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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
The perks of falling into another one of those inevitable doomed romance World War II fiction phases is you get to home remedy your quarter life crisis by recontextualizing your life from the lens of a White man in the 1920's and convince yourself that all your day-to-day qualms aren't all that bad because at least your life has Kind bars and reproductive rights and not a World War that deprives you almost every one of those small pleasures.
I bet Ernest Hemingway never once in his life predicted that, a century later, someone would spill chocolate protein Kind bar crumbs on his book, brush them off, and proceed to speculate which of the war-torn Italian towns might make for the best study abroad experience.
I really enjoyed that this book was one big graph of streams of consciousness, it made it hard to stop reading and gave everything that glazy, dream-like quality. But if I hear "Oh, you're a fine girl" or "You poor darling sweet" once more, I might have a hemorrhage myself.
I bet Ernest Hemingway never once in his life predicted that, a century later, someone would spill chocolate protein Kind bar crumbs on his book, brush them off, and proceed to speculate which of the war-torn Italian towns might make for the best study abroad experience.
I really enjoyed that this book was one big graph of streams of consciousness, it made it hard to stop reading and gave everything that glazy, dream-like quality. But if I hear "Oh, you're a fine girl" or "You poor darling sweet" once more, I might have a hemorrhage myself.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The parts about war were more interesting than the romance. I thought that Hemmingway did an excellent job at illustrating how gratuitous war is. The constant denial about what was happening juxtaposed by Henry describing the events made the first ⅔ of the novel extremely gripping.
Unfortunately, once we shift focus to the romance, the book falls apart. I can get behind a dysfunctional relationship, but it feels like Hemmingway really wanted me to cherish the couple and their time together. Henry was an asshole and Catherine was a doormat, so it was really exhausting to read them talk to each other. If this book was a novella focused solely on Henry I feel like I would have given it 5 stars.
Unfortunately, once we shift focus to the romance, the book falls apart. I can get behind a dysfunctional relationship, but it feels like Hemmingway really wanted me to cherish the couple and their time together. Henry was an asshole and Catherine was a doormat, so it was really exhausting to read them talk to each other. If this book was a novella focused solely on Henry I feel like I would have given it 5 stars.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Catherine wanted gonorrhea to be more connected with her husband. That's love back then.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hemingway wrote a novel that explores both love and war. The doomed romance of Henry and Catherine is an excellent read. Henry going from inexperienced in war to a man who has seen its horrors and has something to lose is illustrates that futility of war. Henry’s romance with Catherine shows how death can strike at any moment even when not in the battlefield and one shouldn’t be complacent.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No