Reader's Paradise discussion

A Farewell to Arms is a novel by Ernest Hemingway set during the Italian campaign of World War I. The book, published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant ("Tenente") in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. The title is taken from a poem by 16th-century English dramatist George Peele.

The group-read will start from 25th of April. People are invited to join.

Current participants:
Aarti
Arpit
Karolina
Siddharth

People who are not aware of Hemingway's writing style, here is something for you:

At the height of his celebrity in the 1950s, Ernest Hemingway gave a now‐famous interview in which he credited the emotional power of his fiction to what he called “the principle of the iceberg.”
An iceberg, he noted, floats in the Arctic with only one‐eighth of its mass above water while the greater, more potentially devastating portion hides beneath the surface and attracts our concern precisely because it is hidden. In the same way, he reasoned, the drama of a story can attract our concern if we are allowed to glimpse only a fragment of visible action that implies an earlier, unseen experience of far greater magnitude and emotional significance.

That means we have to read it carefully to find seven-eighth of its meaning.

Hey arprit. :D
Thanks for reminding me !
Starting to read now. :)

Hey guys. I will join you for this one but probably a few days after the 25h, as I'm planning some #ShakespeareWeek celebrations reading :)

Do not fret though, I'm a very fast reader. I'll catch up ^^

Siddharth wrote: "Hey arprit. :D
Thanks for reminding me !
Starting to read now. :)"

Welcome, buddy:)
BTW, we were supposed to start from 25th. You started it early?

But I'm not reading anything now, so if everybody is okay then we start from today.

Sid, is it your first Hemingway?

Arpit wrote: "But I'm not reading anything now, so if everybody is okay then we start from today."

I still din't start arprit :/
Have Exam on Saturday and Semester Practicals next week.
So i don't think i'll have much time to read the book.
Will catch up with you guys once my exams end. :)
Sorry !!

No need to say sorry.
BTW when your exams/practicals are going to end?

Umm...

Sem Practicals end on 28th followed by 2 theory exams on 30th and 4th May respectively.

So between 30th and 4th I'll be having study holidays :D
During that time i can be able to finish off this book. :)

I am little busy now. but vl start soon

Everyone is busy with something or other.....so I think we can postpone it to 30th, April, if everyone is fine with it...
What say, buddies?

Fine with me :D :)

Siddharth wrote: "Fine with me :D :)"

Okay...
Let others also confirm it....

I'm all for the 30th :)

yeah. fine by me

Okay, so 30th it is.

Dear Hemingway lovers, are you there?
Well, tomorrow's 30, so I thought I'd give you a gentle reminder :)

Yep bro ! :P
Lets start tomorrow

Yeah, lets start from tomorrow.
BTW, Sid, are you REALLY reading 18 books currently?

Lol. :D
No broh. :P I shelf a chunk of books in Currently Reading . Then one by one i read em :P

Haha...well, that's kinda great.

Anyway, I see it's your first Hemingway, right?

Yep :P

Good luck, then :)

Thankyew ^_^ :P

I started it. Chapters are small. That will help.

What about you Guys?

I started too

Aarti wrote: "I started too"

Thoughts so far?

Sid, Karolina?

Hi, I'm going to jump in tonight/tomorrow. My kindle died yesterday T__T ), so I had to buy a new one and catch up with the books I've already started

My Kindle too shut down due to Low battery. Lost the Power cable. Will get one tomorrow and Start :)

Siddharth wrote: "My Kindle too shut down due to Low battery. Lost the Power cable. Will get one tomorrow and Start :)"

Mine literally died :( The options don't load and none of the books can be opened... I'll get to Hemingway as soon as I sort out the new one - probably later today.

It's okay, Karol:)
Take your time. By the way, I'm also reading it very slow.

I'm on chapter-4.
Not much impressed yet:(

I am chapter 3

So, I've started reading the book, and to my own surprise I realized that ages ago (back in secondary school, when I was 12 or 13) I've seen the adaption of this book with my mum.

Anyway, I have finished the first book (ending with chapter 11). Despite one gruesome scene, I am quite surprised how ... mellow the WWI is presented here. I was expecting something far darker and heavier, considering that Hemingway is a part of lost generation. (view spoiler)[ I did like the artificial feeling and pretending between Henry and Catherine in the first few chapters. It is a skillful presentation of how desperate for closeness people can be, when put it in difficult situations and left alone. It also tells a lot about society. (hide spoiler)]

So, I'm done with the novel. If anyone is interested, here you can find my thoughts on this novel (spoiler-free): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Wow, you have already completed it!! I'm not liking it much. Short dialogues. No detailing. Boring story :(
Instead of reading this, I would prefer a re-read of The Old Man and the Sea.

I've read The Old Man and the Sea in high school (mandatory reading for literature classes), and I really wasn't impressed. Hemingway tends to have heavy writing style.

Overall I enjoyed this novel, but I agree that it's not a great read.

I have complete Book-1. Oh, how much I am struggling to read it!! It's killing me. Such a bore!

@Karol- How did you complete it so fast?

The Old Man and the Sea was in our college syllabus. I liked it then. But for the story only. It was my first book. I mean I'm not sure if it was my first, but it was certainly one of my first-3 novels :P

@Arpit, I usually focus on one book :) And well... I was always a kind of fast reader - when a book interests me it sometimes takes me around two days to finish a 800+ pages novel... I call this my superpower!

Am I the only one who's still torturing himself with this novel?
Come on, guys. If you have dropped it, then at least tell us.

Karolina wrote: "@Arpit, I usually focus on one book :) And well... I was always a kind of fast reader - when a book interests me it sometimes takes me around two days to finish a 800+ pages novel... I call this my..."

I envy your superpower. I take time. Especially with boring books. I'm 50% done with Arms, and, oh god, it's killing mw :(