10 True Loves

DON'T GET MAD AT MEEEE!!!

I fell off of reading because my life is a mess and I'm a terrible person. I borrowed this and slacked off on reading until the day I had to return it, at which point I read it all in one day. Okay, that's good actually. It says something good about the book that I was able to read it in ~3 hours, since not a lot of books manage to keep my attention for that long at a time.

Starting this novel, I didn't have super high expectations. It wasn't on my TBR list nor did I feel any strong interest to read it at all—it honestly seemed kind of boring and stuffy. But when I did read the first few chapters more than a month ago, I surprisingly enjoyed them, and the rest of the book was much the same! I mean, it might be partly because of those low expectations, but I did like A Farewell to Arms more than I thought I would.

That's not to say it totally blew my mind or that I absolutely loved it, but I did enjoy it.

The main characters are sufficiently endearing in their own way. I can't say I was too drawn in or invested in their romance, being straight and all, but I didn't hate their dynamic. Some of their interactions were sweet and fun, but I didn't think Catherine had any depth to her character all, or even a purpose and personality outside of being Frederic's love interest. She is nothing more than a dedicated and lovely prize for Frederic to have and pine for. It definitely is a bit misogynistic but since there's barely any characterization in the book in the first place (not really an emphasised aspect) for anyone other than Frederic, I guess it's kind of excusable, or at least it didn't bother me too continuously while I was reading. Rinaldi was fun as well, and I think the other characters, however brief, were also enjoyable to read about with their interactions with Frederic.

Of course, the main "point" of the book is its themes and its commentary on war. I think you can very clearly tell that Hemingway himself served in the army and that he was drawing from his own experiences. It's not dramatic or glamorized at all, which I like, and was very well-portrayed. It wasn't the most interesting or even mind-blowing thing to read, but I did appreciate the perspective. You know, as someone who's never fought in World War I.

When it comes to the writing style, I'll give it this: it was very easy to read. That was part of why I finished it so quickly. It's fast-paced, it doesn't use very complicated vocabulary or sentence structure. But that's not to say it was very flat or not entertaining to read! I think this kind of writing fit it perfectly, emphasising both the mundanity of the war and how simple and normal our protagonist is. And even though there was no flowery prose or fancy vocabulary, that didn't lessen the effectiveness of certain scenes!

My criticisms of this book are just that it was lacking. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my own personal taste, but though I liked reading this book most of the time, I don't think I ever truly loved it. Maybe it's because the characters weren't particularly strong or likeable to me, or the fact that there wasn't a very clear fast-paced "main" story to follow. In a sense, the novel accomplished what it was trying to do, it's just that what it was trying to do wasn't really for me.

As a whole, pretty enjoyable, but nothing special. The historical perspective was definitely my favourite part. I'd recommend this if you want to read about the experience of being alive and serving during WWI, and if you're looking for something that's easy to read but still insightful and touching. 7/10.