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A Farewell to Arms
- Narrated by: John Slattery
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
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Summary
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 30 years old, represents a new romanticism for Hemingway.
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What listeners say about A Farewell to Arms
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Overall
- James
- 16-12-07
Farewell to a good listen
A great book damaged by poor reading. The monotonous narration leaves this lifeless. Conversations are particularly dead. A disappointment.
The experience has taught me to listen to the preview of each download now.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Judy Corstjens
- 06-09-12
Narrator performs book
For many chapters I couldn't get over the impression that this was a take-off of Hemmingway's style. The 'Janet and John' style, as it sounds to UK listeners (of a certain age). But, Hemmingway builds his characters from conversation - the way they talk - and this narrator almost converts the book to a play at some points. I loved the conversation (soliloquy, since the narrator is talking to himself) where he asks himself 'what if his lover/girlfriend dies (in childbirth)'. I can't imagine how it would look on a page - but played by this actor... really something.
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3 people found this helpful
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- john
- 31-03-14
In Another Accent
Would you consider the audio edition of A Farewell to Arms to be better than the print version?
John Slattery does a fine job narrating Hemingway's classic novel. He gets the balance between the hard-bitten laconic tone of the narrative, from the terse war reflections to the suppressed pain at the end. He negotiates the accents (American, Italian, English, Scottish, Swiss) convincingly. I read the text alongside the audio and I thought Slattery's reading brought out tones and inflections I might have missed on the page.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The narrator, Frederic Henry, dominates the novel. It's his take on the events he recounts.
Which character – as performed by John Slattery – was your favourite?
In addition to Henry's narrative voice, I liked the way Slattery realised the Italian characters. He did not resort to the stereotype caricatures that an inferior reader might have attempted in order to play to the gallery.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
It is too dense a work for a single sitting. The reading makes the listener want to sit and reflect on scenes and chapters.
Any additional comments?
One of Hemingway's enduring qualities is that he writes on the page the way his narrators would speak. There are several good readings available. William Hurt's reading of The Sun Also Rises is top quality. Stacy Keach's readings of the short stories are excellent. It's a pity that Alexander Scourby's readings of the stories appear to be out of the catalogue, but you can still enjoy his reading of The Great Gatsby, which is masterly. John Slattery's reading of A Farewell To Arms is in the same league.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joan
- 29-09-21
A Farewell to Arms
As always very well written by Ernest Hemingway. The novel covers both the Great War and the love affair between an American Lieutenant and a nurse. Bitter sweet and well crafted, a great read as is to be expected from one of the great novelists of all time.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Jytte
- 13-08-11
No one besides Hemingway
It's so wonderful to listen to this novel. You hear every word, every tone - when you read you can miss a lot. John Slattery gives life to the - on the surface - subdued lovestory. On my Top Ten!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Belfastconfetti
- 22-03-24
Why do lectors who can't do accents, do accents?
The book is great, if a bit of a downer.
I was merely, mildly irritated by the reading until, suddenly, the lector changed his voice so that it sounded like a stage Pakistani being 'waterboarded' by the CIA.
From the context I deduced that it must be what he imagined to be a Scottish accent and, to be fair, if you listened really hard it did sound almost ,but not quite entirely, unlike a bad imitation of Mike Myers imitating Mel Gibson pretending to be Scottish. The English and Italian accents are just barely better. This was so annoying that it really cheapened the whole work.
A lector whose work I will carefully avoid in future.
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- Matthew
- 08-01-24
Great book
Really enjoyed this one. The ending certainly packs a punch, and I've not been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it a few weeks ago.
The last two chapters were really unlike anything I've ever read/listened to.
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- Andrew James Drummond
- 01-12-23
Bringing Hemingway’s writing to life
Having read the paper version, I was sceptical that the audible version could do it justice. However, I was glad that my scepticism was unfounded and was drawn into the story again. The narration brought the story to life that reading alone couldn’t achieve.
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- Amazon Customer
- 23-11-23
❤️
Another Great War love story from one of the greatest, my 2nd Hemingway book and looking forward to the next
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- jaguar7
- 17-11-23
Captures so much from two linked experiences
A perfectly formed description of the war from an angle I’m unfamiliar with other than working in the area 50 years ago and hearing grandfather tales.
Hemingway doesn’t do happy endings but the finale is too tragic
The narrator has done a fine job - bringing a large number of characters to individual life.
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