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A Farewell to Arms

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 102,065 ratings · 3,574 reviews

Librarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition - ISBN: 0099910101

In 1918 Ernest Hemingway enlisted to fight in the 'war to end all wars'. he volunteered for ambulance service in Italy, was wounded and twice decorated. Out of his experiences came A Farewell to Arms.

In an unforgettable depiction of war, Hemingway recreates the fear, the comradeship, the courage of his...more

Paperback, 293 pages

Published 2004 by Arrow Books (first published 1929)

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May 14, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)

Shelves: 1001-core

My second book by Ernest Hemingway. I liked this so much that I cried while finally closing the book.

It must be the way Hemingway used his magic: the vivid descriptions of his locale. The war torn Italian picturesque villa and the use of rain as metaphor for hardship. The ying-yang kind of story: the "man's man" virile American Tenente and the whimsical English-woman Catherine. The contrast between these two lovers is so opposite that's akin to the sun and moon that sometimes exist together in a...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There really is much to enjoy in Hemingway's contribution to the relatively meagre shelf of First World War literature: the intriguing depiction of the effects and culture of war in the little-known Italian theatre; the dread conveyed when the stalemated Austrian forces are augmented by the mighty Germans; the stunningly depicted retreat across the Po plain, culminating in the bridge crossing where officers are being separated from the fleeing, crowding mass of soldiers to be lined up and shot;...more

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May 23, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classics" for the first time, then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Book #17: A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway (1929)

The story in a nutshell:
Published in the late 1920s, right when Modernism was first starting to become a...more

73 likes · like · see review

Aug 03, 2010 Architeuthis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: goodest-reads-2010, literature, meta-reviews, 1960s, 1900-1949

(Spoilers ahead.)

THE DOUBLE DATE

Dramatis Personae:

Henry, protagonist of A Farewell to Arms, ex-soldier.
Catherine, wife of Henry, an ex-nurse for wounded soldiers.
Michael, book "reviewer," handsome and devilish rogue.
Joy, Michael's wife. She'll cut a bitch.
The Waiter, self-explanatory.
Distressed Customer #1, Only has one line.
Dying Man, just proposed to his girlfriend.
Dying Man's Fiance, happy, but frightened her dude will croak before they tie the knot.
Harold Bloom, asshole.

SCENE 1: The Date

Cat...more

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Nov 18, 2008 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel like awarding the great Hemingway only two stars has officially consigned me to the seventh circle of literary hell. But I must be honest. By this website's criteria two stars indicates that a book is "okay" - and to me that describes this work perfectly.

Hemingway himself is undeniably gifted. I love his succinct style (though at times it degenerates to downright caveman-speak), his honest diction and his wonderful sense of humor. That being said, he gets away with utterly ignoring most r...more

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Nov 18, 2007 emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this book in high school. Maybe because I was young, maybe because it was summer reading, or maybe because I read it immediately following The Invisible Man (intense!), I more or less just slid through the book, enjoying the love story and not dwelling long enough in the war episodes to feel much of anything.

The second time I read it, I didn't make it past the time in Milan. I couldn't settle into the prose and, more importantly, I couldn't handle Catherine: "I'll say just what you...more

20 likes · like · see review

Jul 25, 2009 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, read-in-2009, good-fiction, romantic-love-and-hate, important-message, tough-guys-and-gals, transformative-experience

I'm not a Hemingway guy. I yearn for internal dialogue, various and ladened spiritual questioning, and deep psychology in my characters. I prefer writing that is smooth and philosophical. Hemingway gives me little of this.

But the settings of this book were beautiful, and the dialogue between characters, poignant. By the end, I found that Hemingway had craftily fucked with me to the point of my complete immersion into the novel.

It made me cry.

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Feb 26, 2009 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Farewell to Arms sort of gives you the inkling that Hemingway's death will probably involve a shotgun.

