A Farewell to Arms

The novel draws heavily on Hemingway's experiences as a young soldier in Italy. It tells the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, a young American ambulance driver serving in the Italian army during World War I. Henry falls in love with the English nurse Catherine Barkley. She tends him during his recuperation after being wounded by shrapnel. His recuperation and lovely romance with Catherine end when Henry must return to the front. Henry narrowly escapes death at the hands of fanatical Italians soldiers who are executing officers separated from their troops during the Italians' disastrous retreat after the Battle of Caporetto. Henry finds Catherine, and after a sojourn in an Italian resort, the couple flee to Switzerland on the eve of Henry's arrest for deserting. In Switzerland, Catherine dies during childbirth. It is an excellent example of the prose style that made Hemingway famous.

A film adaptation of the same name was made in 1932, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer, from the Hemingway novel, and was directed by Frank Borzage. The movie stars Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou.

The film was remade with the same title in 1957, starring Jennifer Jones, Rock Hudson and Vittorio De Sica and directed by Charles Vidor and John Huston.

The 1996 movie In Love and War, directed by Richard Attenborough, is a more biographical work, based on the same background as A Farewell to Arms.

Referenced By