Book Review: A Farewell to Arms

Title: A Farewell to Arms

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Genre: American Classic

Review:

Ahh...where to begin? I enjoyed Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea, but I'm afraid I can't say the same for A Farewell to Arms.  This is a love story. This is also a war story. But it's mostly a sorta depressing story. Let me explain: Catherine dies. The baby dies. Henry walks home in the rain.

Basically, this novel is about an American man who joined the Italian army just because he happened to be in Italy and spoke the language. Henry, the said man, decided to be an ambulance driver and take part of WWI. At first, he treated the war lightly, almost like a game. That didn't last long when he's almost killed by a mortar shell.

Catherine, another major character of the novel, his Henry's love interest. I'm sorry, but I truly couldn't stand Catherine. She's such a push over! I mean, she flat out told Henry to keep on lying to her if that makes him happy. And she keeps on asking "You do love me, right?" over and over and over again...I may being a bit unfair here, since the novel did mention that she lost her boyfriend to the war a few months ago. But still...her character just came through as weak to me.

Anyways, after Henry gets hit by the mortar shell, he ends up going to a hospital where Catherine takes care of him. He's also given a leave to recover and he spends basically all his time with Catherine and then Catherine finds out she's pregnant and then Henry gets sent back to the front lines.

Okay, I know I'm kind of jumping back and forth a bit, but I just have to get it out there: I did't like Henry either. I found him to be rather sexist and an alcoholic. So...when you dislike the 2 main characters of a book...you probably won't enjoy the book very much...which is basically what happened to me in this case. I feelings toward Henry did soften a bit towards the end of the book when he truly proves he does love and care for Catherine through and through. But it would be a like to say I actually liked his character.

Overall, this book was interesting enough to keep me flipping the pages (and also because it was a required school reading.) However, it should be noted that my review above is purely based on the book itself and does not account for the background info regarding A Farewell to Arms. As part of the lost generation, Hemingway sought to express themes such as: living life to the fullest, no one can escape death and grace under pressure through this novel. Background info about Hemingway will give readers more insight to this novel (why he chose war as a topic, the symbolism, etc.)

Rating:

transparent;" width="34px;" />