It's just that sad. Front to back, this is one of the more mournful novels I've read. It's about Henry, an ambulance driver in World War I. He is wounded and falls in love with Catherine, a nurse. They exchange odd banter. They fall in love in love during a summer in Milan (but who wouldn't?). He knocks Catherine up, then returns to the front. Unfortunately for him, he is fighting with Italia...more A Farewell to Arms sort of gives you the inkling that Hemingway's death will probably involve a shotgun.

It's just that sad. Front to back, this is one of the more mournful novels I've read. It's about Henry, an ambulance driver in World War I. He is wounded and falls in love with Catherine, a nurse. They exchange odd banter. They fall in love in love during a summer in Milan (but who wouldn't?). He knocks Catherine up, then returns to the front. Unfortunately for him, he is fighting with Italians, and, as the Italians are known to do, he is soon in full retreat. (I don't know why the French get such a bad rap, the Italians haven't won a war since sacking Carthage). Henry is captured by military police and in danger of being executed, but he manages to escape. He reunites with Catherine and, inexplicably, ends up living with her in Switzerland. Things are idyllic for awhile. The lazy, languid life reminiscent of The Sun Also Rises.

Then, of course, life intervenes.

The end is tragic. Heartbreaking. The writing is brilliant, such as in Hemingway's famous line about how the world breaks us all:

We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together. I know that the night is not the same as the day: that all things are different, that the things of the night cannot be explained in the day, because they do not then exist, and the night can be a dreadful time for lonely people once their loneliness has started. But with Catherine there was almost no difference in the night except that it was an even better time. If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

There's no cynicism here, just bitterness. It's prototypical Hemingway. The sparseness and terseness interspersed with long, emotion-laden sentences. I place this in the middle of For Whom the Bell Tolls, which ends badly but is full of passion and love, and The Sun Also Rises, which is like an early 20th century The Real World.

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Feb 13, 2009 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars

Observational tragedy. Bloke falls for sub-moron during war. *petitions friendly bombs*
Hemmingway absolves language of beauty. And then the world.
His intent was to expose war's mundanity. His method rendered art menial.
*sarcastic applause*

11 likes · like · see review

Sep 11, 2008 Skylar Burris rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction, classics

The old joke proves itself upon reading.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

A (Hemingway): To die. In the rain.

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Jul 29, 2008 Bruce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read all of Hemingway's major works when I was in high school and "HemingwayandFaulkner" were always presented together as contrasting literary twins. I never much liked Hemingway. He seemed as if his characters were monosyllabic tough guys without subtlety or much emotion, and reading him was like watching a John Wayne movie (which I also disliked). The dialogue seemed stiltled and the syntax boringly simple and direct. I voted for Faulkner (partly because my classmates found him convoluted a...more

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May 18, 2008 Jacqui rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I disliked Hemingway the first time I read him. I didn't get his prose. I thought he was a misogynist. Well, okay, perhaps he wasn't any feminist or friend of feminists, but I don't know. It was a different time, and all those excuses. Nevermind that, however, because while that was important to me on first reading his novels at age 14, it no longer is. My perspective on, well, lots of things has changed, and Hemingway is now one of my favorite writers.

You don't have to like what you imagine to...more

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Feb 20, 2008 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just finished it, and I'm disappointed. And not only disappointed; I'm also bothered by it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at Hemingway's one-dimensional, sexist portrayal of Catherine Barker, having read much of his other work, but somehow I still am. Put simply, Catherine is a ridiculous figure, and it's no fault of her own. Hemingway gives her no opportunity to sound like anything more than a half-crazy, desperate, fawning caricature with no real desires or opinions of her own. How many t...more

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Sep 07, 2012 J.C. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-shelf, favorites, literature, banned

this was the first work of Hemingway that i've ever read. I picked it up because it was an old copy (it's cheap) and I've always spotted it in the film Evil Dead II (one of my favorites) and always wanted to read it because of that cameo.

His writing style blew me away, and had a profound impact on the way I myself write. The way he stripes it down to the core makes it fascinating to read and flow very well together. It is very precise but, to me, not dull or boring.

