Snoozy Review: A Farewell To Arms

Do you like books about wars? Do you like books that provide almost no extravagant detail? Do you like books with conclusive yet somewhat unsatisfying endings? Then you should probably read something by Ernest Hemingway! Today we cover one of Hemingway's most acclaimed novels, A Farewell to Arms. It's pretty much all of the things I mentioned above, plus a little more. More information below!

Review: A Farewell to Arms

Author and Year:

Ernest Hemingway, 1929

Plot: 
A Farewell to Arms follows "Tenente" Henry, an American lieutenant serving in Italy during World War I. After being injured on the front, he meets a nurse named Catherine Barkley, and eventually falls in love with her. The novel chronicles the struggles and joys of their relationship, as well as Henry's growing desire to drop out of the war altogether.

By The Cover:

I actually read A Farewell to Arms out of a collection of books by Hemingway, so the picture above isn't the real cover. In fact, I would've chosen something less nature-y for a collection of his works (three of the four novels included are about wars, and they decide on mountains??). But the color scheme was well selected, I'll give them that!

First Line: 

"In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains."
This line pretty much has nothing to do with the book. I do not even know why the book starts this way.

Last Line: 

"After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain."
So atmospheric. So emotional. So good. Bah.

A Quote:
Let me just begin by saying that there are so, so, sooo many good quotes in this novel. That's the way Hemingway's style works-- it's so sparse that the already good lines become even more powerful and resonant. Here are some of my favorites:

"When you love, you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve."

 "'It's all nonsense. It's only nonsense. I'm not afraid of the rain. I'm not afraid of the rain. Oh, oh, God I wish I wasn't.' She was crying. I comforted her and she stopped crying. But outside it kept raining."

"But we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together. I know 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."

Darn, these quotes. You gotta read that last one again, really.

Favorite Part:

Okay, I am totally awful, but I really enjoyed the latter half of the book more than the beginning, even though it was (highlight for spoiler: a tragic ending). Henry and Catherine's relationship became so much deeper, and everything felt surprisingly solid for a Hemingway novel.

Least Favorite Part:

Do you even have to ask?

Final Comments:

A Farewell to Arms was a mixed feeling read for me. The beginning seemed to stop and go for a while, but once things began to pick up (which was conveniently after school ended), I couldn't put it down. I love how my perception of the characters changed as the book progressed, as well their occasional honest, pent up confessions of emotion. Again, if you're a fan of Hemingway''s "undercurrent" style, you'll like this book! On the other hand, if you'd like to try something of his for the first time, I might start with something else, such as The Sun Also Rises. But make sure to come back to A Farewell to Arms! It isn't strong from beginning to end, but the end is really something worth reading, I mean it.

Rating: 3/5