Sunday 12 December 2010

A Farewell To Arms


Ernest Hemingway joined the ambulance service in 1918 and saw action in Italy where he was wounded twice. Out of his experiences came ‘A Farewell To Arms’ a semi-biographical novel quite unlike anything I have read before.

This was my first Hemingway book and I must say I was very impressed. I had heard tell of Hemingway’s trademark ‘no frills’ style of writing, what you see is what you get and it is certainly true that Hemingway doesn’t waste pages and pages talking about a sunset or what a character is wearing. I found that once the story gets going you soon realise that underneath the deceptively straightforward surface of the story there is an incredible depth Hemingway leaves up to the reader to discover. I have never seen character development like it.

The story itself is bleak, which is to be expected from a story which takes part during the First World War however there is lots of humour too. The main character, Frederic Henry, is a dark horse. Not much of his personality is obvious at first glance but it's there if you look closely enough. Most of how he feels or what he is thinking is shown via his dialogue as his inner thoughts are rarely delved into.

One of Frederic’s most obvious characteristics is that he is an alcoholic. There is barely a page in the book when he is not drinking and he thinks nothing of drinking at the most inappropriate times such as early in the morning, when he is on duty and even when he is in hospital suffering with grievous wounds. In fact his drinking is so out of control he is almost reported for court martial when he suffers from jaundice as a direct result of his drinking. I am certain this obsession with alcohol is not a coincidence considering Hemingway’s own struggle with alcohol abuse. From reading other works of Hemingway heavy drinking is often a feature.

The characters in the book are first rate and easy to care about. Many of them are Italian and numerous glimpses are given into their personality, how they cope with war and what they think of it. This is particularly interesting to me as the Italian view of the First World War is not often portrayed.

The only character I did not appreciate was that of Frederic’s love interest, the English nurse Catherine Barkley. She played the role of a submissive, doting sexually driven young woman willing to do almost anything for Frederic. She whines a lot and demands constant reassurance from him. Initially she is not in the book too much but towards the end I found her presence a real drain.

The ending to the story is devastating but then this seemed appropriate considering the wartime setting, I am certain that re-reading this book (as I most certainly will) will reveal all sorts of hidden meanings I missed the first time around as Hemingway’s style is so deceptively simple.

A thoroughly enjoyable, meaningful book and an excellent introduction to Hemingway’s troubled genius.

Final verdict 4/5

Chris

15 comments:

  1. I have to admit, this is the only Hemingway I've read so far that I disliked. I tend to like his older works better than his first few. His women, however, are pretty much the same throughout all of them. My personal thoughts are that that has more to do with the way Hemingway saw women than with the women themselves.

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  2. What an awesome review! I intend to read this book later in the year. It will be my first Hemingway, and I admit I'm scared...

    Thanks for sharing! :-)

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  3. I love that this story is so bleak. Especially the end.

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  4. I haven't read any Hemingway either, but do appreciate the no-frills writing -- like the story to be center stage. Wouldn't it be great if we had the time to re-read many of our favorite books. I intend to start doing that at least once a year.

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  5. @ Amanda: I'm very surprised to read you disliked this book, can you tell me why? I'd be interested to know. I agree with your point about the women in Hemingway's novels. I've read three of his books now and keep encountering the same sort of female characters as well as his infamous 'code hero'

    @ Jillian: Thanks, personally I think it's a perfect introduction to his work and a good starting point if you intend to read more of his books. I was intimidated as well but I became engrossed very quickly.

    @ Toni: The ending was awful but not surprising. What did you like about it?

    @ Kim: Only the other day I was thinking to myself that I must revisit some books I read years ago. I'd love to re-read some of my favourites. I'm going to have to make it a new years resolution!

    Chris

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  6. I enjoyed some aspects of this book, but as Amanda said, Hemingway's portrayal of women is really grating. It's the same in For Whom the Bell Tolls and a few others. They are all brainless and thrilled to just dote on the main character. If you ever get the chance I'd highly recommend A Moveable Feast, it's my fav Hemingway.

