Durante el verano de 1918 Agnes Von Kurowsky fue la enfermera de ojos grises que enamoraba con su belleza y ternura a los pacientes del Hospital Norteamericano de la Cruz Roja en Milán. Nadie sospecho que habría de convertirse en la figura femenina que aparece en las mejores novelas de un escritor nacido para la leyenda. Agnes había dejado su país para participar en una guerra cruel, empujada, al igual que otros yanquis, por un romántico patriotismo, unos ideales humanitarios y mucho afán de aventura. Algunos como Henry Villard-, habían ingresado en el hospital aquejados por enfermedades tan poco heroicas como una infección de piojos o una hepatitis. Ernest Hemingway llego con las piernas incrustadas de metralla y el talante de quien ha realizado una gesta y está llamado a la gloria. James Nagel he reunido el diario de Henry S.Villard, el de la propia Agnes y las cartas que ésta dirigió al escritor, además de la correspondencia que Hemingway mantuvo con su familia. Esta insólita historia de amor ha sido llevada al cine por Richard Attenborough. Era un reportero novato con cierta afición a la bebida, mucha apostura y un carácter encantador que a veces se tornaba borrascoso. Solo tenia diecinueve años cuando se enamoro de Agnes, y jamas pudo olvidarla.
********************************SPOILERS*******************************This biography takes place in Italy during World War I. This particular portion of Ernest Hemingway's life from 1917-1918 when he was in Italy as an American Red Cross Ambulance Driver.
During his short time as an ambulance driver he was in Piave at the front. He was five days into handing out cigerettes, chocolates and coffee to the Italian soldiers in the trenches when one evening a trench morter shell killed the Italian private in front of him wounding him and wounding another soldier. Hemingway carried the other soldier to the first aid station in the process sustaining machine gun wounds to his right knee and foot.
This biography is written by Henry Serrano Villard an American Red Cross Ambulance driver and friend of Hemingways and also James Nagel a Hemingway Historian.
The main contents of the book are the letters that Agnes Von Kurowsky wrote to Ernest Hemingway when she was going from hospital to hospital in Italy to Hemingway whom was in the American Red Cross Hospital in Milan. Then the letters from Hemingway home to his parents.
I read this book in conjunction with "A Farewell to Arms". Which was a great way to read both books. As the love affair between Agnes and Ernie is the basis for the love in "A Farewll to Arms".
First, I have to start with how romantic the Italian countryside sounds. Even in the mist of war, I want to visit. Both Agnes, Ernie and Henry present a beautiful description of Italy. Most especially in Milan.
Secondly, this is a wonderful book to get historical facts about Italy and World War I. Very descriptive about the retreat from the Austrians. The relief when the American troops arrived and help the Italians win the war and gain back their country.
Agnes' letters toward the end of the war show how scary it was for the civilians. Many children and women where near several bombs that had not gone off and were innocent victims of curiousity. Agnes describes the wounds suffered by the civilians, and soldiers. Many whom suffered from jundice and maleria.
Hemingway's letters are descriptive about the front and his wounds he suffered. He also describes his wounds he received. Enough that as a Mum myself I would have wanted to go to Italy to be by my son's sides.
Most importantly, the romance between Agnes and Ernie. The Romance that later became "A Farewell to Arms", Hemingway's greatest Novel. The novel that would be banned in Italy because it accurately described the Italian retreat from Austrian soldiers. More importantly, the love that blossomed in a hospital in Milan. In the romantic countryside of Italy between a nurse and a patient.
Villard, whom kept in touch with Agnes and talked to her before her death, said that Agnes denied that Ernie and her were in love. However, Hemingway's letters home and Agnes' letters to Hemingway, and Henry's memory of watching the love begin to grow show us the truth.
Hemingway kept all of Agnes' letters. Letters in which she expressed her love to Ernie. Letters in which she discussed marriage. How she missed Ernie when she was transferred from Milan to different hospitals to the front. Ernie's letters home, in which he briefly tells his family he is in love.
