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Summary:
As a youth of 18, Ernest Hemingway was eager to fight in the Great War. Poor vision kept him out of the army, so he joined the ambulance corps instead and was sent to France. Then he transferred to Italy where he became the first American wounded in that country during World War I. Hemingway came out of the European battlefields with a medal for valor and a wealth of experience that he would, 10 years later, spin into literary gold with A Farewell to Arms. This is the story of Lieutenant Henry, an American, and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse. The two meet in Italy, and almost immediately Hemingway sets up the central tension of the novel: the tenuous nature of love in a time of war. During their first encounter, Catherine tells Henry about her fiancé of eight years who had been killed the year before in the Somme. Explaining why she hadn't married him, she says she was afraid marriage would be bad for him, then admits:
I wanted to do something for him. You see, I didn't care about the other thing and he could have had it all. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. I would have married him or anything. I know all about it now. But then he wanted to go to war and I didn't know.
The two begin an affair, with Henry quite convinced that he "did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards." Soon enough, however, the game turns serious for both of them and ultimately Henry ends up deserting to be with Catherine.
Hemingway was not known for either unbridled optimism or happy endings, and A Farewell to Arms, like his other novels (For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, and To Have and Have Not), offers neither. What it does provide is an unblinking portrayal of men and women behaving with grace under pressure, both physical and psychological, and somehow finding the courage to go on in the face of certain loss. --Alix Wilber
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
You won't be disappointed...
Customer Rating:
I won't try to dispense any cheap psychoanalysis on this novel; or take any pot shots at Hemingway the man (he had frailties and insecurities like every human being), but some, particularly feminists, love to pick on him). I will say that this is, simply, a great novel (his greatest being For Whom the Bell Tolls) and the ending, like most of his novels, is devastating in effect. Despite the hard prose, you see a writer who chooses a subject to confront his own emotional wounds, no matter how cleverly he tries to disguise them.
Excellent Despite its Flaws
Customer Rating:
This book is extraordinary for its description of the fog of battle and for its ability to capture the disgust for war that prevailed in the U.S. and in much of Europe after World War I. Most impressive is Hemingway's ability to portray the courage of his protagonists without glorifying war. The decision of the hero, Lt. Henry, a volunteer in the Italian army assigned to ambulance duty, to walk away from the war is symbolic of the choice of an entire generation. And his discovery that this choice hardly ends death and suffering is also powerfully symbolic.
Also impressive is the famous Hemingway style of spare descriptions and terse dialogue. The scenes Hemingway sketches are remarkably vivid. The book is one of his finest.
An important flaw in the novel, however, is the love story that is at its core. This is a glaring flaw and perhaps explains some of the negative reviews. For me, the initial meeting and lovemaking between Lt. Henry and the English nurse, Catherine, is neither compelling nor even credible. The love simply happens, suddenly and inexplicably, like the "zipless f**K" imagined by Erica Jong 50 years later. Falling in love can be inexplicable, but a great writer can convey the matter without the reader having to suspend his disbelief. No one, for instance, questions the love between Daisy and Jay Gatsby in "The Great Gatsby" or even the (albeit frustrated) love between Barnes and Brett in "The Sun Also Rises".
In "A Farewell to Arms", the reader is left to question the sanity of Catherine. Lt. Henry's motivations are less open to question, given male sexuality, though one is left wondering if Catherine is a figment of the male imagination.
In any event, the dialogue and dealings between Catherine and Henry become more believable as time goes by. There is a certain compelling intimacy conveyed between the two as Hemingway sketches their ordinary day-to-day concerns and conversations. And their flight from the war and difficulties experienced thereafter are believable and moving.
Hemingway's ending of the novel is abrupt -- and the better for it. No maudlin dwelling on the tragedy, just a walk back to the hotel in the rain.
Hemingway,Humm....
Customer Rating:
Frankly, I dont know what to say. I waited for a few hours after I finished it before starting to write the review.
