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Colin Baldwin's Reviews > A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms
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What a strange and sometimes hollow novel.
It’s my first Hemingway and someone suggested that could have been my mistake.
I see it’s often well received and reviewed by other Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ users and I’ve found some reviews well-written and interesting. I can’t include myself as a big fan.
I did some post-read research to see what I could be missing.
Seems to be a fair bit written about the meanings behind Hemingway’s use of rain, snow, plus his use of convincing, realistic, clipped dialogue. I’m not convinced.
I understand his unadorned writing style was somewhat trailblazing, and it’s been suggested this was a reaction to the descriptive-laden style of, among others, Hardy, the Brontës and Jane Austin. Hemingway worked tirelessly to self-edit and delete ‘unnecessary� words. My feeling is he might have gone too far.
Interestingly, my former German lecturer said it was the first English text she got to read.
I commented that for me the writing, was simplistic and sometimes juvenile.
‘Exactly,� she replied. ‘That’s why it was such a good choice for my first English novel�.
I’ll leave it at that.
2.5 stars rounded up.
It’s my first Hemingway and someone suggested that could have been my mistake.
I see it’s often well received and reviewed by other Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ users and I’ve found some reviews well-written and interesting. I can’t include myself as a big fan.
I did some post-read research to see what I could be missing.
Seems to be a fair bit written about the meanings behind Hemingway’s use of rain, snow, plus his use of convincing, realistic, clipped dialogue. I’m not convinced.
I understand his unadorned writing style was somewhat trailblazing, and it’s been suggested this was a reaction to the descriptive-laden style of, among others, Hardy, the Brontës and Jane Austin. Hemingway worked tirelessly to self-edit and delete ‘unnecessary� words. My feeling is he might have gone too far.
Interestingly, my former German lecturer said it was the first English text she got to read.
I commented that for me the writing, was simplistic and sometimes juvenile.
‘Exactly,� she replied. ‘That’s why it was such a good choice for my first English novel�.
I’ll leave it at that.
2.5 stars rounded up.
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Reading Progress
February 21, 2022
– Shelved
February 21, 2022
– Shelved as:
to-read
December 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
classics
October 6, 2023
–
Started Reading
October 7, 2023
–
13.65%
"It’s taken me a few chapters to get comfortable with Hemingway’s well-known unadorned style, but I’ve warned to it.
And there’s this:
‘I wish there was some place we could go, I said. I was experiencing the masculine difficulty of making love very long standing up.
Ummm"
page
40
And there’s this:
‘I wish there was some place we could go, I said. I was experiencing the masculine difficulty of making love very long standing up.
Ummm"
October 13, 2023
–
Finished Reading
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Marijke
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Oct 13, 2023 04:19AM
Hemingway is a writer, I think, best appreciated in the totality of his work, rather than one individual novel. I would encourage you tiro try another. And another. Maybe not to like/enjoy them, but to learn more about his style. You are correct about the self-editing and sparse nature. I think you have to take some time to let it make sense. I am not a huge Hemingway fan and it has been a long time since I read one, but I can at least feel like I recognize and appreciate the way he developed and attended to his literary purpose and priorities, and the way he delivered timeless stories.
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Marijke wrote: "Hemingway is a writer, I think, best appreciated in the totality of his work, rather than one individual novel. I would encourage you tiro try another. And another. Maybe not to like/enjoy them, bu..."Good points, Marijke. Thanks.
Yes, I hope to read at least another one soon.
Cheers from CB
Have to give you props for your honest review Colin. I have never been able to get through a Hemingway novel, I find them dense and just filled with words - not meaning. But that's just me...
Hemingway was way overrated. He essentially wrote the same "Doomed Romance" story three times in his classic Big Three Novels that made him famous. His Africa stories may be his best. The Old Man and the Sea is a decent, simple book. But critics and literary experts made him famous. In his early classics, he used a lot of symbolism that got the literary crowd all in a tither. By the time he wrote The Old Man and the Sea, he just wanted to write a simple fishing story. He laughed at those who read all kinds of symbolism into his straightforward fish story he based on a Cuban fishing friend of his. He also hated the movie with an overweight Spencer Tracy in the lead role. Hemingway has some really terrible novels out there (like To Have and To Have Not), but literary creatures were afraid to give them a frank assessment because of his legend. The balance of Hemingway's life is sad. He was a weak vapid drunken celebrity womanizer constantly trying to affirm his macho persona. He was a genuine hero in WWI where he drove a Red Cross ambulance on the Italian front. So he had nothing to prove. But he couldn't help himself. Stay honest.
