Rating:  Summary: A Farewell to Arms Review: An experience sharing the emotion of those in war. The men involved in battle with entirely different backgrounds, forced to join in battle. It was enlightening from a woman's perspective, to see mens desires for women and the need they have towards intimacy. The friendship, betrayl and love was softening to the heart.
Rating:  Summary: Addresing Some Criticism Review: It seemed that most people enjoyed this book, but several people had complaints about a thing or two, some justified, others? Well... Justified Complaints: 1) Stilted Dialouge 2) Not Much Else Somewhat Justified 1) Lack of Plot Unjustified: 1) Simplistic Sentence Structure 2) Lack of Characterization -- Now, the three complaints I'm going to address all can be answered by a two word phrase "ICEBURG EFFECT" Now, for those of you who already know of the Iceburg effect, you might want to skip the next couple of sentences. THe Iceburg effect, plainly put, is only showing 11 percent of whats there, the rest being under the surface, this is acheived by simplistic sentence style, and sparse outward clues to motivation. The reason for this effect is to give the reader something to think about, at the same time allowing multiple ways to look at the same thing. -----Now, on to simplistic sentence style. One woman said that her three year old nephew used bigger words than Hemingway, BUT, look deeper into what her nephew is saying, and you'll probably find something along the lines of (Cricket Chirp). (That is, of course, unless her nephew is a genius of some sort, though judging from her aunt powerful review I don't believe this to be the case) -----I'm sorry if someone read this in hopes of it being a book review, I'll get to that. -----This book is probably one of the finest to come out of the First World War, and like many books of the time, (One Example: All Quiet on the Western Front) it carries a strong anti-war message(This may throw off some of those who ardently beieve in fighting for a cause, so I'll defend the pacifistic message by saying "You gotta understand, World War One was actually a bigger cluster (Add certain Word Here) than even the vietnam conflict (Ever notice when America loses its always called a conflict?)). -----Its the story of Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine, and argueably the best American love story ever written. (Second would probably be Lolita). As I said before, this novel works best under the surface, so thinking over what you've read and what certain things mean is quite rewarding. But if you're not into that and you don't think that using nickel words is a sign of stupidity, I still (reservedly) recommend this book because this, like several other Hemingways, works on the most basic level also.
Rating:  Summary: I could not put it down Review: I work in the field of Leadership Development and often have to trudge through books that are about as fun to read as watching paint dry. This book was a welcome respite from the management and corporate lingo I normally have to suffer through. This book reads like a fine wine goes down, soft and smooth. Hemingway will just come out of nowhere and you think you are reading the greatest paragraph ever written. When thinking about issues such as should we go to war or not, this book deals with the pros and cons and the human toll war places on all participants. The love story between Catherine and the Lieutenant is a classic, but more so is the writing about the War. This book is a classic and can be read in one night, it is just that good. Hemingway is so simple, yet, deep, not many writers can even come close to achieving what he does in this book. I look forward to reading another Hemingway novel.
Rating:  Summary: Hemingway's greatest book Review: I have read this book four times over the past thirty years. To that end, I appreciate it more with each reading. Hemingway is a powerful writer. He says little but suggests so much with his prose. This book is about love and war on the Italian Front in World War I. It is also a canvas of words rich in colors and full of emotions. Hemingway is one of America's greatest writers and "A Farewell to Arms" is a national treasure.
Rating:  Summary: great! Review: One of the greatest novels ever written by one of the finest novelists of all time. Ernest Hemingway was a master.
Rating:  Summary: The Best Hemingway Review: The BEST Hemingway and my personal favorite book of all time. It is "The Sun Also Rises" with more conflict, tension, and plot, and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" without the excess dialogue and with more twists, including a final twist (like the Old Man and the Sea) that has to be expected in a good Hemingway book.
Rating:  Summary: A Fine Piece of Work Review: This is the first Hemingway novel that I have read, and I think it is marvelous. Despite some other reviewers' opinions, I loved the writing style and thought the story was engaging. I can't wait to continue on with other works by this author.
Rating:  Summary: A great American Classic! Review: I only started reading Hemingway a couple of years ago, yet I have become a huge fan of Papa Hemingway. His brutally economic writing style is simply fascinating. A masterful command of the English language! "A farewell to arms" is the unforgettable story of this novella's protagonist, Lt. Frederic Henry (often referred to as Tenente). He was an American who during the World War I volunteered to serve for the Italian Army Ambulance Corps. He becomes the first American to be wounded in the war, and later receives the "Medal of Valor" for his deeds. Co-protagonist, Catherine Barkley, a beautiful British nurse, was working at the hospital where Tenente was later admitted after getting injured in the war. Shortly after Catherine and Tenente met, they started their affair. In the beginning of their affair, Henry was thinking of this purely as a way to pass time, and did not plan to get serious at all. But we all know that feelings can't be planned nor controlled, and soon enough their affair turned serious for both of them. Seldom is there a more hazardous combination than love and war. It is the love story that drives this novel forward, combined with the account of the war. It is easy to detect Hemingway's first hand familiarity with the World War I. This is Hemingsway's story, his endeavour to put into words the emotions he experienced, the environment that he was surrounded by, and the people he got to know. All characters are very well developed. The fact that every character is so very well developed with Hemingway's brutally spare style, makes it even more impressive. One of my favourites is Henry's friend, the priest Rinaldi whom believes in traditional values and who constantly suffers from the other soldier's teasing because of his beliefs. This novel represents a landmark in the genre of war fiction. It held my attention from beginning to end. It is a timeless classic, and I couldn't recommend it higher! A great read!
Rating:  Summary: Dissapointed Review: This book, quite simply, was very bland. For one thing, it is too easy to dislike the protagonist (why should I like him?). I agree that the sentence structure and grammar is, at times, quite bizzare. Can anyone tell me why Hemingway always, always uses a contraction? I paid very close attention to the entire book and I found only one time where he did not use it (probably a mistake on his part). The story easily disinterested me, but there are some segments within the book that have some action, and can provide for some relief. Bottom line -- I hate the main character, story [was bad](granted, at times it is a little interesting) , sentences bad.
Rating:  Summary: A Farewell To Papa Review: This is not a great book. It is not a good book. It is not even a fair book. This is a poor book. The plot is dull and pointless. The characters are hollow. The sentence structures are uninspired. I could not finish the book. Life is too short. Hemingway writes sentences like this. They are short and bland. Noun-verb-noun. Noun-verb-adjective. One dull sentence after another. Some sentences occur with no context to the surrounding text. It was raining and I drank some vermouth. After a while this becomes annoying. Wouldn't you agree? Do you feel your eyes just skimming the text? Not impressed with the writing? Not caring what will be said next? That's how I felt. Arrrrrgh ... (Breaking out of Hemingway-English.) My three year-old nephew speaks in longer, more complex sentences than this "giant" of literature, and he also has more interesting things to say! I stopped reading this book near the halfway point, after suffering through one shallow, directionless chapter after another. Despite conventional opinion, Hemingway did no great service to American literature in popularizing a style of writing such as this. Give me Melville; give me Twain; give me Poe or Hawthorne or Steinbeck or a hundred other American authors who wrote memorable stories with true style. But PLEASE don't give me any more "Papa" Hemingway.
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