Title: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Publication date: 1929
Genre: War drama; romance
What’s it about?
The American Frederic Henry volunteers with the Italian ambulance service during World War I, and falls passionately in love with nurse Catherine Barkley. The story follows his growing discontent with the war, and the couple’s attempt to escape and live a normal life together.
Where did I get hold of the book?
I borrowed this one from a librarian friend, which has reminded me that I still have a couple of other books of his that I ought to return sometime soon…
- Find the book in a library near you (worldwide).
- Support local independent bookshops by buying the book from Hive (UK).
What did I learn from it?
I learned a lot about the war, specifically a side to it that I previously had no knowledge of. I remember studying this period for O-level History, and covering all the familiar subjects such as how the war started, Gallipoli, no-man’s land and so much more. But the setting of this novel was a complete mystery to me: the Italian-Austrian front rather than the French-German one; the lives of the ambulance and hospital staff rather than the soldiers in the trenches; and the experiences of an American volunteer before the United States had even joined the war – all this was totally fresh ground. And it was absolutely fascinating.
I often say that I’m not keen on descriptive narrative, that I prefer action and dialogue (maybe that’s my long history of amateur dramatics coming out); but reading this novel I found that my perceptions shifted slightly. Possibly because I was learning about a new environment, I saw the descriptions of the countryside, the food, the weather, the people, as inherently part of the unfolding narrative rather than as merely a backdrop. Whilst I realise that this should presumably always be the case, I’m afraid that I do sometimes get impatient with ‘dark and stormy nights’. But here I didn’t. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.
How did it make me see the world differently?
As so often happens when I’m reading, it’s not that I suddenly see things in a light I’d never considered before, but that I get a reminder of a vital message. This time it was the shortness of life and the realisation that you never know when everything you hold dear will be ripped away from you. Whether it’s war, interpersonal conflict, sickness or other circumstances beyond your control, on no given day can you tell whether this will be your last chance to appreciate or enjoy something (or someone).
The story illustrates how any situation or event in our life, by default, tears us away from something else; and the importance we attach to each situation will change as we develop and grow. Frederic Henry volunteers for the ambulance service even when his country is not yet in the war; he becomes very attached to his colleagues. He then falls madly in love with a nurse at the hospital, but even this is not enough to cause him to quit active service; it is only when Italian fortunes take a turn for the worse and people on his own side turn on him that he decides ‘enough is enough’. But now that he has a chance to find meaning and purpose elsewhere, does this mean a happy ending is granted to him?
I won’t spoil the end of the book by revealing the answer; but I will say that just because I may not live in a front-line war situation does not mean that I can take what I have for granted.
What changes will I make to my life as a result of it?
Although this year I was determined to make my ‘changes’ definite and measurable, rather than merely attempts to alter my attitude, it’s perhaps not a bad thing to have the odd mental shift thrown in amongst all the practical actions. And so I will learn from what I have written above, and do my best to ensure I ‘seize the day’ and live life as fully as I can, just in case the unexpected happens and I end my days full of regrets and ‘what ifs’.
I’ve made a lot of promises over the past year to just get on with my various creative projects, and time and time again I fail to deliver. So this year I will take on board another message that I’ve received from this book, which is to care significantly less about the opinions of anyone who (a) does not care about me or (b) I do not care about. I have spent a lot of time fretting whether the work I do will be unappreciated or, even worse, criticised by complete strangers, and whether that means I am a bad, worthless person. And, frankly, I am exhausted.
In the novel, when Frederic hears that he is going to be arrested, he and Catherine do not sit meekly by and let the police dictate the course of their lives. They escape to another country, because they have decided that no-one but they themselves and those close to them have the right to decide how their lives should be lived. And so I am going to take a leaf out of their book.
I will be interested to see if this makes a difference…
A musical interlude
Harking back to the 1980s this week, with this rather appropriate classic from Dire Straits…