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    A Farewell to Arms
    A Farewell to Arms
    A Farewell to Arms
    Audiobook8 hours

    A Farewell to Arms

    Written by Ernest Hemingway

    Narrated by John Slattery

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel of love during wartime.

    Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.

    Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right. A classic novel of love during wartime, “A Farewell to Arms stands, more than eighty years after its first appearance, as a towering ornament of American literature” (The Washington Times).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMay 1, 2006
    ISBN9780743565103
    Author

    Ernest Hemingway

    Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His novels include The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1899, he died in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, 1961.

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    Reviews for A Farewell to Arms

    4/5

    407 ratings112 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I really can't say I enjoyed this book. I couldn't connect with the main character at all, I found his writing style very disjointed and old fashioned. And couldn't really find anything great about it. Catherine seemed a bit nutty to me, darling this and that, with totally inane comments throughout. The ending was sad, but that was about it for me!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This was a classic I always meant to read and I'm glad I did. Most of it was fast moving and the plot was interesting. However, I didn't like the character development, especially of Katherine. She seems to be a stereotypic view of what "a man would want." Even when Katherine is in labor she talks about her "grand husband" and how she wants to be a "good wife." Also the guy is suppose to be so in love with Katherine, but I just didn't feel the connection.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I listen to a lot of audio books... this reader was INCREDIBLE!! The book... of course just amazing. Impressed from page 1 to the final.
    • 3/5
      When a book comes from the pen of a Nobel prize-winning author and it?s his first best-seller, my expectation is that I?ll be offered something special. But the only sensation brought on by reading Ernest Hemingway?s A Farewell to Arms was one of mystification about why this novel is rated so highly.The story is a romance set in Italy during World War 1 between an American serving with the Italian forces and a British nurse. It?s based on Hemingway?s own experiences while serving as an ambulance driver on the Austrian-Italian front. The driver and the nurse meet, have a passionate affair, flee the country and spend months billing and cooing in a snowy idyll somewhere in Switzerland. Which doesn?t sound too bad a plot. The problem for me was that the story is related with all the passion of someone reading the back of a cornflakes box.I understand that Hemingway was striving for an ultra lean writing style; one that avoided complicated syntax and eliminated what he considered unnecessary punctuation. Where many authors used the comma to connect phrases, Hemingway preferred to use ?and? as his connector. The result is so pared down it felt drained of all colour and vitality. Conversations between the two love birds were rendered in such a simple way that it was very hard to get inside their heads and to experience the intensity of the emotion they felt for each other. In short I found the whole thing under-whelming.
    • 5/5
      Hemingway was not known for either unbridled optimism or happy endings, and A Farewell to Arms, like his other novels offers neither. What it does provide is an unblinking portrayal of men and women behaving with grace under pressure, both physical and psychological, and somehow finding the courage to go on in the face of certain loss. This wonderful story, with much of the material loosely based on his own personal experiences as an ambulance driver during World War I, by a young early Hemingway, is perhaps, one of the finest anti-war novels ever written. The story captures, in great detail, the conflict in all of its horror and barbarism. In it we are introduced to a young and idealistic man, Frederick Henry, who, through love, experience and existential circumstance, comes to see the folly, waste, and irony of war, and attempts to make his own peace outside the confines of traditional conformity. For all of his obvious excesses, Hemingway was an artist compelled to delve deliberately into painful truths, and he attempted to do so with a style of writing that cut away all of the frills and artifice, so that at its heart this novel is meant as a exploration into what it means to confront the world of convention and deliberately decide to choose for what one feels in his heart as opposed to what one is expected to do. Of course, in so doing, the young ambulance driver becomes a full-grown adult, facing his trials with grace and courage. Still, what we are left with is a modern tragedy, one in which the characters must somehow attempt to resolve the irresolvable.The tragic irony of this novel is what makes it so memorable. Henry, as a wounded man who withdraws from the battle, as well as the whims of the Italian Army. However, he does so only to find that life is full of tragedy whether you're in a war or not.
    • 3/5
