Review: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Title: A Farewell to Arms

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Stars: 4 Stars

Summary: The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Hemingway’s frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto—of lines of fired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized—is one of the greatest moments in literary history. A story of love and pain, of loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms, written when he was thirty years old, represents a new romanticism for Hemingway.

Review: The beginning of the book was a little slow for me. But then I started swearing at Miss Van Campen for being such a mean old lady. It's been a while since I've sworn at a book. Some people just can't leave well enough alone. I like Catherine. Maybe I'm just biased on the name tho. :) The end of the book... Seriously just makes me want to cry. Where is the happy ending? Where's my hopeless romance? Why do you have to be so sad and depressing? OK sorry to many questions for a review. Haha. I do recommend this book. 4 Stars!

Review: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Author: Alexandre Dumas
Introduction and notes: Luc Sante
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Publisher: Barnes and Noble classics
Pub date: 2004 (1844-1845)
Pages: 591
Stars: 4.5

Summary: Dashing young Edmond Dantès has everything. He is engaged to a beautiful woman, is about to become the captain of a ship, and is well liked by almost everyone. But his perfect life is shattered when he is framed by a jealous rival and thrown into a dark prison cell for 14 years.

Review: At first I didn't like the way they went between the characters. However, later in the book I was very happy that it was like that. I really liked this book! The beginning was a little difficult for me to get into but once I did you couldn't get me to put it down. Took me four days to read it so maybe a total of 20-30 hours. My mother picked on me for two reasons one it took me four days to read the book instead of one and the other reason was because I borrowed the book even though I normally just read the books I receive for review. The story line and the characters are amazing! In the start of the book you could really feel Edmond and mercédès love for each other. The book was filled with plenty of awe inspiring self discovery. This book is truly a classic and it makes me want to read more classics. I really loved this book and found almost no problems with it. Except for the fact of it felt like it was missing the fairy tale end with all the romance. But I'm a hopeless romantic so that just can't be helped. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. It's worth trying. Amazing!