Morgan wrote: "Have to give you props for your honest review Colin. I have never been able to get through a Hemingway novel, I find them dense and just filled with words - not meaning. But that's just me..."I totally get what you say, Morgan.
Cheers.
CB
RANGER wrote: "Hemingway was way overrated. He essentially wrote the same "Doomed Romance" story three times in his classic Big Three Novels that made him famous. His Africa stories may be his best. The Old Man a..."Thanks for your informative comments, Ranger.
I did see a doco on Hemingway, not that far back. It was debating whether he was a mysogonist etc., and old female friends came to his defence saying he adored women.
I think his words speak for themselves, in most part.
Yeah. 'The Old Man and the Sea' might have been the better choice for me. One day, maybe.
CB
Ineke wrote: "I like you German lecturer’s synopsis. Good review. And just for info I’ve never been tempted� the first few pages in a bookstore was enough for me� 😌"Thanks for the feedback and comments, Ineke. (thumbs up)
Cheers from CB
Your honest review has made me feel that I am not alone in the reading world for not being a Hemingway fan. I have certainly tried but just can't seem to appreciate his writing. Thanks for making me feel that I am not a complete dummy!!!
Brilliant and honest review, Colin! I agree, I had a similar feeling with this book. I found Nevil Shute’s Pastoral to be a much more beautiful World war II love story. I cannot always come to emphasize with Hemingway’s dry and stark prose style.
Jill wrote: "Your honest review has made me feel that I am not alone in the reading world for not being a Hemingway fan. I have certainly tried but just can't seem to appreciate his writing. Thanks for making m..."Ah. Glad to be of service, Jill. INSERT SMILEY FACE.
I can't claim to be a fan either way yet, until I read at least one other Hemingway. Willing to give him another shot, but only after I get through some of my current 'to read' list.
Cheers from CB
Kushagri wrote: "Brilliant and honest review, Colin! I agree, I had a similar feeling with this book. I found Nevil Shute’s Pastoral to be a much more beautiful World war II love story. I cannot always come to emph..."Also good to see I was not alone in this, but also appreciate other views that are more favourable than mine. It just missed the mark for me. I didn't respond to the sparse writing style and sounds as though you were the same, Kushagri. It's what makes GRs so great, eh?
Cheers from CB
Colin: Part of the difficulty in reading Hemingway novels & short stories is that the profile of the author, part of which E.H. was responsible for, interferes with an appreciation of his work. Beyond that many haters of Hemingway's fiction have never read Hemingway. What happens is that folks like "Ranger", with his references to the "literary crowd" heap disdain on a Nobel laureate author for reasons that have nothing to do with his prose.I've been a bullfight in Spain and hated ever moment, rooting for the bull, while the Spanish families enjoyed the cultural spectacle, viewing the tradition from a completely different perspective. Similarly, to dislike Hemingway's fiction because you dislike bullfights would represent a similar misjudgement. What is of critical importance is the authors words in telling a story. Good writers and Ernest Hemingway most certainly stands among them, teach us how to view life from a different angle. Oddly enough, I did not notice any commentary in your review of A Farewell to Arms on the novel itself. Bill
Quo wrote: "Colin: Part of the difficulty in reading Hemingway novels & short stories is that the profile of the author, part of which E.H. was responsible for, interferes with an appreciation of his work. Bey..."Good points and thanks for the feedback, Quo.
Often I arrive at a book/novel through contacts or conincidences - quite subjective, I confess.
I do enjoy reading detailed reviews (good and bad - which makes GRs the more interesting) once I've finished with the read.
Cheers from CB
Colin: Thanks for the response, as Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ provides a forum for all sorts of books & readers. Two years ago, I read a paper (essay) for the Chicago Literary Club in, "Myths & Motifs in Search of E.H.", in which I tried to show that what Hemingway wrote was vastly different than what many people thought he wrote, confusing his public aura with his fiction. This was partly the authors' doing because at times he liked to wear masks. Two books that helped me to view him differently were, Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson and Hemingway, A Biography by Mary Dearborn, both outstanding efforts at attempting to locate the man behind the masks. (Dearborn's in the only one I am aware of by a woman & was particularly interesting in its critical analysis of the author.)
I will read more of your reviews in future. But having spent a great deal of time in Great Britain, hiking to Canterbury, climbing Ben Nevis, trekking to Hasworth in West Yorkshire and Lindesfarne, paying a visit to the islands of Mull, Iona to the west & Sark to the south, I can't begin to fathom where your island is located. Bill
