A Farewell To Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
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Book Reviews of A Farewell To Arms
Book Review: Not Hemingway's best novel but some strong writing:
Summary: 3 Stars
This was a difficult read for me. I felt no continuous connection with the hero - I barely want to call him by his name, Frederic Henry, because he barely seems to HAVE a name. As for the heroine, Catherine Barclay, well. I felt that I knew her better, but technically, if she called him 'darling' one more time... I wanted to go back in time as Maxwell Perkins and edit out all the 'darlings'.
There are passages in the book; observations, that have such strength and beauty -- I'm thinking of the opening, where the description of soldiers' feet marching by the house brings in a sense of foreboding. When the hero is wounded and carried to safety; his ride in the ambulance - these scenes are brilliantly alive, and real.
SPOILER ALERT: SPOILER ALERT:
I didn't think Catherine's deathbed scene had any great pathos. It could have been shortened, I think to greater effect. What she says seems most unrealistic. I've been through childbirth, not to the point of being in extremis, but I don't think a woman who's just been through hell to give birth and is now dying from hemorrhage would say, "you won't do our things with another girl, will you". That's a guy-thought. Although when he says, "it was like saying goodbye to a statue", after her death, that rang true.
:END OF SPOILER
Catherine and Frederic don't live for me. It's not that they are frequently unhappy, discouraged, emotionally wounded characters. To me they remained the author's fictional creations, they don't linger in the reader's memory, with their moments all alive. I just don't know how to express it. Yet in a completely opposite direction, the brief appearance of the aged Count (I think he was), the 93-year-old aristocrat, in the scene with the hero where they play billiards together -- HE was a living character - a fully realized person, even so briefly. This character didn't remain a fictional creation.
In sum, although I admired some sections individually, I can't say I admired the work as a whole. My advice is that it's not the Hemingway to start with - examine his short stories, or The Sun Also Rises, first.
Book Review: Gritty and Realistic, Suffers from Excessive Exposition
Summary: 3 Stars
Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms is often hailed among his best works and is often called the best World War I novel. The latter I disagree with, as All Quiet was a more complex story about dehumanization and death, and the horrors of war; the former I would not know, as this is all I have read by Hemingway. As far as the novel goes, however, it is a fine account of life and death, love, glory, and loss. Its protagonist, Lt. Frederick Henry, is an Italian Army ambulance driver. He meets a British nurse, they share an affair, and Henry even decides to desert for Catherine. Despite its longevity, this book is a poignant look at a doomed affair, an examination of the futility of war, that are still timely today. I guess the only objection I have is the typical Hemingway deal: Hemingway and Fitzgerald were once friends, but the relationship suffered from mutual envy: Fitzgerald envied Hemingway his success, Hemingway envied Fitzgerald's style. It is plain to see, when reading both of them, that Fitzgerald is clearly in his element in writing beautiful and moving pieces of literature, just like a bird singing. Hemingway's style is a bit more forced, and he likes to use a lot of exposition so as to make his imagery more vivid. None of this detracts from the substance of the story, yet the style is a substance all its own. In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, in a literary analysis, decided that The Great Gatsby is a far superior book than A Farewell To Arms for the sole reason that Henry is a phony. If you have read that book, you might be tempted to take this with a grain of salt, but when you consider Hemingway's background and the fact that he and Henry share initials, it is easy to assume Holden is talking about Hemingway himself, and that he is forcing his writing for success. The quote is Salinger accusing Hemingway of selling out. In any case, the book is not truly one of the best ever because of its failure to address any universal human truths. Nevertheless, it is an enduring and interesting book and, although I did not think it among the best ever, I have talked with some that loved it. I would suggest reading it for yourself, as you might think differentlyBook Review: Classic Hemingway
Summary: 5 Stars
Recently, I've had the pleasure of reading several newly published non-fiction volumes of the Great War, and they have inspired me to dust off my old Scribners edition Hemingway volume of A FAREWELL TO ARMS, the book that oh so many years ago, sparked my interest in learning all I could about the First World War. After many years of not reading Hemingway, the book reminded me once again of his brilliance.
This classic war torn love story certainly isn't for everyone. I say that because many readers insist on the main characters being likeable people, and the main characters here, Frederick Henry, an American ambulance driver attached to the Italian army and Catherine Barkley, a Scottish nurse, are far from likeable characters. Henry, whose character is loosely modeled after Hemmingway, is a rather self centered and uncaring character, while Barkley is portrayed as a rather desperate and lonely woman willing to sacrifice her virtues for companionship. Neither are traits inspiring among leading character roles.