The story is a fantastic one...more

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May 17, 2013 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am on chapter 10 so far, but by the end of chapter 2 I was hooked. I made a promise to myself that I would clear my current reading list before embarking on another book, but I couldn't help it. Hemingway's descriptive accounts are so bright and vivid; even though it is set during WW1; and his characters come alive, though he barely describes their physiological appearances. I am sure the rest of 'A Farewell To Arms' will not disapoint.

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Dec 17, 2012 Jay F rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-united-states

A Farewell to Arms was Hemingway’s third novel and the one that brought him financial security.as well as a permanent place in American letters. Published in 1929, two years after The Sun Also Rises, it follows the life of Frederick Henry from his service in the ambulance corps on the Italian front during the First World War through the death of Catherine Barkley, his love interest. It is, as much of Hemingway’s work, semi-autobiographical.

The novel is also among Hemingway’s stronger, more effec...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

It's high time I created a shelf entitled, "Appealed to teenage Megan, but my adult self simply isn't feeling the lurve" Not that I didn't lurve A Farewell to Arms this third (or is it fourth?) time reading it. It is just that, as a younger person, this book was so profound. So tragic and romantic and meaningful.

My impressions as an adult? Hemingway creates an interesting character in Henry, an American driving an ambulance for the Italians in WWI. Henry is a man's man. (Aren't all of Hemingway...more It's high time I created a shelf entitled, "Appealed to teenage Megan, but my adult self simply isn't feeling the lurve" Not that I didn't lurve A Farewell to Arms this third (or is it fourth?) time reading it. It is just that, as a younger person, this book was so profound. So tragic and romantic and meaningful.

My impressions as an adult? Hemingway creates an interesting character in Henry, an American driving an ambulance for the Italians in WWI. Henry is a man's man. (Aren't all of Hemingway's protagonists?) He drinks. And drinks. And drinks some more. He is befriended by every man, soldier, and woman he encounters, despite his constant drunk state and sparse words. We don't learn of Henry, his lover, his friends or the war through Henry's scant words or non-existent inner monologue. Rather, we learn of his world through his observations, and the dialogue of those he surrounds himself with.

Although I suppose one might defend Henry (and Hemingway) but saying Henry’s outlook and lack of emotions are a result of the shock of war being hell and all that. Perhaps. Except Henry is an ambulance driver, rather than an actual soldier and spends a good portion of his time drinking with the guys. Even when he is stationed at the front, Henry drinks and pals around with his friends. There are certainly some horrifying passages of battlefield surgery done without anesthetic, at one point Henry is injured and spends the ambulance ride getting bled on by the patient in the bunk above him. At another point when the Italians are retreating there is some dissention in the ranks and Henry must shoot a soldier on his own side. But otherwise? Truly, the most horrific thing in this novel to me is the amount of casual drinking, as well as some of the medical practices encountered.

Amongst all of the booze and the war and the booze, Henry manages to meet nurse Catherine. A woman who is just as emotionally shallow (or is it damaged?) and immature as Henry is. Or is she? Poor woman, we will never know if Hemingway intended her to be so bland, or if her character is simply a result of Hemingway’s own misogyny. Regardless, Catherine nobly stood by her man, and lived to make him happy. Even whilst undergoing labor pains Catherine urged Henry to take care of himself, have some lunch and not worry about her. Huh. Had this novel had images with it, I can only imagine Catherine with one of those saintly halos found in Catholic art. An interesting note is that (view spoiler)

What I didn’t know when I read this story as a teenager was how much of this novel was based on Hemingway’s own experience as an Italian army ambulance driver in WWI. Hemingway created a scene, a mood, and told a lovely tale. (Well, as lovely as a war story can be.) But due to the lack of emotional reflection or inner monologue, I always felt so removed from A Farewell to Arms. At no point did I feel as if I were immersed in this story or the world which Hemingway created. Rather, I felt as if I was watching it on an older, small screen box tv. Again, is this the intended effect? Was it supposed to mimic the separation Henry (Hemingway) felt from the world around him as he lived through the shock and horrors of the war?

