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A Farewell to Arms

By Ernest Hemingway

(251)

| Audio CD | 9780743564373

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Book Description

Hemingway's classic novel of the First World War

The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway's frank portrayal Continue

Hemingway's classic novel of the First World War

The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto -- of lines of fired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized -- is one of the greatest moments in literary history. A story of love and pain, of loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms, written when he was 30 years old, represents a new romanticism for Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer in the twentieth century, and for his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Ernest Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. As part of the expatriate community in 1920s Paris, the former journalist and World War I ambulance driver began a career that lead to international fame. Hemingway was an aficionado of bullfighting and big-game hunting, and his main protagonists were always men and women of courage and conviction, who suffered unseen scars, both physical and emotional. He covered the Spanish Civil War, portraying it in fiction in his brilliant novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and he subsequently covered World War II. His classic novella The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. He died in 1961.

Critics

  • A Farewell to Arms By Ernest Hemingway

    Ernest Hemingway said, My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way. And that best and simplest way, that tough, terse, two-fisted prose, had a profound and lasting influence on American writing. Hemingway wo ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

11 Reviews

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  • 2 people find this helpful

    Going to war with Ernest Hemingway is less traumatic than going on vacation with Thomas Mann

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    Leah said on Apr 2, 2011 about the Paperback edition | 2 feedbacks

  • 1 person find this helpful

    It looks bad to give three stars to Ernest Hemingway's first novel, which established him as a great author and as the voice of the 'lost generation'. However, the character of Catherine Barkley is simply not believable inasmuch as she is just the perfect embodiment of a male fantasy :subservient, b ... (continue)

    It looks bad to give three stars to Ernest Hemingway's first novel, which established him as a great author and as the voice of the 'lost generation'. However, the character of Catherine Barkley is simply not believable inasmuch as she is just the perfect embodiment of a male fantasy :subservient, brave, adoring and lacking a personality of her own. It may be because the novel is recounted from the perspective of the male protagonist, and yet it bothered me while reading it.

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    Marie Antoinette said on Jul 8, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

    After reading several reviews on “A Farewell to Arms,” I realized that most readers held complaints about Hemingway’s prose and sentence structure. To be honest, those superficialities are the least of my concerns. The curt, brusque way of writing may not be romantic or enticing, but it’s clean and ... (continue)

    After reading several reviews on “A Farewell to Arms,” I realized that most readers held complaints about Hemingway’s prose and sentence structure. To be honest, those superficialities are the least of my concerns. The curt, brusque way of writing may not be romantic or enticing, but it’s clean and it embodies the attitude of the book in its writing. Now. Judging from the title and from reading some of Hemingway’s other works, I guessed that this would be an anti-war novel, one that traces a soldier’s falling out with aspirations of honor and glory, giving way to disillusionment. I’ll say that I enjoyed the first part, where Fredrich interacted with his fellow cadets, notably Rinaldi and the Priest, who may well have been my favorite character.

    (Disclaimer: I realize that if anyone had a right to criticize Hemingway, I would be the last person fit for the job, so forgive me for taking the liberty of doing so now.) My problem was the second part of the book. The plot strayed completely from the fight in the front, and focused on Fredrich’s relationship with Catherine. Funny, because the reason I had disliked the book until then was the relationship between the two. My main problem point was the female protagonist, Catherine. I don’t know how embittered Hemingway was about women, but the way he portrayed Catherine didn’t give me any reason to love her, even sympathize with her. In a way, she’s a depiction of a model woman—loving, devoted, practical—but excessive emotions draw out the artificial, making her seem flat and dull. Maybe Hemingway wrote it that way on purpose, but I don’t believe he did it intentionally. Would be it be right to say that Fredrich and Catherine’s love was artificial? (Yes.) With the war taking a back seat, the latter part of the book takes on a new theme, as Fredrich finds a new job of constantly soothing Catherine’s insecurities, while she becomes increasingly volatile and demanding for love. My only consolation is to look at it from a defeatist perspective. Both know that the relationship has no grounds and cannot work. Both are too taxed and emotionally castrated from the effects of the war. Unwilling to accept reality, they stubbornly keep at it, while having to convince themselves, “This is the life I wanted, isn’t it? Yes, yes it is.” It would make sense too. The spells of languid serenity that the two enjoy are a sort of fabricated peace. The war still rages on and there is no escaping it; they attempt to blot it out, but there is no use denying its existence. The child within Catherine is a symbol of hope, but death wins out, upprotting happiness; misery speedinly runs into take its place. As morbid as it is, that interpretation would satisfy my main objection to the book. The two interpretations (true love versus desperate scrabbling to find it) lead to the same outcome but are diametrically opposed at the root. Case 1, true love, would make the PDA intolerable; Case 2, not only tolerable, but completely relatable.

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    fruitfulfig said on Mar 23, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivalled in modern literature, while ... (continue)

    The story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivalled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto - of lines of tired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized - is one of the greatest moments in literary history. A story of love and pain, of loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms, written when he was 30 years old, represented a new romanticism for Hemingway.

    Is this helpful?

    Brian Gilberthorpe said on Jul 18, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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9780743564373 Audio CD $39.95 $34.15 bn.com
$39.95 $25.87 The Book Depository
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