Book Report WAR PROJECT EDITION - A Farewell to Arms

Hemmingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York, NY. Scribner Paperback Fiction: 1995.

I read this book because first of all, I needed a non-fiction novel about World War I, and secondly, my mom said Hemming way is really good. I would call it historical fiction/romance I guess.

The book starts off in Italy during a summer in World War I. The main character and narrator, Henry, is an American lieutenant and he meets a British nurse named Catherine at a British hospital through his friend. They get close and Catherine asks Henry if he loves her, and he lies and says yes. Henry gets a wounded leg in battle and a doctor treats him before he is taken to the hospital. The doctors send him by train to a hospital in Milan where he will get better treatment but the night before a couple friends visit him. They let him know America has just declared war on Germany and Catherine will be serving at the hospital in Milan. When Catherine visits, Henry realizes he really is in love with her and they make love. They spend a lot of time with each other in Milan and they get acquainted with people in the town and go to things like horse races. The allied forces are not doing well and Henry's leg heals and gets three weeks of leave before he must return to battle. Catherine tells him she is 3 months pregnant. Henry gets sick and the hospital superintendent, Miss Van Campen finds empty liquor bottles under his bed and accuses him of purposefully making himself ill to avoid battle. She files a report that takes away his 3 weeks of leave and he is sent to battle again in the Bainsizza mountains. The Italian army is forced to retreat from the bombardment they recieve. Henry and his men separate from the large group and take a smaller road, before their car gets stuck in the mud, forcing them to continue on foot. On a bridge, they see German troops on a nearby bridge and are terrified. They hide in an abandoned farmhouse until nighttime, when they set out again and come across a large group of Italian troops being separated from each other by Battle Police. The Battle Police are singling out officers and interrogating them about how they are treacherous and were the reasons for the defeat. A nearby lieutenant colonelis questioned and then shot to death. Henry ecapes and jumps in the river, and avoids getting shot. After floating for a while he gets out and hops on a train. After he gets off in Milan, he goes to the hospital to find Catherine is in another city, Stresa. Henry finds her hotel and they are happy to see each other. They agree it would be nice to go to Switzerland and they go to bed. The next night the bartender warns Henry of military police coming to arrest him, and he sends Henry and Catherine with his row-boat to Switzerland on the river. After being caught by customs guards, they are taken to get visas to stay in Switzerland and stay in a hotel. The couple are moved in to a nice wooden house where they live a peaceful and romantic life for a while. In March, to be closer to a hospital, the couple moves and Catherine eventually goes into labor. She needs to have a C-Section. Afterwards, when he sees the doctor coem out with the baby, he rushes past them and talks to Catherine and tells her the baby is fine. The nurse takes him outside of the room and tells him the baby is dead because he was strangled by the umbilical cord. Henry gets dinner and returns to have the nurse tell him Catherine is hemmorraging. He is terrified and Catherine tells him she is going to die. Henry stays with her until she dies and tries to say good bye to her, but he finds it is like sayin bye to a statue. He then walks to his hotel in the rain.

Henry is interesting to me just because he is so ordinary. He wasn't some crazy hero or extra golden-hearted guy or anything and I think this makes him more appealing to me because i can relate to him a lot easier. At one point where a friend calls him a war hero, he even denies it and explains hy he isn't.

Honestly, I thought the book was kind of boring at times. Actually, it was really boring at times. But the action packed and romantic parts make up for the boring parts so overall I did like the book. It was fun to see how in love the two main characters are (yes, I'm touched by that kind of stuff) and te ending really evokes emotion from the reader.

When Henry escaped the Battle Police, I realized I would have done the same thing. Why should someone get accused of "treachery" just because they were forced to retreat from a violent battle that they couldn't have won anyway?

This was my first book from this author. I know Hemmingway wrote other classic books, like For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Old Man by the Sea and I think I will read them. I have no idea what they are about, but I think I like this author so I'll check them out sometime.