Book Review A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms is about Frederick Henry, an American second lieutenant in the Italian army who falls in love with an English volunteer nurse named Catherine Barkley during the first World War. After Henry is wounded, he is sent the hospital where Catherine is stationed. This where their love affair begins. After healing, Henry returns to the war effort, only to later desert the Italian army. He escapes with Catherine who becomes pregnant with his child. She dies due to complications during birth and Henry finally realizes that death is the end of all things: something that we learn Catherine already knew but Henry was unwilling to acknowledge until after hi
It mixes the combination of both love and violence very well. Again, one might argue that its symbolism is too apparent. It is supposed to symbolize death and destruction. This is one aspect I did enjoy, especially at the end when it was raining after Catherine had died. I agree, but not with this particular character. We are able to understand the feelings and messages sent in the conversations and scenes between Catherine and Henry and we are also able to interpret the raw, violent nature of war from the accounts given to the reader by Frederick Henry. I believe that the book would've been better if told in the third-person omniscient point-of-view so that the qualities of character, or I should say the lack thereof, in Frederick Henry wouldn't show as strongly. I just don't get whatever emotions Hemingway is trying to make us see with the constant understatements. As far as being a war novel and a love story, the book was very well done. I've read where Hemingway likes to add subtle symbols and understate events as if they were normal, every-day occurrences. But in this book, those things are too understated. One negative that does stand out in my mind is the blandness of the characters, Frederick Henry in particular. It's nice to have some emotion, sometime. For the most part, I enjoy those kinds of things in a book. Bibliography Ernest Hemingway.
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