My first book for the Italy Challenge this year is "A Farewell to Arms" by the lovely Ernie Hemingway, whom happens to be my favorite American Prose writer (With Mark Twain being a very close second). How I love this book. I am on my sixth reread of Farewell. What I find interesting is what I am learning this time around and what I missed in my other reads. I am also laughing at myself, as I have post it notes with my notes and comments all over in the book, as I don't write in my books.
In conjunction with Farewell, I am also reading the biography which was done on Ernie's time in Italy during WWI in which he and Agnes fell in love and their love was lost. This is the love the haunted Ernie his entire life and the love that Farewell is based upon. The book is called "Hemingway In Love And War; The Lost Diary of Agnes Von Kurowsky, Her Letters, and Correspondence of Ernest Hemingway" by Henry Serrano Villard and James Nagel.
The significance of the writers, Henry Serrano Villard is and was Ernie's friend and comrade during WWI. Henry was there when the love of Ernie and Agnes developed and grew into this undying and enduring love that would haunt both of them. James Nagel is the lead historian on Ernie's history and literature. Thus this is a wonderful book and it has been a joyful book to read with Farewell.
In Farewell, Ernie has changed the real story, actually a quite a bit from what did truly happen, however, many of the facts are within Farewell. I find the development of Tenente and Catherine's relationship rather amusing. It is the male perspective of I am falling in love with this wonderful woman however I am scared to death to admit this love. It also takes into consideration the fact that Agnes accepted then rejected then admitted that she shouldn't have rejected Ernie's love and tried to make a go at it only to get rejected. Ernie makes his character more hesitant in the novel.
One thing we can learn, is that when you have love, you must do everything to hang onto the love. If you don't you will be miserable. The loss of love will haunt you forever............................Oddly enough I am listening to After the Storm by Mumford and Sons right now as I am writing this last paragraph. Bliss, there will always come a time when "love will not break your heart".
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