      Hemingway imbues his characters with exceptional courage and grace. They, Henry and Catherine (two main characters), are so very lonely and the reader is happy to see them find each other and a bit of themselves in the process of falling in love. Together they seem more capable of dealing with the world around them. They are no longer drifting and in many ways are fighting together and for each other. Told through Henry's point of view, one gets to experience the tension at the front, the adrenaline rush that comes with running from the enemy, and the camaraderie of the men who are fighting for something they do not understand. All they know is that they would like for the war to be over so they can go home; a common refrain in war. Romance, while it may seem like an odd word to use when speaking of war, is pervasive throughout the story; in the descriptions of the men, the sadness and loneliness that pervade the lives of the individuals at the front, and people waiting at home for them to return. While I have not read a great deal of Hemingway, there is something very different about this book that makes it stand out from the rest and that is the romantic nature of the piece. He shows in great detail the love between these two, constrained and confusing as it is for everyone. It is very natural and drawn in its most elemental state, almost raw. He seems to want to readers to be involved with these two characters on a very intimate level and he accomplishes that goal.
    • 2/5
      I admit I heartily hated this book. I have admired and enjoyed short stories by Hemingway: "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." Perhaps it's that his style is not all that amenable to a long form, although I admit this is the only novel by him I've read. The flyleaf of the hardcover edition of A Farewell to Arms that I read claimed that Hemingway's "short declarative sentences and terse prose" revolutionized American literature. I wish his prose here was terse, which to me would imply economical and precise. To me his prose in this novel comes across more as mannered, monotonous and meandering. Here's one, not untypical, sentence from early on:The mountain that was beyond the valley and the hillside where the chestnut forest grew was captured and there were victories beyond the plain on the plateau to the south and we crossed the river in August and lived in a house in Gorizia that had a fountain and many thick shady trees in a walled garden and a wisteria vine purple on the side of the house.Try saying that three times quickly without pause!I found this one of the most tedious classic novels I have ever forced myself through. I've also heard that this is an amazing love story. Well, I have to tell you, I've read a lot of literary heart throbs, even flawed anti-heroes, who if they walked off the page, reader, I'd marry him! In the case of Lieutenant Frederick Henry, goodness, all I could think is what does Catherine see in him, and boy he sure drinks like a fish. He's supposedly a "man's man" sort of guy and he left me absolutely cold, and he's strangely opaque for a protagonist that also carries the first person narration. The novel almost feels third person, I get so little sense of a voice or personality. Nor does his love, Nurse Catherine Barkley, ever come across as a real person to me. Even Bella of Twilight fame came across to me as less self-effacing. ("There isn?t any me. I?m you. Don?t make up a separate me.") The dialogue between the two lovers was actually painful to read.So, unbearable prose style, often cheesy or wooden dialogue, flat characters? Was there anything about this novel I liked? Well, like Henry, Hemingway himself served in World War I in Italy as a ambulance driver. Every once in a while, I'd catch him writing something horrifying and real. Whether it's his casual mention of thousands dying of cholera, or passages like this one: If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.I wish there was more of that. But lines like those were buried in such tedium it was hard to enjoy them when they came by.
    • 5/5
      I love hemming ways terse, straightforward, and unpretentious style. He writes just like somebody thinks or talks. Also, the reader was so good and did a very excellent job with all the characters and voices. What a great experience to listen to this book.
    • 5/5
      First of all, the audio on this book is amazing! Such a talented narrator and the voice fits perfectly to the main character.
      The story is beautiful and I was afraid it will turn out to be one of those stuffy classics you need all the brain power to concentrate on, but it is written with a very nice and easy to understand language and some of the descriptions are so poetic and beautiful. I truly enjoyed this book
    • 4/5
      What a captivating book. Told as only Hemingway could. Heart breaking and pessimistic.
    • 2/5
      Character development? Zero.
      Characters’ chemistry? Zero
      Confusing style of dialogue and unrequited sentences make this book whole lot more boring than one could imagine.
    • 5/5
      One of the greatest American novels by one of the greatest American. It’s hard to choose which is the best this one maybe. Powerful, purseStyle sentence by sentence throughout the book.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the audiobook. Not sure about the English accent though.
    • 4/5
      Excellent narrator his Italian accent authentic and brings the feelings home
    • 3/5
      Hemingways gaafste roman. Opvallend contrast tussen harde oorlogscenes en sweet talk tussen de geliefden. Hun relatie is onromantisch, maar toch zoet;
    • 4/5
      Woof - what a depressing book in many ways. I had a love/hate relationship with this book while reading it. The writing style of short and to the point sentences was both appealing and frustrating. I felt that it made the characters a bit too one dimensional, but at the same time helped give a matter-of-factness to the war and the people living through it. I am glad I read this, my first Hemingway, and feel like I understand the point of the hopelessness of war and life of the time.
    • 2/5
      The instant I finished for whom the Bell Tolls, I went back and listened to it all the way through again.vthis one I just did not care about. I didn't care about the relationship between the two main characters, and I didn't care about what ended up happening to them.
    • 4/5
      Brutal

      [Cr?tica a Xelu.net]

