A Farewell to Arms (edit title)

• Rated 1 stars

“Did I ever hate this story! Supposedly about WWI, there was no actual war going on in the book -- it was all about the characters bailing out and, in the process, detrroying their lives. Second-most-depressing ending in history, second only to the end of "Johnny Got His Gun." The only bright spot in the story was when the girl behind me in English class explained that the title of the book must have meant that the protagonist went back to the front and got his arms blown off.”

• Rated 2 stars

“too much meaningless, wandering dialogue...”

• Rated 2 stars

“A war-time "romance" between two very odd and dysfunctional people, A Farewell to Arms takes place during World War 1. The majority of the book takes place in Italy, although the conclusion occurs after the couple escapes to Switzerland, avoiding the protagonist's arrest for desertion.

Ok, so some of the writing was interesting, but I found the book itself depressing. Now I remember why I have always avoided reading Hemingway! The conversations were strange - sometimes stilted, always disjointed, and rarely made much sense. The "love" between Henry and Catherine was odd - almost like they went from pretending to madness over each other. The only parts I really liked were the descriptions of places and what the retreat looked like. (And the ending was really depressing.)

Memorable lines: "Perhaps wars weren't won any more. Maybe they went on forever."”

• Rated 4 stars

“Earnest Hemingway almost writes a mills and boon..”

• Rated 2 stars

“I realize I am not a big Hemingway fan. His style is too blunt and simple for my taste.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I've read a Ernest Hemingway book. In case you missed that I've read a Ernest Hemingway book.

Frederic Henry is a American serving with an Italian ambulance unit during WWI.
Catherine Barkley is a English nurse stationed at the hospital.
They meet, fall in love, he gets blown up and sent to a different city, she gets transferred, she gets pregnant, he goes back to the front line......blah, blah, blah!

Did I like these people.....no.
Frederic was boring an wishy-washy, Catherine was stupid and a little crazy.
In fact I wondered if Ernest had ever had a conversation with a women after reading the main characters interaction.
The redeeming factors were his room-mate Rinaldi and the priest.
I cared about them and enjoyed getting to know their character quirks. The interaction between the male characters flowed beautifully. The scenes about the war very believable.

Will I ever read another Hemingway book? Probably not this is the first one I've been able to finish. Do I understand the importance of him as a writer......absolutely.
”

• Rated 5 stars

“The book is very touching and after watching the movie you might end crying. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“Required reading. Ugh.”

• Rated 1 stars

“It was awful. I fell asleep 3 times while reading it! ”

• Rated 2 stars

“I know this is a classics--for some reason--but I just couldn't get into it. The book moved so slow. It was sad, it was depressing, it was not my cup of tea.”