A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway

Published 1929

American Novel

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Farewell to Arms has been on my shelf for so long, and I no longer remember where or when I acquired it. It's an old copy, too.

Understandably, some readers cast Hemingway off as difficult to appreciate. His writing style is unusual and his plots seem too elementary and pointless; but I know there is more to it than appears. Furthermore, his stories, which are told through his flawed and troubled characters, are quite effective (for a reader like me). My preference is to make relational connections to characters and undergo something emotional through their story; hence, I find that this has been my experience, thus far, with Hemingway.

The following review contains spoilers:

The plot is quite plain: the main character, Frederic Henry, is an American ambulance driver, in Italy, during World War I. He is interested in a beautiful nurse named Catherine. When he is severely injured, he is sent to a brand new hospital, in Milan. Catherine follows him there, where he spends several months in recovery, and cares for him. It is then that their relationship becomes serious and sexual.

Near the end of Frederic's recovery, Catherine tells him she is pregnant, and they plan to spend time off together. Unfortunately, as is typical with Hemingway's characters, Frederic is caught drinking a lot and abusing drugs, and he is sent back to work, away from Catherine.

In one event, Frederic and the Americans are helping the Italians retreat, but the vehicles in the convoy become stuck. Two soldiers won't obey Frederic's orders to help push the vehicles, and one attempts to flee; Frederic makes the terrible decision to fire on the soldier, killing him.

Now Frederic must either run or face the consequences; he decides to abandon the army. He sets out in a disguise to find his pregnant girlfriend, Catherine, which he does. Shortly after, they learn that he is to be arrested; therefore, he and Catherine make a wild plan to escape to Switzerland, by rowboat.

All seems like it is going well since they are permitted to stay in Switzerland, but when the time comes for Catherine to give birth, life takes a turn for the worst. You can only imagine. And that is sadly how the story ends.

End spoilers.

Again, I understand why this story would anger readers and cause them to write off Hemingway. I won't even make a case against it. But it was disquieting enough to leave a deep impression.

So, what is the point? 

A Farewell to Arms is partially autobiographical because Hemingway was an ambulance driver, in Italy, during World War I, and was injured, just as Frederic his main character was injured. I think he wrote this book specifically for his generation. The message was clear: war is ugly and corners people into uncompromising situations. War is disturbing and it messes people up. Even romantic relationships are complicated and tricky, especially during war, and it hurts just the same. Neither is there a guarantee that anything will turn out right or good. His point may have been that this is why [his generation] was considered to be so confused and lost.

Hemingway was correct: war is miserable, and relationships are complicated. But Hemingway was an atheist and disliked "religion" because he believed it limited man's personal happiness. He probably only saw religion as a set of rules and restrictions, but faith may have given him different eyes to see life's difficulties, like war, pain, and loss. 

Hemingway never found a way to cope, and he committed suicide in 1961. 

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway

Published 1926

American novel

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm so excited to have finished this book because it had been sitting on my shelf since before the turn of the century. My husband had to read it in college back in the late 90s, and this is his copy. He hated this book, but I'm not surprised that I enjoyed reading it. 

The Sun Also Rises is the story of a group of young Americans living in Paris, following WWI, who travel to Spain to see the running of the bulls and a bullfight during the long siesta. They drank, smoked, and ate continuously. They rarely slept. They were literally lost, and maybe that was why they were referred to as the Lost Generation.

The plot was light and the writing simplistic or minimal; but the themes were numerous. For example, the theme of masculinity was significant, especially because it involved the main female character, Brett. She was assertive, racy, and promiscuous for her time. She fit in like one of the boys. She could drink liquor like a man drank, wore her hair short, and was sexually assertive the way men so wantonly were. She could not commit to anyone or anything. Sound familiar?

Meanwhile, the male characters struggled with their own masculinity. This affected the relationships with one another, as well as their connection with Brett, whom they were all in lust and had each been intimate with her. It made for uncomfortable moments, increased tension, and unbridled conflict.

Another theme was restlessness. There was the burden that life was flying by and the characters were not taking advantage of living. Maybe that was why they never slept and were always searching for adventures, afraid to miss something. There was a fear of having not lived enough. 

It helped to understand that the male characters were soldiers during WWI. After the War, they were left feeling dissatisfied and discontent. 

I also think there was something going on with the bull and steer motif because it seemed to mirror the male characters' relationships with Brett. Was she the steer that lead the bulls into the ring? Or was she the matador who killed the bull at the end of the bullfight? I'm not sure, but maybe both ideas worked.

SHOULD YOU READ THIS?

