A Farewell to Arms
“But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.”
3.5/5 ⭐
Although I have read several Hemingway short stories (every high school class has read “Hills Like White Elephants” at least once), this is the first novel of his I’ve read. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The book follows a WW1 ambulance driver, Lieutenant Henry, that falls for an English nurse, Catherine Barkley. A simple love story, set in the worst circumstances, told very well. It is deadly serious one moment—showing the war in all its horror—and hilarious the next. The dialogue, though not particularly realistic, is unfailingly entertaining.
I have always been a fan of Hemingway’s cut and dry writing style, but it is definitely not for everyone. If you like dialogue tags, vivid descriptions, or internal monologues, this is not the book for you.
Say it is raining in a scene, don’t expect a full paragraph describing the sound of the rain of the roof; you will get one line, “It was raining,” and we move right along. That is not a bad thing, for me. I was emotionally hooked and felt the impact of the devastating and infuriating moments just as strongly despite the style.
Published in 1929, this book shows its age. Take this line of dialogue from Catherine to Henry, “I want what you want. There isn’t any me any more. just what you want…you see? I’m good. I do what you want.” Sadly, her dialogue is this ridiculous the whole way through. (Although I have seen some argue this is intentional, it felt over the top nonetheless).
I was prepared to read a book about war, but found I was reading a book about the hopelessness of love in war. It contrasts the chaotic horror of war with intimate, quiet moments of love and the desperate need to escape one for the other. Whatever the cost.
It will sufficiently break your heart.
Some underline-worthy quotes:
“I was not made to think. I was made to eat.”
“Life isn’t hard to manage when you’ve nothing to lose.”
“There was a great contrast between his world pessimism and personal cheeriness.”
“I was blown up while we were eating cheese.”
