Book: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Frederick Henry is an American man in the Italian Army as an Ambulance Driver. He is rather stoic while he sees war fold around him. Frederick sees other soldiers and often talks about the war with them. Overtime he begins to posses growing dismay for the war as he collects stories from other soldiers. He even hears of some soldiers who injure themselves to get out of fighting. This leads him to ponder why, but Frederick still does not fully understand the conflicts war can create until he meets Cathrine Barkley, a nurse on the Italian lines.
After a few meetings with Catherine at night, Frederick starts developing some feelings for her; however, he still is unable to convince himself that he loves her. It is only after Frederick himself experiences injury from the war that he begins to understand the words of the other soldiers. He begins to understand that he takes love for granted. This is when Frederick begins to desire for the war to end and fosters the idea to leave the war with Catherine. Nevertheless, he still is not completely taken by the idea of leaving his comrades and current lifestyle behind. Therefore, Frederick is faced with the conflict of choosing the side of love or war. This dire situation captures my interest. And after careful consideration of the title and plot so far, I believe this conflict will be resolved by Frederick saying a farewell to arms and living his life with Catherine.
Hello Dhruv, I was reading through all the posts that everyone has made, and your book really struck a chord with me. The concept of looking through war, not through a soldier, or an officer, or a civilian, as in a typical war novel, but an ambulance driver, is extremely encapsulating, and something that has not been explored as much as the other perspectives I listed. It is also very interesting that because of his position, Frederick does not have a direct understanding of the war, and he has to learn as he goes.
For the most part, the era of World War II really interests me, as it almost like the perfect story of good vs. evil (for the most part), yet it takes place in our real world, just less than one hundred years ago. Ernest Hemingway is also an author that I have only heard good things about, so that is a plus! Overall this book already has me hooked, and only after the couple paragraphs I’ve read in your blog. Amazing! This boom is definitely on my “next to read” list. Thank you for the info!