This story was really effective because the reader is on this journey with the characters. You travel through Spain and see the sights and hear the sounds and feel the seasons change and experience the excitement of the crowds, the running of the bulls, and the tension of the bullfight. You may be tempted to think that there is no plot to the story due to its simplicity, but it is not true. 

Overall, my favorite part of reading The Sun Also Rises was the experience itself because the story or atmosphere felt similar to that of The Great Gatsby, by Fitzgerald, which was published in 1925. You truly get a feel for the time period by reading these two books.

If you have not read Hemingway, this is a good place to start, or you could begin with The Old Man and the Sea. Again, his writing style is minimalistic and light, but he incorporates themes and ideas to know and think about. Hemingway demands sympathy from his readers, and he doesn't write without purpose. 

And, if you want to visit Spain, well, this is one way to do it, and you won't regret the sights; but I apologize now for the company you will keep. Our characters are troubled.

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Testament of Youth 

Vera Brittain  

Published 1933  

English Memoirs

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

SUMMARY

A young woman's coming of age experience is shattered and transfigured over night by World War I. This is the passionate, true story of Vera Brittain, who fought to further her education at Oxford, only to postpone her attendance to serve as a volunteer nurse during the Great War. In only a few short years, she had experienced traumatic suffering, sacrifice, and loss, which altered her life mission forever. She wrote in order to share her story and the story of her generation.

DETAILS (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

This story is well-written, though at times slightly wordy; nonetheless, Brittain tells a captivating story, 600+ pages long. The reader will sense her bitterness towards the stifling expectations of her time, especially the traditions of her parents and their generation. Brittain was never meant to fit or follow those customs. She was born before her time and blazing her own trail.

It may seem obviously outlandish to 21st-century readers, but for Brittain's generation, and more specifically for provincial young ladies, such as herself, marriage and motherhood were supposed to be her only options for the future. But she fought the status quo and won her chance to enter Oxford, though many doubted her success.

Then WWI began. Brittain referenced her journal to retell the events of the War as they occurred in her time. Her brother, and his friends, including one young man whom she developed a romantic relationship, patriotically went off to fight for England. Determined to sacrifice herself for her country, Brittain also left Oxford and volunteered as a nurse.

She was stationed in England, Malta, and France (even close to the front line - as per her request), and experienced the ravages of war. She lost her fiancé, two other male friends, and finally, her brother. It devastated her conscience and transformed her life course.

After the War, Brittain was understandably discouraged and bitter about life and the world. She reluctantly completed her education at Oxford, focusing on history, and soon after, worked as a journalist and became a speaker for the newly formed League of Nations. She also struggled as a frustrated novelist. She secured a best friend, who lovingly reminded her of her brother and fiancé; and she also gained a romantic admirer, attracted to her intellect, whom she committed herself to marriage.

For the remainder of the story (which ends in 1925), Brittain wrote about her fervent development of socialist ideals and the ambitious quest to end war for good and maintain peace in the world.

OF A PERSONAL NOTE

Brittain's story resonated with me because I like to know people on a personal level where I can better understand why they think the way that they do, whether I agree with them or not.

Her story reminded me of my mother's story (who was a young girl during World War II). She, too, desired to attend college; yet even in 1960s America, her parents never heard of such an idea. Instead, she was sent to work . . . to help pay for her brother's college tuition. This unjust decision burns my mother even today. 

It was not until her marriage that she put herself through community college, to at least obtain an associate's degree. And my grandparents still thought her behavior outrageous, especially as a wife and young mother. But they were of a different time, and lived with different life experiences, just as Brittain's parents and their peers did. Future generations often look back on previous generations as primitive and benighted.

One looming question Brittain often asked was this (in my words): How are women to find satisfaction in education and fulfilling careers, yet, still make room for marriage and motherhood? In her words:

Could marriage and motherhood be combined with real success in an art or profession? If it couldn't, which was to suffer -- the profession or the human race?

This is an essential question for women even today because, yes, finding time for a successful career is time-consuming. But more women are doing this today, completing college and developing a career; but the truth is, adding a husband and children complicates everything. Or dare I say . . . pursing education and a career complicate marriage and family? I guess it depends on your priorities.

Not all women want to pursue education or career, as some are just as desirous to focus solely on family; hence, the human race will go on regardless; but, in truth, I think more are doing it all, though something is suffering -- if not the career, than the family, and if not those, than the woman is burdening herself beyond her control, which is the frustrating struggle of a woman's life, as Brittain identified.

Brittain also understood that marriage was an emotional risk, something she was not willing to experience, given the pain she had endured during the years of the War. She admitted that women do desire male companionship, including intellectual and romantic, but marriage is certainly a risk. I cannot repeat that enough. Even Scripture says (again, my words): singleness is good, but if you cannot remain single, get married (though this is in reference to spreading the gospel).