Finally, the heartbreaking dear john letter, that broke Ernie's heart. The letter that forever stayed with Ernie and shaped his future love life. It is clear that Agnes and Ernie were in love. Was it the romantic Italian countryside? Was it two scared and lonely American's in Italy far from home, seeking comfort in another? Was it true love that was split apart by war?
It is clear the Ernie was deeply in love with Agnes. The love and the heartbreak brought both joy and pain to Ernie. It gave us "A Farewell to Arms". A must read as there is so much more to Ernie Hemingway and after reading this book I felt I understood more the pain of Ernie's heartbreak and his need to share his love and pain in Farewell. Beautiful biography on the great American Writer.
Pożegnanie z bronią nabrało całkiem innego blasku.
Hemingway. Miłość i wojna to całkowite studium wydarzeń lata 1918 w szpitalu Amerykańskiego Czerwonego Krzyża, romansu młodego Ernesta Hemingwaya z pielęgniarką Agnes von Kurowsky. O tej aferze miłosnej mówi się, że miała służyć za inspirację do jego najważniejszej powieści wojennej. Tom obejmuje wspomnienia wspólnego przyjaciela bohaterów Henry'ego Villarda, fragmenty z dzienników i listy miłosne Agnes, listy do domu Hemingwaya oraz podsumowanie spisane przez Jamesa Nagela, osadzające uniesienia w świecie faktów.
Ta lektura zajęła mi więcej czasu niż się spodziewałam. Oczekiwałam tego, że zaangażuję się w nią emocjonalnie, w końcu siedzę w temacie Ernesta Hemingwaya od lat i bliscy mi wiedzą, jak ogromna jest ta pasja. Teksty Villarda, Agnes i Ernesta uderzyły we mnie jednak też z innej strony; pogrążyłam się w myślach, jak te wszystkie małe i duże wydarzenia przez nich spisane stały się naprawdę, słowa i wyznania autorów wchodziły wtedy w świat tak bezbronnie. To było tak, jak gdybym za sprawką ich zdań przeniosła się w przeszłość i wyczekiwała z nimi w tych korytarzykach włoskiego szpitala. To uczucie zawsze miło widziane, ale dawno nie poczułam tego tak intensywnie. Jakby otworzył się przede mną inny świat. Głęboko mnie wzruszał.
Bardzo doceniłam tę książkę. Chociaż czasami zastanawiam się, czy nie byłoby dobrze zakończyć te ciągłe rozkładanie historii i wieści o Erneście na czynniki pierwsze, blaski i cienie, prawdy i fałsze, pozwolić nieśmiałemu skandaliście mówić samemu za siebie, to dobrze było poznać tę jedną historię. Myślę, że została opowiedziana w spokojny i rozumny sposób. Badacze przyglądają się historii Amerykańskiego Czerwonego Krzyża i tej małej społeczności, która zrodziła się w szpitalu w Mediolanie. Radzą sobie z mitami opiewającymi udział Hemingwaya w I wojnie światowej i przydają blasku temu, co jest prawdą. W skrupulatny sposób przyglądają się relacji autora z kilka lat starszą pielęgniarką Agnes von Kurowsky, z kilku perspektyw i przez różnorodne źródła, pochodzące od samych osób zaangażowanych. Wyłaniający się obraz tego krótkiego romansu wydaje się bardziej poruszający, autentyczny, zrozumiały i naturalny niż jakiekolwiek spekulacje i łamanie sobie nad tym głowy historyków literatury; jest tutaj przebaczenie, nie potrzebujące przyzwolenia. Tak się po prostu zdarzyło i odbiło się na tylu tekstach Hemingwaya, które potem nadeszły. Co więcej, tak jak wspomniałam na początku, te małe zeznania, jeśli mogę je tak nazwać, nadały Pożegnaniu z bronią nowego blasku i znaczenia. Za głównymi bohaterami powieści wydaje się stać o wiele więcej inspiracji niż poprzednio myślałam, postacie zmieniły trochę twarz, a poznanie nazwiska Enrico Sereny i Elsie MacDonald zmieniło dla mnie dużo. Mam nadzieję, że kiedy to studium zostało wydane, zatrzęsło trochę tym, jak czytelnicy odczytują historię Frederica Henry'ego i Catherine Barkley. Lektura ta zachęciła mnie do podążania za nowymi tropami w opowieści o nieznośnym, niezręcznym i urokliwym amerykańskim pisarzu, a pozostaje mi tylko marzyć o tej pierwszej wersji jego powieści.
