The Truth in A Farewell to Arms If the Sun Also Rises was one of the best books I have ever read, then A Farewell to Arms is truth. I simply can't believe these books have existed this long without me knowing how great they are. I consider myself a person who reads constantly, more than almost anyone I know, and here in less than a month I've read two books that are easily among the best I've ever encountered. When I finished FTA I was obviously stunned by the deaths of Catherine and the baby and Henry's sudden loneliness. "What happens now?" I felt, as I often do when I finish a book, that I want to go on forever. This is infinitely more difficult with a book that has no conclusion, and FTA leaves the reader not only emotionally exhausted but also as lonely as Henry and with nowhere to go. The whole work was aware of where it was going and what was coming next, and so to stop like that was unfair. Now, I read enough essays while deciding what the topic for my class presentation would be that I know many people see that the unfairness of life and the insignificance of our free will are apparently the most important themes of the book, but I do not know. I don't agree. I also don't agree on whether it's a war story or a love story. What exactly it is, however, is not clear to me. Can't art exist without being nothing? "There isn't always an explanation for everything." War and love are obviously important themes in the book, and the relationship between the two is explored by Hemingway and, to a certain extent, by Henry. In the first two books we are at war and the war is overwhelming. In the last two books we are in love. And, just as the first two Books are infused with love in a time of war, the last two Books are tinged with war in a time of love. The third Book is the bridge between the two 'stories' and it is not surprising that it focuses on escape. It is during the escape that Henry decides he is done with the war (a war he truly has no place in) and decides that all he wants is to be with Catherine. Until the third book Henry does not seem to be agonizingly interested in questions of right and wrong in war and seems, in fact, separated from him. Even when he's injured it doesn't feel like he's really part of the war around him. He keeps his distance from them and this distance is not truly closed until Aymo is killed by his own army, finds out that Bonello is only with him out of respect, and is almost killed as a spy. He then decides to abandon the army and reunite with his love, Catherine. Henry is no fool and could easily tell that all was not well with Cat, which leads to the question of his love for her. You have to admit that Cat is a little...well...unstable when they first meet. He loses that personality fairly early on, although I couldn't help but distrust his integrity until about halfway through the fourth book. It's also difficult to believe wholeheartedly in his love for her until much later in their relationship, and I wonder if he's leaving his involvement in the war because of his unwavering love for Cat or if Cat and the feelings he has for her they are just excuses to escape the madness of war he experiences in Book Three. When he is with Catherine, they are in another place, untouched by the war, both symbolically (in the curtain of her hair) and literally (in Switzerland). [I never seem to say anything shocking, or even critical, in these response documents, and I'm not sure I should. The line “The war seemed as distant as someone else's college football games” is beautiful.]