Reader discussion: A farewell to arms

Public reader discussion about A farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway.

I just finished Hemingway's 1929 novel "A Farewell to Arms" today, and I'm absolutely blown away.

By SamReads

I usually don’t get that much of an emotional hit from books, even when I like them, but this one was honestly different for me. It felt really real and kind of beautiful in a plain way. None of the characters are ideal or even especially good people, but they still came across as interesting and easy to relate to, and I kept wanting things to go well for them through everything. The writing also really stuck out to me. It doesn’t feel like standard prose so much as someone just talking and telling you the story out loud. Almost like Hemingway recorded himself narrating it and then it got put on the page. That made it feel super immersive and easy to follow. Fredrick Henry’s thoughts and way of speaking felt very believable to me because of that. At the same time, this might be one of the saddest books I’ve read. A bunch of the people you end up caring about just go through awful stuff, and the last few chapters hit me pretty hard. The ending was really haunting. I’ve liked other Hemingway stuff I’ve read too, like some short stories and The Old Man and the Sea, but this one was way more powerful for me. It’s probably my second favorite novel, right after Les Miserables. What did you think of it? I’d really like to hear other people’s thoughts on this classic.

Just read Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"...

By LilyLovesBooks64

Not gonna lie, this felt pretty awful, and I was still annoyed for hours. Why do people call it a good book?

"A Farewell To Arms" and Ernest Hemingway"?

By putty_sky

Good luck, dude! Hope it works out.

Just finished Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"...

By happyWindow90

As a combat vet and a dad, I found this book super hard to put down. Hemingway really nails a lot of what deployment feels like, not the cleaned-up Hollywood stuff. The whole thing about how empty words like “honor” and “courage” can be? Yeah, it’s basically spot-on. I don’t think deployment changes you in one specific way—it’s more like you roll the dice on how you come out of it. And Henry’s vibe sells it: he’s polite and straightforward, but at the same time he’s got that “life’s short, I don’t care” energy. Also, that love story… wow. Like, most combat vets aren’t all broken PTSD-alcoholics with zero connection issues—what they do get is how damn precious love is once you’ve seen how fast it can be taken. That’s why Catherine feels so real. And the ending? Brutal. Just completely hit me in the feels. It made me appreciate my kid even more and how lucky I’ve been to raise him. Any thoughts, or am I the only one who was wrecked by that last part?

New Edition of 'A Farewell To Arms' published, with all 39 alternate endings

By Crimson_Saddle3913

I noticed it also still has the original cover art, and I immediately felt like I had to preorder it. It looks really, really gorgeous.