So...after 30 years of teaching English, many of them in Advanced Placement, and 8 years of librarianship and book talking, I have finally completed a Hemingway - beyond The Old Man and the Sea (which I read because it was part of the curriculum I was teaching). I am not entirely sure where my slight aversion to Hemingway originated. Each year I teach “A Clean Well Lighted Place” in AP Lit. And I kind of like it. But I always talk about how I haven’t read his novels. Somewhere along the line, I became upset over his portrayal of women. After I read The Paris Wife, I became a bit more intrigued with Hemingway the author. McLain does such a lovely job of illustrating ho Hemingway struggled to make each word in his work the perfect one. I recognized the preciseness of the language in the short story. Further, I have been making an effort at book talking more classic authors. My assistant principal was a “guest talker” and took over the Hemingway slide for me in the fall, and I felt duty bound to have one read before a banned and censored book talk presentation.

Any way - A Farewell to Arms it was. I may have picked the title because it looked the shortest, and I had about 24 hours to knock it out. I may have read it a bit too quickly. But, most definitely, I surprised myself with how much I liked the novel. I am in awe of Hemingway’s command of the language. His sentences while precise and spare are surprisingly poetic. His characters, while I didn’t necessarily like them, engaged me with their frank honesty and real brokenness. Honestly, I didn’t just love his portrayal of Catherine, but that’s OK, I was drawn to her nonetheless. I don’t think I need to actually review the book here. Those reviews, by much more talented critics than I, are all over the internet. I’m just reporting that I read the book.

True story. One of our tenth grade boys had also chosen Farewell to Arms after my first book. Largely on the recommendation of the principal. He was so pleased that I, too, had read the book. “That ending,” he said, “I didn’t expect it. I couldn’t believe it; wasn’t that something?” That, my friends, was something. I read Hemingway and had a moment with a tenth grade as a result. I have the BEST job.