I liked the book as an old fashioned love story at certain times. The sweet cuddling in the Swiss cottage, where the simple joys of life gave it meaning, overcoming the banality of an isolated life, was beautiful (reminded me of the existential Godard masterpiece "Breathless" at times).Catherine seemed cute at times, although I could not stand her for a large part of the novel. She came across more as a chauvinistic man's fantasy woman (the faithful slavish kind that the domineering men wanted) rather than a real woman. And sometimes her "oh Darling, do you really love me" gets on your nerves.
Henry as a lover and a man,comes across as hollow and again, extremely chauvinistic. Hemingway, I believe loved creating his males in this old-fashioned, dominating, virile, brave Western hero mould.Disgusting! For this reason alone, I would probably not read another Hemingway ever. He is probably the greatest misogynist I have come across in all literature. For a man at the beginning of the 20th century, such shameless display of male chauvinism is unpardonable.
Also, I am less than impressed by Hemingway's "revolutionary" style. While it worked better for a smaller fast paced action packed novel like "Old Man and the Sea", for a love story, and a more layered novel such as this, I would prefer the old style much better (Yah, I know tha academic blah blah about how he ushered in a New Age in literature etc. but personally, it does not appeal to me at some places).
Now, finally some nice things. This is a beautiful anti-war story.Few people have been able to strip war of its valor and patriotism, and see the human tragedies that it afflicts. Like Remarque, Hemingway's portrayal of common men, caught in the whirlwinds of political struggles, about which they care the least about, is wonderful. And, in fact, coming from a man who values the old fashioned ideals of manliness in such a fashion, it is quite surprising. If there is anything I would remember this novel for, it is the reflections about war, that the different characters have expressed at several places in the novel.
An interesting look into war, love, and life.
Customer Rating:
I find this book a difficult one to review. While the story itself isn't the most exciting, engaging, or fun to read, this is undoubtedly an excellent example of the literary skill of one of America's best known and well respected authors. Hemingway's sublime style of bare-bones, almost flat seeming, prose is able to evoke surprisingly powerful images and emotion. Certainly not flowery, with hardly an adjective to be found, it is nonetheless effective.
In A FAREWELL TO ARMS, Frederic Henry (the narrator) takes you through a difficult and life-changing time of his life. A rather cold seeming young man, the musings of Henry present a very interesting glimpse into Hemingway's view of a young man's psyche. As you experience Henry's adventures in war and love, you come to see the brutality and unfairness experienced by so many during times like the ones described. While Henry himself seems quite distant and unemotional throughout most of the book, the reader really comes to empathize with the young man and while they may imagine themselves acting and thinking differently, sympathize with him.
The tragic experience of Henry and Cat's love is at once intensely emotional and strangely shallow. Watching as true love develops in Henry is a great experience, while seeing his unthinking readiness to be untruthful (to himself and to Cat) is rather disturbing. The whole story is a very thought provoking and fascinating look into our emotions, the meaning of love and of life.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in Hemingway, not for those looking for a thrill ride.
Classic World War I Novel
Customer Rating:
This is my second shot at Hemingway, having recently read The Sun Also Rises. Interestingly enough, I found the two reading experiences almost identical. As was the case with "Sun", I was initially underwhelmed, but around midway through the book, felt myself drawn into the story and by the end, was reluctant to put the book down.
Hemingway certainly has his own signature style. Clipped, terse, single sentence dialogue that at times borders on the absurd. Perhaps it is the act of becoming comfortable and familiar with the style that results in his works starting slow and building to a strong finish, because at its root, this is simply a magnificent story, built upon a singular historical event. It was Hemingway's own experience as a stretcher bearer on the Austro-Italian front that provided the motivation and basis for the story.
I've seen some label this an anti-war novel, but I simply don't see it. It is anti-war to the extent that it doesn't glorify the act of war, but it is not political. The front line soldiers certainly are not pro-war, but honestly, except in the case of the odd megalomaniacs and psychopaths, given the choice most would opt for peace. At its root, this is a love story set amid extremely difficult and trying circumstances. Finally, as with much of Hemingway, don't expect a happy ending.
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