m4rtt4's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hemingway is one of those "must read" authors, whom I personally have never been interested to read, but I couldn't base my opinion on just prejudice and so I decided to read this — and yeah, it was awfully average. What annoyed me the most was the protagonist's lack of interest in his surroundings, he was very passive about everything and we didn't get to hear his inner voice, feel his emotions — anything much at all — so how was I supposed to care or cheer for him? If I wanted to read an objective war story, I'd much rather read non-fiction!
kinda spoiler but I thought the name Farewell to Arms had a deeper symbolic meaning, something around how war is bad and violence is never the solution, but no, it was just about this American man leaving the Italian army because as a foreigner there will be no negative consequences to him or his own home country. bruh.
kinda spoiler but
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, War, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy
erinjandacreative's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I think this is one of the only fictional books I’ve read set during the First World War. Additionally, it is one of the few books I’ve read that follows the experiences of the soldiers in the war. Obviously this book is fictional and was perhaps inspired by some of Ernest Hemingway’s own real life experiences, but I found this story to be eye-opening, touching, and intimate.
The dialogue throughout the story is so realistic to how people converse. The descriptions of the landscape and the natural world are also stunning and vivid. Even if you aren’t familiar with the parts of Italy and Switzerland described in the book, you can see the mountains, lakes, and valleys so clearly in your mind as you read the words.
One of my favorite quotes from the book occurs in Chapter 34: “The world breaks every one and afterword many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
This book is tragic and sad and yet so beautiful. Definitely one that I would recommend.
The dialogue throughout the story is so realistic to how people converse. The descriptions of the landscape and the natural world are also stunning and vivid. Even if you aren’t familiar with the parts of Italy and Switzerland described in the book, you can see the mountains, lakes, and valleys so clearly in your mind as you read the words.
One of my favorite quotes from the book occurs in Chapter 34: “The world breaks every one and afterword many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
This book is tragic and sad and yet so beautiful. Definitely one that I would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Pregnancy
seanml's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
There aren't many things to say about A Farewell to Arms, but then again there doesn't need to be. Isn't that the whole point of Hemingway? Yes, Hemingway was not the greatest person to live, and because Lieutenant Henry is a near-self insert, the thought comes up from time to time. Somewhat apathetic, privileged and nonchalantly racist, the main character doesn't change those qualities very much. But that's not the point of the story anyways. Hemingway paints a very clear picture, using very little words, of the small daily pleasantries and happinesses of life - and their ultimate futility and inefficacy in comparison to the grandest of life's problems. It is a very somber gaze into the shadow of human history. 8.5/10.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Miscarriage, War, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs
arcadering's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Child death
Minor: Racial slurs
annoyingtwig's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
wish i was aymo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Violence, War, and Medical content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Racial slurs
hannasandmann's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I find it really hard to give a star rating to this book. I enjoyed reading it and I admire Hemingway's skill and I know I am going to come back to this book very often in my head, but quite often felt disconnected from what I think Hemingway's intentions were for the reader, e.g. I did not root for the romance at all. To the contrary, I hated their relationship. So the ending did not have the devestating effect on me, it could have had, had I actually enjoyed their relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Medical trauma, War, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
julianh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
sophee_568's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Don't take anything I've written here seriously.
Between 2.5 and 3. I'm pretty traumatized by this book. It's so dark and heavy. The last chapter was good because the writing finally clicked with me. I managed to relate to Frederic's suffering.
I didn't like most of the book because of multiple reasons. Firstly, I didn't care about the war. The main character worked as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front, and he told his side of the story during WWI. He was just a random guy, who drank a lot to suppress the horrors of war. Later on, he suffered a major injury to his legs and had to spend time in the hospital. After his legs were mostly healed, he was forced to go back to the front, which he didn't want to do. Understandable. Secondly, the whole romance was weird from the beginning. Catherine has a funny way of talking and she's such an insecure, submissive woman. It was tedious to read about Frederic and Catherine. Catherine's colleague nurse Ferguson is even worse. She seemed normal in the first half of the book but later, the scene where Frederic, Catherine, and Ferguson are in a restaurant happens. Ferguson's behavior was irrational and unnecessary. I think Hemingway really knew how to accentuate the "feminine" traits into absurdity.
Reading this book felt like watching a pointless war movie that was longer than it should have been. In the end, the course of the story completely changes because of Frederic's actions. That's where the story was slightly more interesting. It almost seemed like a slice-of-life story about a man and his pregnant wife living peacefully in the mountains. But alas, it had to be ruined for the sake of even further trauma. I heard that there were alternate endings to this book because Hemingway didn't know how to end the story. I think that only shows that maybe he should have written a different book. I don't want to come off as mean or rude. Is it too late to say that?
A Farewell to Arms is such a weird little book. Is it supposed to show the mundane terror of war? -Yes. Does it want to show a slow progression of a war-torn relationship between two random people? - Also yes. Except it was the most uninteresting, uninspiring story, with extremely dry simplistic writing. Although I have to give Hemingway props for that one sentence that spans a whole paragraph, where he talks about taking Catherine to Milan. I love a good long sentence. Also, he didn't seem to know where to put commas. Me too, Hem, me too.
Between 2.5 and 3. I'm pretty traumatized by this book. It's so dark and heavy. The last chapter was good because the writing finally clicked with me. I managed to relate to Frederic's suffering.
I didn't like most of the book because of multiple reasons. Firstly, I didn't care about the war. The main character worked as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front, and he told his side of the story during WWI. He was just a random guy, who drank a lot to suppress the horrors of war. Later on, he suffered a major injury to his legs and had to spend time in the hospital. After his legs were mostly healed, he was forced to go back to the front, which he didn't want to do. Understandable. Secondly, the whole romance was weird from the beginning. Catherine has a funny way of talking and she's such an insecure, submissive woman. It was tedious to read about Frederic and Catherine. Catherine's colleague nurse Ferguson is even worse. She seemed normal in the first half of the book but later, the scene where Frederic, Catherine, and Ferguson are in a restaurant happens. Ferguson's behavior was irrational and unnecessary. I think Hemingway really knew how to accentuate the "feminine" traits into absurdity.
Reading this book felt like watching a pointless war movie that was longer than it should have been. In the end, the course of the story completely changes because of Frederic's actions. That's where the story was slightly more interesting. It almost seemed like a slice-of-life story about a man and his pregnant wife living peacefully in the mountains. But alas, it had to be ruined for the sake of even further trauma. I heard that there were alternate endings to this book because Hemingway didn't know how to end the story. I think that only shows that maybe he should have written a different book. I don't want to come off as mean or rude. Is it too late to say that?
A Farewell to Arms is such a weird little book. Is it supposed to show the mundane terror of war? -Yes. Does it want to show a slow progression of a war-torn relationship between two random people? - Also yes. Except it was the most uninteresting, uninspiring story, with extremely dry simplistic writing. Although I have to give Hemingway props for that one sentence that spans a whole paragraph, where he talks about taking Catherine to Milan. I love a good long sentence. Also, he didn't seem to know where to put commas. Me too, Hem, me too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, and War
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