In today’s review, we’re going back to the World War One era for some romance in “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway.
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
Hemingway, I always knew, even before reading anything from him, has a reputation of being straightforward in his prose. That’s well earned, in my opinion, in this novel. He explains enough to set the scene, sketch the characters, and moves the plot forward efficiently, and even in the slower moments, I didn’t feel he lingered anywhere needlessly. Just because the story is told in this way doesn’t diminish its more literary qualities, like his use of symbolism and possible double meanings.
It’s an interesting meditation on World War One at a time well before World War Two, while that first great war was fresh in the minds of contemporary readers at the time. All fiction and nonfiction written about the first World War after the second one is written through the lens of that second war—it’s inevitable. So, it’s fascinating to observe that conflict through the eyes of people who don’t have the assumptions brought of WWII—even if the conflict’s scope is limited to Italy in this novel.
For all his machismo, I didn’t feel that Hemingway glorified the war in any way. It was thankless and terrifying work that was often administered ineptly in this part of the war. The people who fought in it did so because of a combination of youthful ignorance or were pressed into fighting. The reasons for the fighting often eluded and frustrated the common soldier. “A Farewell to Arms” paints that picture well; of a modern war fought by people who were still coming to terms with what that meant—usually slaughter on an industrial scale.
What I don’t love about this book:
A lot of the secondary cast of characters are a bit thin, especially the Italian ambulance drivers that serve alongside the American protagonist. I’ve considered that maybe this is an intentional choice since this story is first and foremost a romance story set during this time period. You could argue this simulates new love’s narrowing focus, where all your attention seems to be drawn back to your new paramour.
The protagonist clearly has an unaddressed problem with alcohol, like Hemingway, I suspect, that I wasn’t a big fan of in this story. Why constantly introduce the element in copious detail? If the messaging was just, this guy likes to drink, and that’s fine. Hemingway is so spartan about everything else that it’s odd that he chooses to waste words going on about the various liquor consumed. There is a bit about jaundice, possibly related to alcoholism, but it doesn’t really go anywhere.
Also, there’s a real empathy problem with our protagonist that becomes apparent at the novel’s end.
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***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American, is serving in the Italian army’s ambulance corps. At this point, the conflict in Italy is primarily a frustrating stalemate, made worse from a recent cholera outbreak. Frederic’s personal life, however, takes an exciting turn when he meets and immediately becomes infatuated with an English nurse, Catherine Barkley.