Bottom line, I like this novel, and always have. It always inspires me to read more Hemingway, but other than A Moveable Feast I don’t seem to have much tolerance for most of his works.
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Apr 27, 2011 Becky rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, audiobook, 2011, abandoned, disappointing, reviewed, romance, challenge-1010

Once, there was a time when I would have struggled through this one, convinced that since it was a "classic", there must be some redeeming quality to it. I'd have struggled to the bitter end, hating it more and more, and I'd have been disappointed by it even if there was something worthwhile at the end. Because getting there was tedious, boring, painful, and annoying.

This book has a lot of very varied reviews and opinions. Lots of people loved it, lots of people hated it. I can see why. It's a...more Once, there was a time when I would have struggled through this one, convinced that since it was a "classic", there must be some redeeming quality to it. I'd have struggled to the bitter end, hating it more and more, and I'd have been disappointed by it even if there was something worthwhile at the end. Because getting there was tedious, boring, painful, and annoying.

This book has a lot of very varied reviews and opinions. Lots of people loved it, lots of people hated it. I can see why. It's a book that some people will definitely like. Masculinity, heavy drinking, etc will naturally appeal to some more than others. The love story aspect will appeal to some that aren't so much into the other stuff, and the war stuff will do for still more, maybe. Usually, the war and the masculinity and stuff would be my thing - but this just didn't do anything for me.

I think that this was due to the writing, and the reading. I didn't like the reader at all. He had a kind of clipped reading style, and since the writing was full of short sentences, it made it hard for me to settle into the reading and listen. A good reader needs a quality that draws a listener in - but this one did just the opposite. I struggled on through about 3 discs and I just could not stand the reader enough to get into the story. And the story wasn't doing much to help. Staccato sentences, back and forth. Lots of pointless dialogue that, I suppose, in the end would have painted a full picture and come together, but I just found myself not caring at all.

And this featured my very least favorite writing trick ever: using dialogue to replace explaining action...
"Here drink this. No all of it. It will do you good!"
"I don't want it. Put it on the table."
"Here - you drink it all up! There's a good boy. You'll see. It'll do you good like I say. No, sit down. Listen to me now."
"Answer the door, I think it's unimportant person number 4 coming to tell us something unimportant. What's he saying?"
"Go sit back down, I'll tell you everything in a minute. Here, drink more of this. Good."

The romance aspects, what little I saw, were just as abrasive and annoying.
"Oh, I love you! Do you love me? Say you love me."
"Yes I love you."
"Oh, you're just saying that! It's the war. You don't mean it."
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't"
"Yes, really."
"Ok, sure. Because I love you, but you don't have to lie to me."

BLAH! Shut up. Who cares?! I just struggled along, in this three-against-one uphill battle... And they won. I raised my white flag and gave up. No mas, por favor. (less)

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Apr 05, 2008 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hemingway

Lord help me but I just can't get into Hemingway. I tried three times before (A Moveable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, and The Old Man and the Sea) and I plan on now trying three others, but so far with A Farewell to Arms I have the same reservations as earlier, only worse. His prose is described as "terse, tough" (this from the back of the Scribner edition), but to me it's bone dry reportage. Supposedly stoicism is what's being imparted, but why should we care when this stoicism encounters no equa...more

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Sarah Michael,

I'm so glad you read so much. I don't read at all, and your reviews are very informative, ergo I feel I've read the books. I've been wanting t...more
Apr 07, 2008 07:28am

Eric Bruen I see this is a pretty old review but I just came across it as I've never tried Hemingway but just bought this book. What I'm wondering is why you tri...more
Oct 12, 2012 06:58am

Michael Eric,

Sometimes perseverance pays off -- shortly after Farewell I quite enjoyed reading Papa's collected short stories.

