A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway
First published in 1929
5/5
Quotes:
“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.”
“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.”
“Oh, darling, you will be good to me, won’t you? Because we’re going to have a strange life.”
"But life isn't hard to manage when you've nothing to lose."
“Often a man wishes to be alone and a girl wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. But we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.”
Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest authors of all time. He has such a beautiful way of spinning such simple words into something much more complex and striking. This book isn't an easy read and it may not be for everyone, but it's a classic tale and worth reading at some point.
This book emerged out of World War I and follows ambulance driver Lieutenant Henry and English nurse Catherine Barkley. The love between the two is equally heartbreaking and passionate from the first to the last page. Honestly, there isn't all that much plot in this book which I know may sound a little strange because how can a book be good without a lot of plot? Well, Henry gets injured in the war and somehow makes it out, which is how he ends up meeting the beautiful nurse Catherine, who instantly catches his eye. Basically, he survives a lot of obstacles and still manages to get out of the war and be with Catherine.
Henry is a pretty great narrator. He isn't my favorite character created by Hemingway, but he's still just as complicated and messy as the other classic characters from this author. He tells the audience about his experiences in such graphic details that you feel as if you are really there right with him. Catherine honestly got on my nerves most of the book. I felt like she didn't have much personality and wasn't all that memorable. I like characters that are more developed and layered, Catherine is pretty much as simple as it gets.
As I said, the relationship between Catherine and Henry is classic Hemingway. It's tragic and beautiful all at the same time. It starts out extremely slow but it gradually builds and becomes easier to read and relate to. I really start to like this romance as the book progresses but like I said, it can be hard to keep reading since it just kind of drags on.
There are many mixed feelings about A Farewell to Arms. My feeling about it is that it's a classic that should be required reading at some point in every Americans life. I think it has an always relevant message about love, loss, tragedy, and acceptance. It's much more than your typical war story, and that's why I was able to become emotionally invested in the story and the characters.
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