To było bardzo satysfakcjonujące i wartościowe doświadczenia literackie. Moje słowa nie mogą w pełni wyrazić tego, jak znaczące było spotkanie z tymi ludźmi, choć jedynie przez ich słowa, ze stuleciem pomiędzy nami. Historia tego szpitala wydaje się taką opowieścią, obok której nie można przejść obojętnie, a jednak nie jest ona nasza i trzeba w pewnym momencie wypuścić ją z zaciśniętej dłoni.
Hemingway in Love and War by Henry S. Villard and James Nagel c1989
This non-fiction publication is really 5 separate yet related pieces. The first is Henry Villard’s personal remembrances as a Red Cross ambulance driver on the Italian front in 1918. He knew Hemingway when they were convalescing in the makeshift hospital in Milan. He gives detail about the hospital and sheds light on the character of young Hemingway and his relationship with Agnes – who became the reference point for his heroine in Farewell to Arms.
Villard speaks of her as having a ‘spark - all the boys were in love with her’. We hear of Ernie’s 227 shrapnel wounds from trench mortar. There is a photo of the machine gun bullet in his knee. Villard became a writer himself later in life and interviewed Agnes. At this point she described things as a ‘flirtation’ and admits she may have led him on. Her letters give a different impression.
I found myself skipping through large sections of this book, especially Agnes’ diary (rather mundane) as well as her letters to Ernest while she was stationed in Florence and he was still recovering in Milan. What is of interest are the salutations: Ernie, my darling; Kid, dear; Best Beloved and the closings: your faithful Mrs. Kid and yours only Aggie.
Some of the content suggests a romance when she writes “I sometimes wish we could marry here.”(p. 135) “I certainly need a dose of your dear presences dear – to reassure and comfort me…..I feel rather far away and alone just now”. ( p.110) Followed by “I love you Ernie and I miss my boy….you are just about the most companionable man I ever knew, even if you do fly off the handle once in a while” (p. 113) At just 19, we see his volatility and early drinking.
Later she writes: “Kid. I miss you more and more. It makes me shiver to think of your going home without me. What if our hearts should change? Both, I mean and we should lose this beautiful world of us.”(p145) This did indeed happen. Ernest returned to Illinois and Agnes continued a long career of nursing in Europe.
Hemingway’s own letters home to his family show his youthful exuberance. At this point, he was not interested in writing fiction but becoming a journalist.
The final section Hemingway and the Italian Legacy by James Nagel goes into detail about the Red Cross. I found it interesting that most ambulance drivers were Harvard students as only the upper classes could afford cars and know how to drive.
To some, Hemingway is just another author, who may or may not have earned his place in literary history by way of his words on the written page. To others, Hemingway is also a person of deeds, who lived his life consistent with his ideals and the lessons he learned along the way. For those enjoy his work and also find his actions to be firm and resolute, this book offers insights into an early character-forming period of his life; a period that has been previously depicted to by others in ways that have served their own purposes without much material to support the validity of their conclusions. Von Kurowsky’s diary, and the other accounts contained within this book, offers a foundation from which these previously publicized conclusions can be evaluated and also provides a basis for a partial understanding of who Hemingway was to become (and the books he was to write) after WWI.
When I first saw In Love and War (the movie based on this book) the love story between Agnes and Ernest caught my fascination. Since this was a true story I needed to get my hands on this book. This was before the days you could just Google and Wikipedia anything. It would be a few years before I would find this book, so in the mean time I had scoured biography books on Hemingway. Ernest, during WWI, volunteered as an ambulance driver on the front lines in Italy When he was badly wounded after his short stint, he fell in love with one of the older nurses, Agnes. It is this love story that was the inspiration for his novel A Farewell to Arms.