Michael
Oct 15, 2012 07:15pm

Jan 28, 2008 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As with most Hemingway, I find it hard to articulate what makes A Farewell to Arms so great. It is aboslutely exilirating. It is a simple story of a love affair between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley during World War I, but Hemingway's characteristic spare style and first person narration give it enormous immediacy and power.

The first time I read A Farewell to Arms I was struck by two moments in which Lt. Henry walks away from what had been his life. The first comes in the third (of five)...more

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Jul 25, 2007 Annette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Someone who has never read contemporary literature

Hemingway is a force to be reckoned with. That is, until every modern day writer starting imitating his style. Then, us readers go back to "discover" Hemingway only to realize that it reads just like all the other minimalist literature out there today. Admittedly Hemingway started it all. Give him props for that. It's kind of like the first fat girl who got a butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder. Cool. But does it really have to be done over and over again? And by the time you finally see the o...more

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Oct 07, 2008 Siria rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, american-fiction

I've never read any Hemingway, so I thought to myself, 'Self, that is probably something you should remedy.' And now there are a couple of hours of my life that I will never get back. The macho posturing, the awful dialogue (if it were possible to have excised every word he put into the mouth of Catherine, I would have done so), the misogyny, the sometimes bizarre interactions between people... whatever the hell he was trying to do, for me it read as if everyone was either: 1) Certifiably insane...more

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Nov 19, 2008 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

For those of you who didn't hear me babbling about this at SnB the other week, this is only the second Hemingway book I've ever read, although I've read a few short stories, and when I was like seven years old, we visited his house in Florida. It's a cheesy tourist trap filled with stray cats, so of course I loved it.

Basically this novel is his version of an unabashed love story, which means it's also sad, and there's a lot of drinking, and it's wartime in Italy (just pre America getting involve...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: leans-towards-snooty, spinach-is-good-for-you

Ah, Hemingway. Papa. Big Ernie. The great patron saint of tough-guy sentimentality, godfather to every bitter drunk who put pen to paper. Used to be Hemingway was the great spine holding up all the ribs and meat of 20th century literature. That was when I was a kid, anyway. Today maybe not so much.

But he wrote novels. There's this novel here, with a real story and everything. It's set during World War I, a conflict fading now into distant memory. A Farewell to Arms finds Lt. Henry, a young and a...more Ah, Hemingway. Papa. Big Ernie. The great patron saint of tough-guy sentimentality, godfather to every bitter drunk who put pen to paper. Used to be Hemingway was the great spine holding up all the ribs and meat of 20th century literature. That was when I was a kid, anyway. Today maybe not so much.

But he wrote novels. There's this novel here, with a real story and everything. It's set during World War I, a conflict fading now into distant memory. A Farewell to Arms finds Lt. Henry, a young and adventurous American, working as an ambulance driver on the entrenched fronts of Italy. Despite the shelling he's bored, spending his time in whorehouses or drinking with the Italian officers, mocking the local priests. Then he falls in love with nurse Barkley, the Austrians make a brutal push, and his life goes to heck.

Mind you, this was 1929, about a war that took place in 1918. Back before America became a world power, when Americans had to sneak into foreign armies to find war, back before the great Cold War and our lives of constant conflict. A Farewell to Arms introduced America to what America at war was like. And A Farewell to Arms was about stupid kids trying to become men, and the surprise and heartbreak they felt when the men they turned into was nothing like what they imagined they'd be.

But, yeah, I get it. Tough guys writing about war. Not very PC. Plus, the patriarchy, and dead babies. And the later Hemingway, the drunk bitter asshole. And now here he is on Goodreads, getting his chops busted by every kid forced to read him in junior high. Not that great, they say. Catherine is boring, a shallow bitch who just wants to please Lt. Henry, then dies. Why is this a classic? How has it endured, they wonder?

Well, Hemingway tried to tell you himself, in the most famous passage from this, one of his greatest novels: "The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills." I think that's it, man, that heartbreak right there, how this is the story of one woman who was killed, and one man who was broken and forced to live.