Now, other hot topics included nationalism, patriotism, heroism, and pacifism. Brittain believed that a world organization of leaders would solve the war problem by reigning in man's desire for control, conquest, and possession. That is why she adopted the socialist ideology because they claimed to have the answer to ending war, poverty, and inequality -- issues closest to her heart.

But she soon learned that the League of Nations was full of hot air. Sadly, I am not sure (yet) she discovered that Socialists have their own desires for control and power because in all of human history, small groups of men always gain power over and control the masses. It does not matter what label is given their ideology; they always make similar promises, and the end result is always misery for everyone else. She quotes Ecclesiastes:

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 

Furthermore, I disagree that patriotism is what causes war, although Brittain may have switched patriotism and nationalism. She may have clarified that patriotism was used to fuel men to rise up and fight for their country. Patriotism -- a love of one's own country -- is good and healthy for citizens; but nationalism, in which greedy, power-hungry men, who seek to dominate because they have a higher view of their place in the world over others, is dangerous and does cause war. I believe Brittain did discuss that her generation was duped into patriotism when it had nothing to do with the War.

As for heroism, Brittain found it unnecessary and reckless; but I disagree. Heroes conquer fear and confront evil; heroes stand for righteousness. Heroes risk their lives for the weak. And this is even more prevalent in men because they are designed by God to be protectors of their homes and families.

However, the fact that saddened me the most is the author's spiritual hopelessness in the future. Unfortunately, Brittain's parents did not train up Vera and her brother in the knowledge of Christ. She had zero hope in the resurrection and everlasting life. She did not know the Lord.

And then I remembered, with a startling sense of relief, that there was no resurrection to complicate the changing relationships forced upon men and women by the sheer passage of earthly time. There was only a brief interval between darkness and darkness in which to fulfill obligations, both to individuals and society, which could not be postponed to the comfortable futurity of a compensating heaven. 

Why do I bring this up? Because she talked about this a lot. It was a source of bitterness for her, as if she knew there was a God, but she was really angry with Him. Everyone suffers to some degree in this life because there is a purpose and point to suffering. Brittain begrudged her parents generation because they enjoyed a seemingly peaceful world; but her own coming of age was shattered with war and political upheaval.

The middle-aged and the old had known their period of joy, whereas upon us catastrophe had descended just in time to deprive us of that youthful happiness to which we had believed ourselves entitled.

No, it was not fair; but if she had any understanding of the way of the world, she may have better understood that it really was not about her or her generation, that much of it was out of her control, and that war was and is always to be because of sin and wickedness that abounds on earth, which began at the very beginning of time, in the Garden.

. . . but at least I can begin by trying to understand where humanity failed and civilisation went wrong.

Her hope was in man-made solutions, which also makes me sad because man is utterly corruptible. Man will never have peace on this earth, so long as he is at war with God in his heart.

We should never be at the mercy of Providence if only we understood that we ourselves are Providence; our lives, and our children's lives, will be rational, balanced, well-proportioned, to exactly the extent that we recognise this fundamental truth. 

So when you combine a group of godless men and call them the League of Nations, or the U.N., or have leaders sign peace treaties, they are only temporary fixes to the world's problems. But Brittain could not known this because her hope was solely in man.

By the way, while I hate war, I also strongly believe that God does permit men to go to war, especially to restrain evil, even if it means a loss of life. Hence, I am curious what Brittain's opinion was of World War II and if she ever wrote about it.

There is much more to this story, so many struggles and conflicts on this personal journey. Brittain is very raw and truthful about her youthful ignorance and emotional disappointments. I know I had a lot of disagreements with the author, but I absolutely appreciated this momentous work of insight and discovery. No one can discount her experiences; this is her personal story. 

The demonstration would not . . . be easy; for me and my contemporaries our old enemies -- the Victorian tradition of womanhood, a carefully trained conscience, a sheltered youth, an imperfect education, loss of time, blasted years -- were still there and always would be; we seemed to be forever slaying them, and they to be forever rising again.

IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?

If you enjoy biographies, stories about World War I, especially in a woman's voice, and particularly prefer works on early feminism and pacifism, this is an essential story for you. There is also an intellectual feel about the work, and a sweet romance that blossoms in the early part of the story. But beware because it is heart-wrenchingly devastating, though there is a sense of recuperation at its end.

In one sense, I was my war, my war was I; without it I should do nothing and be nothing. If marriage made the whole fight harder, so much the better; it would become part of my war and as this I would face it, and show that, however stubborn any domestic problem, a lasting solution could be found if only men and women would seek it together.