Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.
This was one of my favorite Hemingway classics. Anything from Hemingway is a classic, but A Farewell to Arms is a love story. A love story in the foreground of World War 1. Lieutenant Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver during the war, and an English nurse’s aide named Catherine Barkley.
I usually love stories that push me to the edge of my seat, and this one does it for me, especially since I’m a stickler for certain historical fiction. Let me warn you though, that it’s a really sad love story. I don’t even know if I can honestly categorize it as a love story, especially if it doesn’t have a happy ending. I prefer happy endings!
A little bit of background: The story is loosely based on Hemingway’s own military experience serving in the first war. Catherine Barkley was inspired by an actual nurse who took care of him in a Milan hospital after he was wounded.
I won’t completely summarize what happens in the book (no cheating by looking it up on Google!) because I want you to read it. Just be prepared for the events that unfold between these two characters. That’s all I’m going to say.
Happy April reading!
XX K.