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  7. Hello, I stopped by your blog today. I must admit I have never read any of Hemingway's books. This was a great review.
    Ann

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  8. I just noticed you live in Surrey. I was born in London and lived near the Crystal Palace for years before moving to the U.S.
    Ann

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  9. Great review. I didn't find this an easy read at all and am glad you found it "enjoyable and meaningful". Although I can enjoy books about WW2, WW1 books leave me cold - hard to explain why!

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  10. I am not a Hemingway fan in the slightest although I keep hearing this is the one of his to read. Might have to give him another shot. Great review, glad to have found your blog. Looking forward to coming back for more.

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  11. I agree with so much of your review, this was one of my first Hemingways as well and I'm sure that when I do reread it, there will be so much more there that I passed over the first time. Excellent review.

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  12. @ Avid Reader: I agree that many of Hemingway's female characters are less than inspiring and certainly do act in an 'airhead' manner but there are occasional expections, a good one being the female protagonist in the Hemingway short story 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber' considered by some to be one of his best works.
    I have 'A Moveable Feast' on order at the moment but it hasn't arrived yet :o)

    @ Cozy in Texas: I hope you plan to read some Hemingway eventually, he really was a remarkable writer although not everyone likes his style. I was born in London myself, it's a great place and I don't get to visit as often as I'd like

    @ Tom C: What was it about the book that you found difficult? I know Hemingway's unique style doesn't appeal to everyone but I personally found his sparse style quite refreshing

    @ Padfoot & Prongs: What other Hemingway books have you read? I have read 3 now and frankly the best is 'The Old Man and the Sea' it is the book that won him the Nobel Prize for literature

    @ Clover: Thanks, I am looking forward to re-reading it eventually especially after I have read some of his other works

    Chris

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  13. Hi Chris, Perhaps I should just link you back ot my review, which will explain a lot better than I could do here why I disliked it: http://zenleaf.amandagignac.com/2010/08/a-farewell-to-arms-by-ernest-hemingway.html

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  14. @ Amanda: Thanks for your response. I read your review and I'd like to start by saying it is a very good review and I did chuckle at the introduction ;o)

    I never felt as though Hemingway's characters weren't real people. I've said in previous reviews I personally feel he shows you his characters then allows you to develop them yourself; imagine their own motives and thoughts however, this can backfire if a reader doesn't find the characters appealing from the off.

    I have a personal interest in the first and second world wars so I tend to lap up books set durng that period as well as non-fiction so I liked the premise of the book from the start (if that makes sense) so I never felt overly challenged reading it.

    Female characters in Hemingway's books have been a bone of contention for me in the past. Another blogger hit the nail on the head when she said (I believe it was Avid Reader) that the women were Hemingway's perception of what women were rather than what women are really like.

    I actually found Catherine Barker very irritating but I just tried my best to ignore her and still mananged to really enjoy the book but I would go as far as to say that if she had been a different character and less annoying the book probably would have got a 5

    There were many more characters and different stories in Farewell to Arms than in Old Man and the Sea which was very straightforward...perhaps thats why you got the impression Farewell was 'sloppy'? I felt it was more ambitious than Old Man.

    I guess books don't speak to everyone, I've tackled several books in the past which are hailed as 'classics' and 'must reads' but I hated them! lol I guess thats whats so great about books

    Take care and thanks for the discussion :o)

    Chris

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  15. Hi Chris! Thanks for the discussion. It was actually me who said that about the women being how Hemingway saw them. :) I don't think it's the multiple character/story thing because I really adored For Whom the Bell Tolls and that was even more complicated. But like I said in my review, I think it has to do with me never penetrating that skin and getting to where I could really see the characters for who they were, so that they all FELT like they weren't real. I'm sure this defficiency is entirely on my side, but it was an interesting experience because I can understand better when people say they just don't "get" Hemingway. I definitely want to read more by him, but I have to admit I'm biased towards his later works and a little more afraid of those younger ones.

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