This fact lends credence to Hemingway's masterful writing skills as he transcends the norm and presents rather unlikable characters into an extraordinary tale that will envelope most readers into the fabric of their stories. Hemingway accomplishes this by making his unlikable characters extraordinarily real. Like it or not, even the best of us humans have character flaws at some point in our lives and most readers will identify with aspects of reality we don't always aspire to present.
Hemingway presents battle images that are truly brutal. When it comes to war, what we think of today as brutal today, often pales in comparison to the reality of the Great War. The story is beautifully told, masterfully constructed and moves the reader to feel the emotions that I think Hemingway wanted to produce which centrally included a bitter distrust of that war and war in general, and the complexity but power of a love affair between two fairly normal but relatively insignificant and imperfect people.
I do not consider this Hemingway's best work, but it is essential reading nonetheless.
Book Review: venus de milo
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoy the writing in this book by Mr Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). It was a gift from my sister's family, and I am glad I had the oppotunity to read it. The liner notes write that he did more to change the English-language novel than any other twentieth-century writer. His "sparse and unemotional style is probably the most imitated." In 1953, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his novella "The Old Man & the Sea"; then, in 1954, he received a Nobel Prize for Literture. "A Farewell to Arms" (1927) was his greatest success up to that time. Mr Hemingway writes an almost auto-biographical account of a love story during war time. Like the protagonist, Henry Frederick, he drove an ambulance for the Red Cross on the Austro-Italian Border during the European Great War (1914-1918). Mr Hemingway was wounded, hospitalised and fell in love with one of the Red Cross nurses who cared for him, Ms Agnes von Kurowsky. The book he has written draws on these experiences and the result is a stirring description of people's reactions and behaviours during the stresses of war. Henry Frederick drives an ambulance on the Austro-Italian Border during the Great War. He meets Ms Catherine Barkley, who is from Scotland and is working as a nurse in an English Hospital unit. The three great adventures in this book are Frederick's recovery from his battle wound, his involvement in the Italian retreat, and finally, when he and Catherine escape. The narrative of the Italian retreat is quite impressive to me because Mr Hemingway captures a feeling a hopelessness. It reaches an horrifying level as he decribes the Italian soldiers shooting their own officers. Throughout, I am impressed with the description of the coping methods different characters use. Many times humour is a source of relief. My favourite anecdote is when the Italian barber mistakes Henry for an Austrian officer. The porter cannot contain his laughter at the thought of our hero under the sharp razor. If you are interested in the writings of Mr Ernest Hemingway, or in romance against a wartime setting, this book will be interesting to you.Book Review: Hemingway matures, gains strength
Summary: 4 Stars
Ernest Hemingway gained fame in 1926, with the release of his first novel "The Sun Also Rises". Taken from the Bible, the title is a catchy phrase and one that has an allure all to itself. Considering that Hemingway was only 27 when it came out, the book shows the promise of a young writer struggling to find his niche. The story involves a group of American expatriates in Europe who are all heavily involved in drinking, eating, arguing and sleeping with each other's best friends- and drinking some more. If it were written today, with its' lack of any real "action" scenes and relatively weak plot, the novel would have trouble gaining the attention of any major publishing house.
The one redeeming quality of Hemingway shown in this book which comes out clearly is that he describes scenes, writes dialogue and sketches the "landscape" in a way which other writers were not doing at the time. His approach is fresh, bold- sometimes shockingly annoying, but obviously different- which sets him apart from his contemporaries. His verbal interactions with others are couched in a style which would be foreign to most people today- and perhaps many of those in his day...but that's part of what makes his writing so interesting. My views are perhaps somewhat clouded, as I am a true Hemingway fan- but for a lot of other reasons and mostly for his other novels, including the under-rated and not widely covered "Islands in the Stream", which is one of his very finest works.
"The Sun Also Rises" was a good start for Hemingway- but he shows his talent more strongly in the following novel released a few years later- "A Farewell to Arms". His descriptions of his inner psyche, the thoughts of others, their interactions in this later book are signs of the maturing Hemingway, a young man in "The Sun Also Rises"...growing to a man in "A Farewell to Arms"- with a greater depth of character, a more worldly view...and many more stories to tell...
-Gene Pisasale
Author- "Lafayette's Gold- The Lost Brandywine Treasure"