Review of 'A Farewell to Arms'
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway
Set in World War 1, Lieutenant Frederic Henry is an Italian-speaking American serving a relatively easy life in the Italian Army as an officer directing ambulance drivers. Frederic meets an attractive English nurse Catherine who becomes attracted to him but a short time later while eating dinner with other drivers he is wounded in a mortar attack. Recovering at a hospital in Milan, he requests Catherine as a nurse and they develop a strong relationship with her visiting him as often as possible. When an older nurse discovers empty alcohol bottles she assumes this is the cause of the jaundice he was recently diagnosed with so he is sent back to the front while learning that Catherine is three months pregnant. Returning to service Frederic discovers the war is not going well and that the Italians are going to suffer hugely. As retreat is sounded there is mayhem and Frederic's growing anti-military feelings lead him to desertion…
One of the criticisms of Hemmingway has been in the romanticizing of war, a criticism I suspect might be strongly aimed at “A Farewell to Arms” but, on the contrary though there is a fair amount of romance here, of the war, there is no romance at all with fairly vivid and horrible scenes etched into the reader's minds. This is book of finding one's way in life, finding out what is most important and deciding to do whatever it takes to preserve it. We see Frederic transition from a careless, free-wheeling “child” to becoming a thoughtful and caring man – discovering his humanity. Though many of the exact events being described are lost upon the reader the sentiment is very clear.
Unsurprisingly, the book contains a number of stereotypes of the time including casual racism and the beautiful woman with little thoughts of her own (other than to love her man) but putting that aside this is a serious critique of war and the triumph of love. As a word of warning, much like life in general don't expect there to be a happy ending.
I found this book not as easy to read as other works by Hemmingway due to the large number of unfamiliar place names as the characters move through the story. The dialogue, however, is as sharp and real as ever as are the vivid images he casts of what is going on.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2025-04-13
Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Publication Date: 1929