A Farewell to Arms

I have read through 32 chapters of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, and so far I have really enjoyed it. It's a much easier read than The Scarlet Letter, but the messages of the text are buried deep down, which creates an interesting relationship in comparison to other books we've read. The chapters are shorter and the dialogue can be very simple and at times boring. When having a discussion about the book and someone says  "the text has no meaning" or "it's to simple to talk about or dissect", I think about how I am trying to study the words that Hemingway uses and why. This skill is a working progress for me, but it will help me in seminar discussions and papers. Even with a simple text and writing style there is meaning behind the word choices, the places and the characters. Now on to an aspect that I like about Hemingway's writing. Although during the seminar discussion some people disagreed with me, I thought the moment when the first mortar hits the trench is very significant to the rest of the story. We have been talking about how Hemingway's writing is like a movie, and how he uses his writing like a lens to zoom it and out of scenes. The mortar passage is one of those scenes. The war is now upon the city, with mortars striking near them. The ambulance drivers almost seem too relaxed. Henry and Gordini are running outside with mortars going off nearby and all they are worrying about is getting the food back to the guys. They sit around eating cold macaroni and drinking rotten wine while trying to guess what caliber mortars are attacking them. Little do they know that one of those mortars is going to change their lives. This is when  I picture Hemingway's writing as a movie. There is a flash followed by a deafening noise and then darkness. And that's when the slow motion starts and there is yelling and cries of help. Henry's heart is loud and pounding and all the other noises of the scene seem to be distant and muffled. There is blood and splintered wood everywhere, and he looks over the Passini who is screaming, but still no noise is heard by Henry. And then the scene switches to chaos and noise everywhere with Henry's heart racing. Henry watches as Passini says his last words and then becomes silent. When I look at the mortar scene in this way, the passage becomes very vivid and interesting. This scene is Henry's first experience with war, and I think Hemingway captures it perfectly. I look forward to reading and discussing the rest of the book.