      D'alguns llibres em costa molt fer-ne una cr?tica perqu? m'intimiden. S?n cl?ssics o llibres que per una ra? o una altra han passat a formar part de la hist?ria de la literatura, ja sigui per m?rit propi o per la trajectoria de l'autor. Em passa amb el llibre d'avui, A Farewell to Arms d'Ernest Hemingway. Aquest autor per a mi ?s poc menys que una llegenda, no perqu? hagu?s llegit cap altra llibre seu abans de llegir-ne aquest, que no ?s el cas, sino per la manera, el respecte i la veneraci? amb que n'he sentit a parlar sempre, titllant-lo pr?cticament de pare de la literatura moderna. El cas ?s que vaig sentir un podcast al que proposaven llegir aquest llibre per a comentar-lo m?s endavant, com si fos un club de lectura, i aquell mateix dia em vaig plantar a l'Fnac i el vaig comprar, i despr?s el vaig llegir, i ara estic aqui i no se ben b? que dir perqu? el llibre em supera i qualsevol cosa que digui no li far? just?cia, i despr?s alg? em far? cas, el llegir?, i si no li agrada tant com a mi em sabr? greu perqu? el llibre es mereix ser llegit per tothom, m?s d'una vegada, i comentat, i treballat, i aprofundit i despr?s tornat a llegir. Tant m'ha agradat. I ?s que de vegades aquests cl?ssics s'han d'agafar amb cura, de vegades el seu valor ?s hist?ric i vistos amb ulls d'avui ?s dif?cil valorar-los amb just?cia, i est? clar tamb? que A Farewell to Arms no ?s un llibre tan vell, la primera edici? ?s del 1929, per? sigui com sigui ?s perfectament modern i vigent i f?cil de llegir sense deixar de ser subtil, po?tic, enigm?tic i viu. El llibre viu i respira i palpita i al final ?s com una punyalada que et deixa sense al? i que a mi em va fer plorar. Aix? doncs si aix? que escric no ?s gens una cr?tica objectiva i racional ?s perqu? aquest llibre ha destru?t la meva objectivitat. Se suposa que una cr?tica ha ser un esfor? d'an?lisi dels recursos, imaginari, argument, teixit, punt de vista, etc que donen forma a un llibre, per tal d'intentar determinar-ne el seu valor en tant que obra liter?ria, obra d'art, retrat de la psique humana, per? aquest llibre excel?leix tant en tots aquests aspectes que parlar-ne em v? gran. Aix? que ho sento, no en faig cap cr?tica i em limito a recomanar-vos que no deixeu de llegir aquesta meravella.