I enjoyed this book as it was a mix of a biography, memoir, letters, and travel book. Italy, during WWI (specifically 1917-18) was it's own character. The setting of the time and place really comes to life. The letters and diaries from that time really allow you to see the world at that time, rather than just a look back from contemporary time. It has been a LONG time since I read this book, and I would like to read this again once I get a chance to read A Farewell to Arms. I have read a bit of Hemingway and about his life and would like to read a lot more.
A dear friend recommended this book due to our mutual love of "A Farewell To Arms," by Ernest Hemingway. This book is a glimpse into the relationship that would forever scar Hemingway and be the catalyst to all his future writings. I now feel a deeper insight into the man behind my favorite novel. Hemingway's smile shown on the cover of this book haunts me deeply. There has always been confusion as to how 'biographical' A Farewell was, but this sets the record straight, at least for me. I am sad to think this one first love experience is what seems to have been the very thing that shattered Hemingway, yet fully brought out his talent for future writing. He was published before his 'love and war' experience but certainly this would forever mark the man.
Quite an interesting read, particularly the differences of perception between the three main characters, and how time influenced their self-perceptions.
While still a teenager, Ernest Hemingway volunteered to go to the front lines of World War One as an ambulance driver. Within a few days after his arrival in Italy, he was badly wounded and found himself confined to a hospital, where he fell head over heels in love with the nurse Agnes von Kurowsky, an older woman. It is not a spoiler to reveal that ultimately Agnes broke up with Ernest. Agnes kept a diary. Ernest wrote letters. This book reprints the diary and the letters, adding commentary and analysis by people who knew them.
It’s the raw material for a great love story — as Hemingway himself reworked it into A Farewell to Arms. This book, however, is not a gripping read unless you're already interested in Hemingway. It's great for the first-hand accounts in the words of Agnes and Ernie. The editors' analyses and explanations are dry in comparison, though necessary and helpful.
I love going to original sources. Many critics have belittled Hemingway — or glorified him — while serving their own agendas. Here you can judge for yourself, reading the words of the lovers themselves.
Personally, I found myself sympathizing with both lovers. What follows is not a book review so much as my own personal take on the facts presented:
Hemingway was wounded, painfully so, and Agnes appeared and she was lovely. She was fond of him. You could say she loved him under wartime conditions, but he was just a boy and she was a woman. She was pretty, and she enjoyed the attention of men.
When they were separated, Agnes responded to the immediate while Hemingway, a brooder, held the romance in his mind. She needed closeness and contact. Away from his presence she remembered his prickliness and boyish foolishness, while he remembered her loveliness and friendship. He created enhancements, embellishments to his time in Italy with her. She tended to the opposite.
It was a romance of a particular place and circumstance that would have been hard to sustain, and she realized it. Agnes also was clearly a hardworking, dedicated, idealistic nurse and by all accounts a cheerful and caring person. It's sad that the romance fizzled, but no one's to blame. It isn't fair to say that she broke his heart. Two hundred pieces of shrapnel and a couple of bullets embedded in his legs, along with the crushing of boyish ideals against the brutality of war, all combined to break his heart. Plus, of course, the fickleness of love.
A reproduction of the letters sent to Ernest from his first love, who ultimately rejected him at the end of World War I. A revealing portrait of what caused Ernest's romantic life to be so fraught for the duration of his life. True insight into the basis behind some of his greatest work, including "A Farewell to Arms".
There is a wonderful scholarly essay at the end of the letters which sets the record straight on a lot of the details involving Ernest's time as part of the Red Cross in Italy.
I read "A Farewell To Arms" in an English class in high school and was fascinated by the seemingly doomed-from-the start love story of Ernest Hemingway and Agnes von Kurowsky. This book was a great peek into a tumultuous relationship and further encouraged my Ernest Hemingway obsession.