A Farewell to Arms

De: Ernest Hemingway

Narrado por: John Slattery

The definitive edition of the classic World War I romance novel, featuring all of the alternate endings: “Fascinating…serves as an artifact of a bygone craft, with handwritten notes and long passages crossed out, giving readers a sense of an author’s process” (The New York Times).

Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable tragic story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.

Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield frontlines—weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.

Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right. This edition collects all the alternative endings together for the first time, along with early drafts of other essential passages, offering new insight into Hemingway’s craft and creative process and the evolution of one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Featuring Hemingway’s own 1948 introduction to an illustrated reissue of the novel, a personal foreword by the author’s son Patrick Hemingway, and a new introduction by the author’s grandson Seán Hemingway, this edition of A Farewell to Arms is truly a celebration.©1929 Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright renewed ©1957 Ernest Hemingway; (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Not what I expected

John Slattery did an excellent job in narrating the book. I had read "The Modern Scholar: WW1" by John Ramsden and he Listed "A Farewell To Arms" on the reading list and said it covered the fighting between Italy and Austria in WWI. But I was disappointed because there was very little information about the war and was primarily a love story. I am not sure why Ramsden list this book on his reading list. I have enjoyed other Hemingway book so maybe my disappointment was in my expectations.

Easy listening

I liked the reader. He didn't drone me to sleep. It was very easy to listen along and he read at just the right pace. And his voice isn't obnoxious.

WWI Love Story

Narrator was excellent. HEMINGWAY'S classic profound metaphor of WWI told in narrators voice about his one true love, Kat.

Good until the end.

Great story until the end. The ending was greatly dragged out and boring, with much of it degrading the emotional ending.

Great novel; spectacular narrator

To say the story is good seems a superfluous waste: I mean, it's Hemingway at his best. Duh.
What blew me away was the narrator. John Slattery nails it: American accents, English accents, Italian accents, males, females -- unreal. At times, it was difficult to believe this is all one person.

Masterpiece

What a moving story. Loved every moment. Even the painful parts. This one will stay with me always.

Beautiful, heartbreaking

Would you consider the audio edition of A Farewell to Arms to be better than the print version?

Yes, it's important to read this novel carefully.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Catherine, she's sympathetic and thoughtful.

Which character – as performed by John Slattery – was your favorite?

Catherine, she comes alive in this reading by Slattery.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole novel is moving.

You will speak differently for days.

I hesitate to attempt a review of such a classic work. I shall only say that after listening to this book I attempted to speak for an entire day without using a contraction or passive voice. It was enlightening.

My god!

Loved the story. Lots of full characters and exceptional writing. And this narrator! Whatever I listen to next will be with his voice, he gave me a n

Dragged on, just like World War I.

What did you like best about A Farewell to Arms? What did you like least?

The love story and descriptions of life in WWI Italy.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting - how was the love story going to end?
Least interesting - detailed updates from the "front".

Have you listened to any of John Slattery’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Did A Farewell to Arms inspire you to do anything?

Reconfirm my desire to visit Italy.