Title of Book: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Reviewer: Carole Twombly
Brief Summary of book:
This book is both a war story and a love story and both stories are tragedies. A Farewell to Arms tells the story of Lieutenant Henry, an American ambulance driver on the Italian front in World War I and Catherine Barkley, a beautiful British nurse Henry first meets in a nearby British hospital and begins an affair with. It also tells the story of trench warfare; a retreat from the front lines once the Germans have broken through near the town of Caporetto; and Frederic and Catherine’s desertion from the war and their escape to Switzerland.
Your thoughts on book:
I am afraid I have never been a fan of Hemingway and this book did not win me over. I found his emphasis on nouns and verbs rather than adjectives and adverbs and his use of short sentences gave a choppy and stilted flavor to the book. However his depiction of the war and the confused retreat from Caporetto is realistic and does not glorify war but emphasizes its horror and barbarism. Also I was quite moved, by the end of the novel, by the depth of the relationship that had developed between Frederic and Catherine and its tragic conclusion.
Why book was once banned: It was banned in 1929 in Italy because of its accurate account of the Italian retreat from Caporetto, Italy. In that same year it was banned in Boston most likely because of the sexual relationship between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley and the fact that they were about to have a child out of wedlock. It was burned in Germany in 1933; banned in Ireland in 1939; challenged in Dallas, Texas Independent School District high school libraries in 1974; and challenged as a “sex novel” by the Vernon-Verona-Sherill, New York School District in 1980.
Conclusion: It is a good and fair description of the chaos and futility of war. It is a love story full of passion and in the end tragedy. It is worth reading, although Hemingway’s sparse style takes some getting used to and a working knowledge of the war, especially in the Alps, is helpful.