Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:29 pm
Book Review: A Farewell to Arms
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deckardcanineFor a change of pace, I decided to read a book that's surely been assigned in high schools, albeit not mine. My past experience of Ernest Hemingway consisted of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," which I found pretty good, but I wondered how well he handled a much longer story.
AFtA runs 41 chapters, the last page numbering 332 in my dated edition, but it wouldn't be hard to write a synopsis in 50 words or fewer. Dozens of consecutive pages, if not more than a hundred, could go without an event I deemed significant. Heck, I almost surmised enough from the simple little cover illustration: a soldier on crutches with a nurse at his side. Yup, it's a non-cheesy wartime romance, and I'd known enough stories like it to expect tragedy. (No, his arms don't break off.)
Truly, Hemingway is more concerned with painting a detailed picture over the course of months. It works pretty well in this regard. I'd scarcely imagined what it was like to be an American WWI soldier in the Italian army, to fall into taboo love and pretend marriage, or to run from authorities who didn't know what they were doing. At times I pictured it as a B&W movie. I learned place names and a few terms, Italian and otherwise, military and non, tho "zinc bar" is hard to figure out even with Google. When it's not exotic and educational, at least it's credible, with the possible exception of a straight man affectionately calling another straight man "baby" all the time. (The latter, being the narrator, has his name spoken so rarely I'd almost forgotten it by the end.)
The linguistic style and formatting are hardest for me to approve. Some of it can be chalked up to times changing ("to-morrow") and some to the informality of first-person narration, but there's little excuse for the paragraph divisions. In particular, it defies common expectations of dialog by not always joining or separating accordingly, so I kept having to reread and realize who spoke. Eh, I was warned that writers who try to defend their choices with "Hemingway did it" get nowhere with editors. Still far easier and less rebellious than William Faulkner.
Kinda fits the mold for books that make teens not want to read. Even now, I think I finished it mainly on the principle of immersing myself in "classics" and not giving up like a whiny kid. This isn't to say I wish I'd ignored it altogether, but I should consider browsing Wikipedia articles before deciding where to invest a few months' reading. It'll be a while before I get the urge to try The Sun Also Rises.
One classic clunker I may actually enjoy, based on my dad's opinion, is The Brothers Karamazov. In the meantime, however, I've selected Brush Up Your Mythology! to get reacquainted with the classical. Greek myths are no less tragic, but at least they're bound to sustain my interest.
AFtA runs 41 chapters, the last page numbering 332 in my dated edition, but it wouldn't be hard to write a synopsis in 50 words or fewer. Dozens of consecutive pages, if not more than a hundred, could go without an event I deemed significant. Heck, I almost surmised enough from the simple little cover illustration: a soldier on crutches with a nurse at his side. Yup, it's a non-cheesy wartime romance, and I'd known enough stories like it to expect tragedy. (No, his arms don't break off.)
Truly, Hemingway is more concerned with painting a detailed picture over the course of months. It works pretty well in this regard. I'd scarcely imagined what it was like to be an American WWI soldier in the Italian army, to fall into taboo love and pretend marriage, or to run from authorities who didn't know what they were doing. At times I pictured it as a B&W movie. I learned place names and a few terms, Italian and otherwise, military and non, tho "zinc bar" is hard to figure out even with Google. When it's not exotic and educational, at least it's credible, with the possible exception of a straight man affectionately calling another straight man "baby" all the time. (The latter, being the narrator, has his name spoken so rarely I'd almost forgotten it by the end.)
The linguistic style and formatting are hardest for me to approve. Some of it can be chalked up to times changing ("to-morrow") and some to the informality of first-person narration, but there's little excuse for the paragraph divisions. In particular, it defies common expectations of dialog by not always joining or separating accordingly, so I kept having to reread and realize who spoke. Eh, I was warned that writers who try to defend their choices with "Hemingway did it" get nowhere with editors. Still far easier and less rebellious than William Faulkner.
Kinda fits the mold for books that make teens not want to read. Even now, I think I finished it mainly on the principle of immersing myself in "classics" and not giving up like a whiny kid. This isn't to say I wish I'd ignored it altogether, but I should consider browsing Wikipedia articles before deciding where to invest a few months' reading. It'll be a while before I get the urge to try The Sun Also Rises.
One classic clunker I may actually enjoy, based on my dad's opinion, is The Brothers Karamazov. In the meantime, however, I've selected Brush Up Your Mythology! to get reacquainted with the classical. Greek myths are no less tragic, but at least they're bound to sustain my interest.