Outside reading book choice and similarity between the Hemingway works

For my second outside reading book, I chose A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway for my author study. I chose this book for various reasons, mainly due to the fact that it is considered one of his major works.

A Farewell to Arms takes place in Italy during World War I. It portrays a story of a pair of lovers, an English nurse and an American ambulance driver. At the moment I have read up to the part where they initially meet and talk about their lives.

I am only about a tenth of the way into the book, but I have already noticed many similarities in Hemingway’s work. A common theme that I noticed between the works is a man’s importance of love. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway shows the love between Robert Jordan and Maria to portray the importance of love to a man. As they spend time with each other they get attracted, and near the end they are attached so much that Maria refuses to leave Roberts even though she will get killed if she stays there. This portrays the power and importance of love between the lovers.

In A Farewell to Arms Henry and Catherine attracted to each other immediately and start to spend time with each other. At the part where I am, they clearly show their affection for each other and this hints at me that this love will play a great role in the story later on in the plot.

The main similarity I noticed between the two Hemingway works is love. I am sure there are more similarities, and I might write a blog in the future expanding on them.