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May 20, 2013 George Ilsley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, modern-classic, re-read

Some of these modern classic I read so long ago that I can't even remember them. Plus, now in my so-called maturity surely I am in a better position to appreciate the nuances.

Was amused by several egregious run-on sentences in this text; sentences which would never survive workshopping in a creative writing program. Sorry, I'm way too lazy to provide an example, but one I believe was at the start of chapter 2. Oh, for the days when writers could just write what a writer wanted to write without w...more

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May 07, 2013 Jay Smith rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

When I was in school I was a really good student, and even if I didn't like a book, such as The Scarlet Letter or Great Expectations, I always read it (never resorted to Cliff Notes) and I can at least recall still some things from the books still, such as images or plot points. Then there is Hemingway and A Farewell to Arms. I HATED this book - hated the style, hated his lack of imagery, hated the "romance" of it. The only way I can think to describe the reason I hated it was that for me it was...more

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Apr 22, 2013 arcobaleno rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteraturastraniera, guerraedintorni, ebook

Da qualche mese l’avevo letto e l’avevo votato, ma non ero ancora riuscita a trovare le parole per giustificare le sole due stelline; d’altra parte quando un libro non entusiasma, anche il commento ne segue la sorte! Lo rimandavo, dunque, e forse non l’avrei scritto, se non fossi inciampata in una frase di Erri De Luca ("Altre prove di risposta"):
…il principio con cui leggo una storia è quello che lei deve portare me, mi deve far dimenticare del mio peso, anche del mio fiato e del mio respiro,...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Жанна rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've never thought before that I'll read "A Farewell to Arms" twice, in Russian and in English. I feel deeply sorry for Catherine... But for that dull and indifferent doctor ("a cobbler" is a precise name for him, indeed!), I'm sure she and her baby could have survived... I wish she had been alive! If so, probably some day she and Frederic would sit surrounded by their children and recollect the brightest moments of their joint life. Frederic would tell the story of his escape from the carabinie...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Emily Rowe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book for a piece of coursework based around how feelings of love are elevated in the conditions of war and I really feel this book shows that perfectly. It follows a young couple during the First World War as they battle against the odds to keep their love alive.

What I like about this book:
1) It was exciting. This book definitely had moments where it was a true page turner, from jumping onto moving trains, escaping from soldiers and crossing the lake to Switzerland in a storm. Much o...more I read this book for a piece of coursework based around how feelings of love are elevated in the conditions of war and I really feel this book shows that perfectly. It follows a young couple during the First World War as they battle against the odds to keep their love alive.

What I like about this book:
1) It was exciting. This book definitely had moments where it was a true page turner, from jumping onto moving trains, escaping from soldiers and crossing the lake to Switzerland in a storm. Much of Hemingway's direct, 'in-the-moment' style really conveyed the excitement and pace of these scenes.

2) The relationships between men/the 'bromances'. There were some really great male characters in this novel with interesting, funny and often real relationships with each other. They showed their love for each other in heart-warming acts of bravery and generosity and made this story much more readable and relatable.

3) Presentation of war. I did feel Hemingway (perhaps from past experience) did a good job at presenting just how brutal and senseless war was. During the Italian army's retreat when the protagonist Frederic must travel on foot across the country. We see the army's formation crumble as men begin to lose their nerves and their morality. Even the cool-headed Frederic feels his killing of a deserting solider is justified in these dire circumstances. It was in these scenes the grim bleakness of this book really showed in a contrast to its merrier opening chapters.

Things I wasn't so keen on:
1) Hemingway's writing style...for the most part. As I mentioned above Hemingway's 'in-the-moment' way of writing was great for action scenes but certainly took some getting used to. It often made me feel more detached from Frederic. Both Frederic and his lover Catherine show stoic qualities and with Hemingway's blunt narrative I felt a lot of the emotion was lost in some scenes.

