Classics Double Feature: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and A Room With a View by E.M Forster

For those of you who don't know, I have spent the last 6 weeks working at an overnight summer camp. Unfortunately that doesn't make much time for blogging or reading, so here is a catch up post on my thoughts of the books I read while the campers were napping.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

My Summary::

Henry is an American serving the Italian Army as an ambulance driver. Catherine is charming English nurse he meets during World War I. They quickly fall in love and try to navigate their relationship through the War to End All Wars. But in an event as hideous as war, can love, can anything really, survive?

My Review::

I really, really loved this book. It is heart breaking, iconically so. It is also very beautiful as well. I really love Hemingway's writing style- his dialogue seems so real and clear. I especially loved this novel because we got to see this romantic side to him- the love story between Henry and Catherine is so classic and so raw as well. Maybe I'm just a sucker for WWI era romances, but I really loved every scene they shared together and really savored every moment of it.

There are some things I didn't care for. There were a lot of scenes of "men talking men stuff." I ended up just skipping some of these parts because they were very boring. I also am not a huge fan of long descriptions of battles, but many site that as one of this novel's strong points, so although it wasn't my favorite part, it was certainly notable.

This book is a classic and rightly so. It has romance, adventure, love, loss, war, and lots of reflection on all these aspects. And of course an ending that will rip your heart out- because that is, after all, what war does.

Perfect if you Loved:: Crimson Road- a new BBC series about love and loss at a WWI field hospital

My Rating:: No rating for classics :)

A Room With a View

My Summary::

On a trip to Italy with her cousin, Lucy Honeychurch witnesses a man being stabbed. Like all good early 20th-Century heroines, she promptly swoons- luckily right into the arms of George Emerson. It becomes clear as her trip continues that George has feelings for her, but Lucy's cousin disapproves and she finds herself whisked out of Florence, never to see George again. That is until a few months later, when he reappears, but this time Lucy is engaged. In a beautiful tale of progress and true love, Lucy find the courage to live the life wants.

My Review::

This story is adorable. It is a very classic forbidden love, "will they, won't they" type story- but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. The characters and romance are so real, it is hard not to forget that they are living almost 100 years ago. I am a huge Downton Abbey fan and it felt like this story could have easily fit in there, especially the second half which takes place at an old estate.

My only complaint is that the writing can be a little old and verbose sometimes. Of course, working at a summer camp with crazy kids often made me tired and I found myself falling asleep on this book more times than one. I still enjoyed and found it a pretty quick reading, given that I only had like 10 or 15 minutes a day to read.

Perfect if you loved:: A Summer in Europe by Marilyn Brant which is a loose modern retelling of this (I didn't realize this until after finishing A Room with a View)

My Review:: No review for classics ;) 

The Paris Memoirs:: A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

My Summary::
Written by Ernest Hemingway in the last years of his life, these memoirs reflect on his time as an expat in 1920's Paris. Between struggling to produce writing, making friends with the artists and writers in Paris, and navigating his relationship with his wife- A Moveable Feast takes you to the world of the Lost Generation.

My Review::
This is a lovely and wistful look at 1920's Paris. It is evident that it is written by an older man, slowly losing his mental abilities looking back at his youth. To me, this gave the book the sort of shiny quality of looking back in time. It is a book of short moments, chapters that tell of little conversations between Hemingway and other expats. You meet Gertrude Stein, Ford Maddox Ford, and Sylvia Beach. The last 1/3 or so was spent recounting his experiences with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. As much as the book is dream-like, it is also honest and critical. Hemingway spares no one of his memories of them and many of the literary figures who are in his book aren't always displayed in a glowing light. In many ways, the reader, especially one that knows the quirks of Hemingway himself is left to make their own decision over the character of each person.

I don't recommend reading this until you've read a bit of Hemingway or know a bit about him. This book came perfect after reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I know that I wouldn't have gotten the same reading experience if I didn't have the background I did. Hemingway can be vague about certain elements, and knowing more about him helps you flesh that out into the truth. Being familiar with Paris helps too, but I think a background in Hemingway would be even more helpful.

Perfect if you love:: Anything by Hemingway or you are interested in the Lost Generation/1920's Paris
No Rating for Classics :)

The Perfect Follow Up:: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Summary::
Jake Barnes is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, as are all of his friends. Jake, more an observer than contender for Brett's love, narrates the journeythat he and his expatriate friends make from Paris, France to Pamploma, Spain to watch the bull fights. The novel tells of both the hijinks and the horrors that occur when several men are in love with the same woman.

Review::
I find it hard to review classics- how am I supposed to review something written by someone almost a hundred years ago and with so much influence? I guess I'll try! I think that reading classics are so much fun because there is so much stuff out there to support your reading- from Sparknotes to critical essays- so that you make sure you get the most of your experience (so take advantage of cool resources, even if you are reading the classics not for school). I'm working really hard to try to start reading classics outside of my English major classes.

I really liked Hemingway's style of writing. I'd never read anything by him before and I found his writing really digestible. If you want to start reading classics on your own, Hemingway is a great place to start. His writing is so clear- you never get lost or can't understand what is happening. I always felt like he took you to the places he wrote about. When Jake was in Paris, it really felt like you were there, which a lot of authors can't do well. His dialogue is really dynamic too. It really jumps off the page, which makes it quick to read.

Plotwise- I really enjoyed reading if after finishing The Paris Wife. He wrote it during the time when McLain's book takes place, so it is easy to see the correlation between real events and the events of the book. At first it was hard to tell the difference between all of Jake's friends, but by the end, I felt like I knew they all pretty well. I'm not very keen on bullfighting at all, so I got bored/disgusted during the bull fighting scenes. Despite this, the scenes of dialogues and the dynamic relationships that were shown in the book made up for it.

Perfect if you loved:: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (he helped Hemingway edit this), The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (it was the perfect follow up), generally anything taking place during the 1920's in Europe

No Ratings for Classics :)