Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

I read this book for a read-along with War Through the Generations blog, which sponsors the reading challenges I have done for the past 4 years (World War II in 2009, Vietnam in 2010, US Civil War in 2011, and now World War I this year).  I had never read any Hemingway before, so I thought this would be a good chance to read something of his.  It is the semi-autobiographical story of American Lieutenant Fredric Henry, who is serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army, and the love affair between Henry and the British nurse Catherine Barkley.  Henry is the narrator of the story, and he is a very stoic character; we really don't learn much about him.  According to the blurb on the back of my copy of the book, "Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose."  This made it easy enough to read, but I can't say I enjoyed it much.  I rate it 2 out of 5.  It is my 5th book for the World War I reading challenge.

5 comments:

Annette said...

Hello Cheryl! I believe I'll be glad to finish this book. I am glad to state I've finally read a work by Hemingway. I've enjoyed the questions and answers we've all worked together on with the read-a-long. It's given us a chance to correspond with each other.
I am ready to read other books in my pile though!

Anna said...

I'm still working on the last section, so the read-along post will probably be late tomorrow...this has been a crazy week at work!

Anyway, like Annette, I'll be glad to be done with it. I'm not a fan of Hemingway's writing style, but I am liking it more than I was at the beginning.

Kathy A. Johnson said...

I've never cared for Hemingway much, except for A Moveable Feast about his time in Paris--that I did enjoy. I think I read A Farewell to Arms years ago in school--but I don't remember it very well.

Sketchbook Wandering said...

Hi, I just became a member of your blog. Hemingway: He always seemed so male-oriented to me & I always felt bad that I didn't appreciate him as I was "supposed" to. But Steinbeck, this is an author whom I love!! I did love the representation of Hemingway in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Rita

Anna and Serena said...

This has been linked to the reviews page and a snippet will be posted on July 13. Thanks for participating.