2) Catherine. And women in general in this book, although this is a point often brought up about Hemingway's novels - Catherine is overly sweet, submissive and dependent on Frederic's love. It got to the point where I just found her annoying and couldn't really feel much sympathy for her. As the novel progressed I warmed to Frederic, who despite being an alcoholic and a bit of a fraud at times, was often brave, modest and kind. Perhaps it's just the generational gap between myself and a Scottish nurse living during WW1, but I found her too one-dimensional to really be rooting for this romance.

However in general I really did enjoy this novel and while I may not have rooted for the romantic aspect of the story I found it exciting in Frederic's adventures and insightful in its treatment of the strong link between love and pain. Perhaps the romance was not meant to be supported and cheered on by the reader as it was only a form of escapism from the grim realities of war. Frederic drinks continuously and before meeting Catherine sleeps with many women, which he then lies about to her. For Frederic and Catherine maybe their 'passionate' romance is only a way of numbing the mental and physical pain of war.After all, the motif of games repeats throughout the novel from games of pool and bridge to the game of courtly love that Frederic and Catherine 'play' to distract themselves from their own pains. (less)

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Jul 04, 2011 Michael R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A story about love and war. Or the senselessness of war… and love. As at the end the main character Lieutenant Fred Henry loses both.

As yet another writer wannabe, I’ve always heard rave reviews of Hemingway’s writing, and decided I would try to squeeze one of his novels into my reading list if I could find one. Eventually I found ‘A Farewell to Arms’. I was surprised to discover this book was first published in 1929, thinking Hemingway was more a contemporary, maybe just a generation older. How...more A story about love and war. Or the senselessness of war… and love. As at the end the main character Lieutenant Fred Henry loses both.

As yet another writer wannabe, I’ve always heard rave reviews of Hemingway’s writing, and decided I would try to squeeze one of his novels into my reading list if I could find one. Eventually I found ‘A Farewell to Arms’. I was surprised to discover this book was first published in 1929, thinking Hemingway was more a contemporary, maybe just a generation older. However the paperback edition I found was even older than me, published in 1955 (only 35 cents cover price).

I researched a bit and this story really is a reflection of Ernest Hemingway’s experiences from World War I. Like the main character, he was an ambulance driver in the Italian army. He was seriously wounded in the legs, received medals, and while recovering a few months in a field hospital fell in love with a lovely nurse.

The story varies (I think) a bit from there, as a retreat, the loss of his ambulances, almost being shot for being at by the Italians during the retreat for being an officer, he gives up on the war, after only escaping during a moment of confusion by diving into the river.

It was interesting to read about all of the soldiers together talking about wishing the war was over, and debating the merits of just giving up to end it all. It was refreshing to see that even in WWI there was opposition to war and other than the leaders no one wanted to be there.

The narrative style was very interesting. At one point I noticed that I was reading a paragraph where at least five people were talking, yet I could make sense of it all and knew exactly who was saying what. I’m sure if I’d written a paragraph like that someone would crit that I’d lost my point of view. Also a lot of short sharp to the point sentences in dialogs.

I’m glad I read this book, and will be on the lookout for more Hemingway’s - even though I‘ve heard there‘s not much chance they are going to be any more cheerful.

(less)

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About Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collec...more Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of short stories and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Many of these are considered classics of American literature.

Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school he reported for a few months for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to enlist with the World War I ambulance drivers. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. In 1922, he married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives. The couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent, and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s "Lost Generation" expatriate community. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's first novel, was published in 1926.

After his 1927 divorce from Hadley Richardson, Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from Spanish Civil War where he had acted as a journalist, and after which he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. They separated when he met Mary Welsh in London during World War II; during which he was present at the Normandy Landings and liberation of Paris.

Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in two plane crashes that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida, and Cuba during the 1930s and 1940s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961.(less)

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“Maybe...you'll fall in love with me all over again."
"Hell," I said, "I love you enough now. What do you want to do? Ruin me?"
"Yes. I want to ruin you."
"Good," I said. "That's what I want too.” — 1,318 people liked it

“All thinking men are atheists.” — 1,086 people liked it

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