Product Description

In 1918 Ernest Hemingway went to war, to the 'war to end all wars'. He volunteered for ambulance service in Italy, was wounded and twice decorated. Out of his experience came A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway's description of war is unforgettable. He recreates the fear, the comradeship, the courage of his young American volunteer, and the men and women he meets in Italy, with total conviction. But A Farewell to Arms is not only a novel of war. In it Hemingway has also created a love story of immense drama and uncompromising passion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15881 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"'A most beautiful, moving and human book' Vita Sackville-West"

About the Author
Ernest Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899, the second of six children. In 1917, he joined the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter. The following year, he volunteered as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, where he was badly wounded but decorated for his services. He returned to America in 1919, and married in 1921. In 1922, he reported on the Greco-Turkish war before resigning from journalism to devote himself to fiction. He settled in Paris, associating with other expatriates like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. He was passionately involved with bullfighting, big-game hunting and deep-sea fishing. Recognition of his position in contemporary literature came in 1954 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.

Customer Reviews

Farewell to Arms
I like Hemingway because his stories are realistic. Life doesn't have many happy endings, but it has moments of great passion, romance and happiness along the way. This book is kind of like that. His short sentences and terse writing style cut right to the core of your emotions and help you feel all this book has to offer. A brilliant place to start your appreciation of one of histories greatest writers.

A fantastic tale of WW1
A wonderful tale where men and women of passion and action live, fight, love and die in scenes of drmamtic intensity. An involving story told the way only Hemingway can. I recommend this book to anyone especially if you like Hemingway's style of writing. An excellent read.

Exceptional in its Depiction of Manly Rapport
In A FAREWELL TO ARMS, the texture, pace, and content of the social interaction is absolutely spot-on when Lieutenant Frederic Henry, Hem's protagonist, mixes with his fellow officers, the soldiers in his command, various bartenders, and several nurses who mother him. While Frederic shows a slightly different face in each group, he is generally succinct, generous, self-aware, and subtle in his social mastery. IMHO, this Frederic is a genuine literary achievement and a reason, by himself, to read this terrific anti-war novel. At a minimum, AFtA certainly demonstrates that Hemingway has a fabulous gift for capturing manly rapport and virile presence.

At the same time, Hem doesn't seem to know how to handle Catherine Barkley, his only significant female character. In her presence, Hem seems out of his element, and the interaction between the sexes seems to contain only empty expressions. "You're awfully nice," is typical. Maybe Hem is saying that love is doomed during war and that lovers are reluctant to probe their commitment. Still, a couple together as much as Frederic and Catherine would enjoy some lighter or more natural moments, wouldn't they?

Nonetheless, the force driving this novel is The Great War, with the war-weary Frederic serving in the Italian army, suffering a serious wound, enjoying a discreetly sexy convalescence, returning to battle, and then making his separate (but tragic) peace. As told by Hemingway, this story abounds with male sports--mess hall razing, military duty, battle, and bold survival--that bring out the best in his terse style. When mortar shells explode in Frederic's shallow trench, for example, a writer who describes through sequences of quick impressions can be completely true to the moment.

AFtA achieves its status as a classic of American literature in Book III, when the Austrians and Germans break through the Italian lines and the Italian army undertakes a pathetic retreat, where the biggest threat is friendly fire. Then, the arbitrary dimension of war comes into perfect but non-polemical focus as Frederic, ready to regroup to make a stand, tries to cross the wooden bridge at the Tagliamento River. Highly recommended.