    • 5/5
      We read this for junior year AP American Literature. I hated, loved, and learned to read this novel for what it is. The kids in my class (myself included) hated the terms of endearment. This one has his most famous discussion about the ants burning on the log.Ernest Hemingway's answer to "why did the chicken cross the road?"-to die alone in the rain
    • 4/5
      Hemingway's theme is pretty clear - "The world breaks every one". Despite Frederic's good luck - finding love, escaping death, getting away from the war - in the end the world still breaks him. As a love story, the novel is very one-sided. Catherine really only exists as seen through Frederic's eyes - and she seems a bit crazy to use her word. There's a curious lack of honor in this book.
    • 3/5
      Took me many years and many books to finally get to this one. I listened to the novel. I think thatif I had not been listening, I might have reshelved the book.
      Description, setting, the war - extraordinary. Characters are done well but Catherine and Henry left me cold. No tears. Liked the Italians.
      A long time since I first read Hemingway so maybe..,
    • 2/5
      Depressing. Bleak, unemotional and unengaging. I found Hemingway's prose style annoying and his dialogue worse, and I didn't like his characters. On the other hand, I thought that the plot was well-constructed - I'd have been very surprised if it hadn't been - and that the the book did a good job of conveying the bleakness and uncertainty of war. I made it to the end, but it was a struggle at times.I'm aware, though, that I'm in a minority and many people love the very things that made me dislike the book. If you like terse prose and depressing war stories, you'll love this book.
    • 2/5
      Der autobiographisch angehauchte Roman - Hemingway diente im ersten Weltkrieg als Kriegsfreiwilliger im Sanit?tsdienst - beschreibt in erster Linie eine Liebesgeschichte zwischen einem amerikanischen Offizier in der italienischen Armee und einer schottischen Krankenschwester. Der Krieg an der Isonzofront bildet lediglich eine Rahmenhandlung. Wer also authentische Kriegsliteratur erwartet, wird entt?uscht. Hemingways Krieg erscheint (trotz beinahe belanglos eingeflochtener Kriegsgr?uel, Desertion und Verwundungen) als endlose Abfolge von Lazarettaufenthalten, Fronturlauben, Liebeleien und einer endlosen Abfolge an konsumierten alkoholischen Getr?nke in diversen Bars und Hotels... Doch auch literarisch ?berzeugt der Roman ?berhaupt nicht: Stupide Dialoge wechseln mit uninspirierten Beschreibungen von Allt?glichem. Doch auch bei Dramatischem fehlen Hemingway die passenden Worte, so lautet die Beschreibung eines gefallenen Soldaten nach einem Granatenangriff etwa schlicht: "Er sah sehr tot aus." Passend zum Werk ?berzeugt auch die deutsche ?bersetzung nicht, wer beispielsweise die "Golden Gate Bridge" als "Goldenes Tor" ?bersetzt, tr?gt nicht zu besonderer Lesefreude frei.Verglichen mit dem Meisterwerk "Wem die Stunde schl?gt" ist "In einem anderen Land" eine einzige Entt?uschung, wer sich also mit Hemingways Kriegserfahrungen auseinandersetzen will, ist mit ersterem weit besser bedient...
    • 5/5
      A great book, with excellent narration and characterization from John Slattery. Recommended for fans of Hemingway and newcomers
    • 4/5
      Famous for the title, the end, and the ants on the log description 3/4ths of the way through the book. This is almost required reading for high school students and not without good cause, though I hesitate to reccommend it to high school students myself... I think it's a bit poorly chosen. Curriculum's have a tendency to over-value books of violence when prescribing a 17 year old's reading list. I'd rather have read this last year for the first time, than 4 years ago.
    • 5/5
      I must admit that while I have been mesmerised by anything Hemingway for some time now, it was a bit of an effort to get through the first half of this book. While my attitude towards the book changed each time I got back into it, I think the source of the problem for me was the emptiness that can only be expressed by those who have first-hand experience of large-scale conventional war. Nonetheless, and despite the historical background to the story, I found it to be written clearly in the present tense. Yet I couldn?t help but sense the emptiness I had once felt when I was about seven years old. I remember visiting, for no particular reason, an old war widow, who gave me two shillings (five cent pieces - one for me and the other for my sister) but then she cried and pointed to the faded photographs of her husband and her brothers who were all killed in the Second World War. The empty feeling of the interior of her dark house with its art deco furniture and the smell of stale tobacco smoke accompanied me throughout ?A Farewell to Arms? and I think I avoided it until I decided that I would finish it off in one go. As the climax emerged suddenly towards the end of the book, I was hooked and couldn?t put it down. By this stage of the plot the war was almost an afterthought for the main characters and bits of classic Hemingway emerge (beards, boxing, and booze). But by the end, I needed some quiet time to emotionally recover. I?ve never cried from reading a book before. I still don?t like this book. Nevertheless, it is truly magnificent and how somebody in their mid-twenties could comprehend so much beggars belief. It can only be genius.
    • 4/5
      This book is rather depressing, which is not a bad thing (and does not mean that the ending is sad, so this is not a spoiler), the general tone of the piece is disconnected and sad. I hated most of the characters in this book, and was happy when this book was over. The details in the book about the war are very effective and helps convey how terrible the war was.
    • 3/5
      This is, of course, a classic book. I'm not sure what writing was like before Hemmingway and his kind, but I found the writing difficult and strange. It got better as the book went on with lots of dialog, but it was still perhaps a product of its time, written in 1929. It is said that Earnest Hemmingway did much to change the style of prose and he won a Nobel Prize for literature. I found both the story and writing lacking, but I'm coming at that from many years past the time this was written and prose has changed a great deal. It's possible that Hemmingway's later works were different.

      Classics are always worth reading, but don't expect this book to be like modern writing. The story was repetitious and if the dialog between the main character and his lady were all that happened, it's impossible they would ever get to know each other. It was crazy shallow and funny really. So was some of the dialog between the main character and his war buddies. Despite that, the author did somehow impart what was going on and how terrible war conditions were.

    • 3/5
      Every now and then, I come across a book that makes me question the term "classic." The five sections of the book, in my opinion, were as follows; tedious, horrible, interesting, mildly interesting, blase, with an ending that was ridiculously predictable. The faux-mance between Henry and Cat was pitiful. Catherine was quite possibly the single-most detestable female character I have ever come across (aside from the infamous Bella of Twilight fame). It's as though her only purpose in life is to please Henry; she has no life outside of him (as they both state ad nauseum). She is the poster-child for relationship therapy. As for the war aspects of the novel, I enjoyed learning about the "battalion police." Other than that, the writing was so choppy it was hard to follow the action (where it existed).I cannot classify this as a romance novel due to the fact that the featured romance was an unhealthy one. Nor can I classify it as a war novel because most of Henry's time "at the front" consisted of him drinking and chatting at the mess about nothing worth mentioning.The only subject category I can think of that this might fall into is an alcoholism novel. Henry drinks enough to satisfy half a fraternity. I now know the names of more than enough wines and brandy to last me the rest of my life.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books. It may seem slow at first but it once you get to the end it's well worth it. I cant explain the feeling this book gives me. :D