The Double Gut Punch of "A Farewell To Arms": Reviews Of That and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2"

Hello,

My thoughts are with those who were affected by the shooting in San Bernadino today. I find these continued mass shootings so heart breaking.

"A Farewell To Arms" follows the entire love story of Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley from beginning to end. This is during World War 1, which is the reason why the two lovers meet. The book is set in World War 1, but the war is beside the point. Henry is an ambulance driver and Barkley is a nurse. I thought their love story was going to be a typical love story where the soldier loves and leaves the woman. I kept on waiting for the story to turn that way, I'm so glad that it didn't.

It took a bit of time to get use to Hemingway's writing style - short, terse sentences. The writing is matter-of-fact. It's a bit dry and took a bit to get use to. I don't know if I would call this book a classic. One reason why is of how sappy the dialogue is between the two lovers. See example below, I won't identify the speakers as it doesn't matter. A conversation about hair:

"I wouldn't let you cut yours"
"It would be fun. I'm tired of it. It's an awful nuisance in the bed at night."
"I like it"
"Wouldn't you like it short"
"I might, I like it is the way it is."
"It might be nice short. Then we'd both be alike. Oh, darling, I want you so much I want to be you too.
"You are. We're the same one."

Way too much of that kind of dialogue throughout the book. The above dialogue doesn't feel authentic.

Although after the very sad ending, the book ends with this very moving sentence: "After awhile I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain." That's matter-of-fact but also eloquent at the same time.

Grade: C

Now on to "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2". I'm not going to lie I was very disappointed by this movie. Of the three books in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, "Mockingjay" is the weakest by far. Both of the first two books are absolutely amazing, extremely well written books. "Mockingjay" is a decent book, but breaking it into two movies? Well, that was a financial success, but a creative disaster. This movie is very dark, both thematically and literally. Seriously the budget must have been very little for lighting. So many times I couldn't see what was going on. That may not have been a bad thing.

Again this was a huge letdown, I was very disappointed. Of course this is only the sample platter before the full, buffet meal of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". I'm hoping the full meal is so much more satisfying than the sample platter.

Grade: C-/D +

themusicaddict