A Farewell to Arms (Scribner Classics) by Ernest Hemingway Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Farewell to Arms (Scribner Classics)
Book Review: Great war story, mediocre love story
Summary: 4 Stars
Both a love story and a war story, Hemingway manages to mesh the two opposing ideals in a powerful novel. The protagonist, Henry, is surely no hero. His existentialist outlook on life and his rejection of ideals of honor and glory contrast sharply with a typical romanticized war hero. Heny is neither an eternal optimist nor pessimist, yet his stark, realistic outlook on love and war are both refreshing, as well as depressing. In the end, it seems, the world will either break you or kill you, be it in love or war. There is no happy ending in life, for life is just a sequence of events, seemingly without rhyme or reason.
Hemingway uses a direct, no-nonsense approach in his writing. There is neither flowery prose nor endless paragraphs of illustrative descriptions. Hemingway's words are power-packed and provide the most poignant imagery in the least amount of words. From his almost journalistic account of his lover's last breath, to his detached depiction of a land ravaged by war, Hemingway does not mince words. It is his direct style that is, perhaps, his greatest asset, and that which has gained him fame.
This novel is at its best in the war chapters, especially in detailing the Italian retreat from the Austrian border. In these chapters, Hemingway masterfully describes the ravages of war in simple, yet powerful, words. The grim reality of war, devoid of any grandiose ideals, permeates into the soul of the reader. There may be a worthwhile cause to war at times, but certainly not in this war, and certainly not for the lives lost.
The weak point of the novel, though, would be the depiction of his relationship with his lover, Catherine. Although she does convey some feelings of hopelessness and despair for the war, she is overly melodramatic toward Henry. Her self-deprecating manner and vapid comments prove to be a distraction. In contrast with the chapters focused on the war, the love story is slow-moving and tedious. Fortunately, the war chapters are intermixed with the love story. But then again, I shouldn't fault Hemingway for not portraying their relationship as compelling as the drama of the war.
The bottom line: if you are looking for a gripping World War I novel, choose "All Quiet on the Western Front," for Remarque's work is superior to Hemingway in describing the horrors and meaningless of this war. However, if you are looking for a war novel plus a love story, then you can't go wrong with "A Farewell to Arms."
Book Review: One of Hemingway great books
Summary: 4 Stars
This is probably the most realistic book I've read so far. Hemingway's style is very simplistic and here he digs into the trenches of war, the people who figght it, and the reality of life.
The dialogue between the American soldier who is fighting in the Italian army and the British nurse on the Italian front is borderline silly but I guess this is Hemingway's best portrayel of life and love.
A great book and I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Hemingway's best
Summary: 5 Stars
A Farewell to Arms is a beautiful war-romance. Ernest Hemingway's style uses short sentences. These are very effective. Okay, I was trying to write this review in his style, but I simply can't. While I often write long, Conradian sentences, I can't help but envy Hemingway's terse prose, his beautiful simplicity. Females tend to shy away from Hemingway's hyper-masculine, tortured heroes and idealized heroines because they seem chauvenistic, but this is a fantastic romance set against the Great War. Hemingway's style is easy to read and this novel is very powerful. Book 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: A Waste. A waste of an idea, a waste of time, and a waste of paper.
Summary: 2 Stars
It's World War I. There's death and dispair and darkness everywhere and yet amidst all the anguish, there comes the tale of two lovers and their sad struggle to live a complete life. It's the daring anti-war classic from the late great Ernest Hemmingway- A Farewell to Arms!
Sounds pretty promising, huh? Let's see how it REALLY is.
First things first, the Lovers-
Fred Henry is an American in the Italian army. He begins the story feeling rather mildly about the war and life in general until he accidentally falls in love and things begin to change. He is a totally self-absorbed, unsympathetic dick. He narrates the story and yet somehow we get little insight into any of his deeper emotions or motives. I literally hated him by the end.
Catherine Barkley is a beautiful English nurse who Henry falls for. She's still healing from her last lovers death when she meets him. At first she seems like she might turn out to be at least somewhat intresting, but the hope vanishes everytime she opens her mouth. She is shallow, moronic, ridiculous, and one of the most unrealistic and dislikable females characters I've ever read. Henry, however, falls desperately in love with her and her thick head of blond hair.
Next we have the plot-
As you know, it's WWI. Things aren't going so well. Henry mets Catherine. Henry gets injured and falls in love with Catherine. They spend almost all their time remarking how "sweet" and "fine" the other is and reassuring eachother they're really in love. Then they have some sex and Catherine gets pregnant. Henry cares somewhat. He's then forced to go back to war, however, but not before Catherine tells him she feels like a whore when he takes her to a hotel. This is the only intresting thing she ever says but she quickly retracts the statement as to not upset dear, darling Henry. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Henry deserts the army. This is one of the few exciting parts. Unfortunately, though, Henry soon goes back to Catherine. This is where is book takes a turn for the worst. The lovers breifly share happiness until Catherine has her baby, the baby dies and at last Catherine dies. Tragic.
My Opinion-
The book is dull. When Catherine died I was just glad the book was over. The prose in this novel is some of the most boring and terse I've ever read. The dialouge is some of the most irriating. Between Henry's emotionless "Yes", "No"s, and "All right"s and Catherine's pointless, opinionless chatter, I'm not sure how anyone could be grabbed or moved in the slightest. Neither character had much going for them and I couldn't care less about their miserable fates. Hemmingway could have turned this into something so much better if only he gave his readers some likeable people who we could love and relate to. I don't know about the rest of you, but I thought his was the biggest waste of an idea ever. Cheers!