent Hemingway the ability to very clearly capture WWI.
The parts I enjoyed most were the stream-of-consciousness passages, for which Hemingway has a particular talent. The genius of these passages is that Frederick Henry's drunken stream-of-consciousness is written much differently than his sleepy stream-of-consciousness.
The main reason I didn't find this book particularly enjoyable is that I couldn't find a connection to the main characters. Frederick Henry came off as a bit stiff and average to me; there was nothing particularly engrossing about him to make me care whether he lived happily ever after or got blown to kingdom come. Critics have also pointed to Hemingway's lack of dynamic female characters, and I found Catherine Barkley to be no exception. Beautiful and submissive, she easily falls for Frederick Henry, who in my opinion is no prize.
So there you have it. There is no argument that A Farewell to Arms is classic literature, and with good cause, but I maintain that if you're looking for something really entertaining, this novel is not the place to start.
Book Review: Love and war
Summary: 5 Stars
Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" is about a love affair between a man and a woman, and a love affair between a man and a war. Only someone like Hemingway would be able to find the right notes to combine these two contrasting themes in a sort of literary harmony, where each complements and augments the emotional force of the other, without resorting to contrived romantic overkill. The novel takes place in the last years of World War I, in which an American named Frederick Henry is serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army. He meets and falls in love with an English nurse named Catherine Barkley; after he is badly injured in a mortar shell attack, he and Catherine consummate their love while he convalesces in a hospital in Milan. Using his trademark sharp dialogue, Hemingway shows how the presence of war in Henry's and Catherine's lives intensifies the rapid development of their relationship.
When a crabby hospital superintendent suspects Henry is idly prolonging his convalescence, she gets him sent back to his ambulance post at the front. On his way to a battle ground to pick up wounded, he is arrested by Italian battle police who hear his foreign accent and think he is a German soldier disguised in an Italian uniform. He manages a daring escape and goes to a town where he finds Catherine again. When he is alerted that the Italian army is looking to arrest him for desertion, he realizes his only option is to escape to Switzerland under cover of night.
The notion I get about Hemingway's writing of war is that, to him, it's a sport, a big game, that accepts physical suffering as a fair price to pay for the camaraderie and adventure; a game in which victories are celebrated with a lot of drinking, and losses are mourned with...a lot of drinking. This is not a criticism, just an observation; he writes with so much spirit and conviction on the subject of war that it's difficult to find fault with his style. This is exemplified most in Henry's decision at the end of the novel: At just a time when his life seems to be falling apart, he realizes he must "get back" to the war, not because he likes war, but because it gives him a will to live; it's in his blood as much as it sheds his blood.
Book Review: Hemingway's Foreshadowing and Plot: Grand
Summary: 4 Stars
In recently reading Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, I was quite pleased with the reading experience it provided. I had read The Sun Also Rises, so I decided to read another Hemingway novel because of my satisfaction with the first work I read. I normally enjoy tales about war from a first person point of view, but who doesn't like a good "war story?" Also, it is always beneficial when a love story is intertwined with the courage and bravery required by the war. People usually hear more about WWI than about WWII, so I was indulgent to learn from the novel as well. There are many aspects, though, that are particularly intriguing about this novel.
First of all, Hemingway excels in his use of foreshadowing. Lieutenant Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley's hidden love keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the novel. The flirtatious nature of the just keeps you wondering the whole time whether that is just their personality or if there is a little something more there. The fact that his comrade Rinaldi possesses a love for Catherine adds a bit of tension to the situation as well. The fact that Catherine was left brokenhearted by the loss of her fiancé and Henry is left cold and emotionless by the war creates a significant conflict between the two's approach to their relationship. Blinded by the love, the two playfully flirt and carry on as Henry recovers under Catherine's care. Soon thereafter, though, the two are reminded of the desolate situation the two are involved in. Henry had originally received leave, but the superintendent of the hospital revoked it because of an accusation, and Henry is sent back to the front line sooner than expected. Leaving his now pregnant girlfriend behind, he returns to the front lines to an army that is so close to accepting defeat.
Because of his discouragement in the worsening standing of the Italian forces, Henry chooses to return to Catherine without leave from the army. The events that are followed by this return were part of an outstanding ending. Though I was saddened by the turnout of the story, this novel was very entertaining and a better plot couldn't possibly be accomplished. This work is definitely, overall, an exceptional read.