A Farewell to Arms
by Ernest Hemingway · 1929
Buy on AmazonA Farewell to Arms is about a love affair between the expatriate American Henry and Catherine Barkley against the backdrop of the First World War, cynical soldiers, fighting and the displacement of populations. The publication of A Farewell to Arms cemented Hemingway's stature as a modern American writer, became his first best-seller, and is described by biographer Michael Reynolds as "the premier American war novel from that debacle World War I."
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"I’ve recommended it because I think you have to. It’s considered one of the great classics. Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with Hemingway. I really admire him, he’s a very playful writer, I always enjoy him more than I expect to. But there is something so dudely bro-ish about him. I have to be in the right place for him. For most of the book I thought I liked it less than For Whom the Bell Tolls . I didn’t think it would place in my pantheon of novels-that-I-love. Then I read the ending. I’m not going to tell you much, but let me just say that the ending is one of the most spectacular pieces of writing. It’s mind-blowing. So, so good. And the writing is just… virtuosic. It’s like listening to Mozart. Incredible. It did. It has this very uncompelling insta-love—you know, man sees pretty woman, he is now in love with her—which I find very tiresome. But, as I said, it’s worth the read for the ending alone."
The Best First World War Novels · fivebooks.com
The Atlantic's The Great American Novels · theatlantic.com
"I am rereading for the third time overall and second time in three years A Farewell to Arms."
By the Book: Ken Burns · nytimes.com
"I can't say why I waited so long to read them, but I'm glad I've read them now at this time in my life. I think I understand them better than I would have at, say, 19."
By the Book: Sa Cosby · nytimes.com