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kananineko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
toffishay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual content
m4rtt4's review against another edition
- 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
kinda spoiler but
Graphic: Death, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy
seanml's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and War
Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
mildlypretentiousreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
One could describe A Farewell to Arms as a love story set behind the backdrop of a war or a war story encompassed by a romance. Catherine and Frederick’s love story takes center stage as the war serves as a means to unify the two and also separate them. The war is a unifying and relatable event the two lovers are able to bound over. On the other hand, the romance serves as an escape from the traumatizing, taxing, and tiresome war. Catherine and Frederick escape their harsh realities with each other. I theorize that that is why their relationship progressed so quickly as well.
Either way, A Farewell to Arms is a visceral, passionate work of literature with undertones of the simplicity and pain that constitutes life. The juxtapositions and contradictions found with A Farewell to Arms lead to effortless yet sparse writing. This style allows the reader to focus on the essence of the story and the characters, and to experience their emotions without being distracted by extra descriptions.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the novel is the way in which Hemingway explores the concept of war. He does not present it as a heroic, noble endeavor, but rather as a senseless and brutal conflict that leaves its participants scarred and disenchanted. Throughout the novel, Henry struggles with his role in the war and his feelings of guilt at not being able to do more for the wounded soldiers he transports from the front lines.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and War
annoyingtwig's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Medical content, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racial slurs
birtelesemann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
hannasandmann's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
ameliez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Racial slurs
sophee_568's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War