Rating: 
Summary: A Great War Book
Review: A Farewell to Arms is a crude, grainy photograph of American (and European) attitudes at the end of the War. It feels entirely authentic. A pervasive emptiness fills the survivors, who are hollowed out in many ways by their experiences. Despite its quality, however, A Farewell to Arms has little to offer readers except a disillusionment similar to that of its characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: At first, I thought it was slow but then it got interesting. It keeps your attention. About love and war!! Excellent reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Written like a Renoir painting.
Review: In Hemingway novels, as in the works of many great writers, the reader becomes immersed in the story. Hemingway stories are like a Renoir painting. In _A Farewell To Arms_ we see the Italian rural countryside and parts of the city of Milan from the beginning of this century when it was engulfed in the conflicts of World War I. The scenes are unforgettable. There is inherent within this story a real drama of war. We glimpse parts of that which actually traumatized Hemingway's early life. It was a powerful event which came to influence the philosophical context of much of Hemingway's remaining years. It helped formulate, too, that famous personal creed he later termed "grace under pressure." This experience was perhaps the dominant influence of the writer's life. In _A Farewell to Arms_ we the readers get to see parts of that reality. _Farewell_ is, of course, also a love story. And it is a story of loss. In the terror and random chaos of war it would seem that normality becomes idealized. To reach safety is to prevail; to find peace is to triumph; to grasp love is to attain bliss. For most of us these are commonalties. But to a young American and his English nurse lover caught up in war, it might seem a melancholy dream. This, then, is the story of the two who would reach for the allusion, and who would almost make it. It is a memorable novel. Anyone who has read the scene of the Italian retreat at Gorzia will not soon forget it. Officers were singled out from among the muddy masses and summarily executed for their mere presence. It was symbolic of the haphazard futility as the author viewed if of the times. Hemingway once said that after Tolstoy no one has ever been able to write the war novel quite so well. In _A Farewell To Arms_ he comes as close as anyone you will ever read.
Rating:
Summary: A Good, Clean Book
Review: Hemmingway is much maligned these days. He has been dismissed as overt and self-consciously macho, has been often parodied, and is slowly being edged out of the traditional modern literature canon. It's easy to forget that without Hemmingway there wouldn't have been much of what's in vogue these days---both the best of crime fiction and the best of magic realism owe much to him. Writing, both as a physical act and as the inner pivots of a story, takes center stage in his novels and books. They are not so much about something as they are about the *writing-about* that something. Thus, in _A Farewell to Arms_, conversations, physical descriptions, the horrors and visions of war all seem to point not to the acts but to the rush of words, sometimes bare and sometimes richer than Hemmingway gets credit for. Writing is the thing. In his novels and short stories it is writing, the art and craft of it, that takes center stage---it is a very neat form of mimesis, one that helps explain why _A Farewell to Arms_ is such a page turner even after you realize, when the last page is turned, that nothing much seems to have happened. The critical commentary appended to the novel is very helpful. Sometimes, however, it leads the reader astray---too much human-interest detracts from the construct (the real life-story is considerably less exciting, and not as well written (my apology to the commentators) as the fiction), and questions of politics are not, in the end, as interesting as questions of form. Hemmingway's sentences are a delight; they are all about form. Everything in a good Hemmingway novel flows so well, his prose is so well oiled, that you don't realize until the end that you've been taken for a ride in a very elaborate high-tech machine. The commentary helps you slow down and allows you to enjoy the view, and to appreciate the periods, and the commas, and Hemmingway's endless strings of ands.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: This book is far better than nay other Hemingways I've ever read. The explicit details and beautiful language catches me. In my opinion, this is a classic piece of Hemingway, and should be part of anyone's collection anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: A self-portrait - thinker
Review: A wonderful self indulging and revealing piece from the author. Better as it went. An easy read that gets your head thinking before its over. What's this all about? Hemingway?! I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely. Classic Hemingway.
Review: Classic Hemingway genius. His tersity, lack of broad flourishes, only amplifies the miraculous character development and atmosphere. Better than "The Sun Also Rises", in my opinion, but of similar style. Really a quick read, but delicious all the way along. Highly recommended for a breath of fresh air from the rut of other novels, either modern or literary.
Rating:
Summary: The Romance of a Lifetime
Review: I am just a teenager, but I think this is one of the best novels I have ever read! It truly touched me and I felt I came to know and care for the characters. It is easy to read and has a captivating plot. When I finally reached the last sentence I turned the page hoping to find more, but unfortunately disappointed, and yet satisfied. This novel is very enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: A romatic, a tragic story
Review: A FAREWELL TO ARMS is the best classic book I've ever read. It portrays very well the first world war. The end of the book really shocked me but I still think that it's a great novel.
Rating:
Summary: Simply put, this is a great novel
Review: This book was able to touch me in a way that few novels ever have. Hemingway's simple and direct prose can be decieving, because underneath there is powerful emotion. I found myself thinking about passages from the novel for days after having read it. It will make you happy, but unfortunately, it will also make you cry. The story of Henry and Catherine will grab you and not let go until the tragic end. An incredible reading experience. "A Farewell to Arms" is Hemingway's greatest novel. It surpasses "The Sun Also Rises" as well as "For Whom the Bell Tolls", which are also great works by Hemingway.
|
