A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (Review)

Title: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
First published: 1929
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Rating: ★★☆☆☆

This was a Classics Club Spin title, and I should have read it by October 6. I did, but I didn't manage to review it in time. Well, better late then never, right? :) 

Before A Farewell to Arms I had only read Hemingway once and didn't like it. But I told myself that that was so because I was little and not that into fishing :) So I've decided to give him another try. I wish I haven't. 

The whole problem is the writing. It just doesn't work for me. It is somewhat abrupt and gloomy and doesn't hold my attention. Also, you can always feel that something horrible is going to happen and it's too much of a pressure for 300-something pages. I freely admit it may be completely my fault I didn't like the book. I'm very easily bored by books lately, but still, considering the gripping events happening in there, it's too dull. 

Another major problem was the protagonist's relationship with the nurse. I think it was sick, the way she diminished herself and told that she didn't matter and all she wanted was his convenience. The guy knocked her up, come on! She has some rights. Overall, a depressive book without likable characters... I'm not sure I'll ever pick Hemingway up again.

In my book:
Don't know what people find in it.

The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov (Review)

Title: The Gift
Author: Vladimir Nabokov 

First published: 1938

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Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

I picked this novel on a whim while I was at home for holidays. It was just looking at me from the shelf, and I am a fan of Nabokov, you know :) However, this is not a Nabokov I would recommend. 

It's beautifully written, and some of the quotes I loved so much that I re-read them several times, but the plot is very difficult to follow, because frankly speaking there's no plot to talk about. Although we should not forget that Nabokov hated searching for connections between art and real life and explaining books through the writers' experience, the novel seems to be autobiographical. It revolves around one of the thousands Russian emigrants living in Berlin after the revolution. He's a writer, and the story switches between describing his life and his works. The border between the two is very vague. You read about how the protagonist walks in the street and the next thing you realize you are in the middle of his novel. It's embarrassing and complicated, even for those who (like me) enjoy unusual writing. 

Moreover, somewhere in the middle of the novel the main hero decides to write a book about Chernyshevsky, and that is where Nabokov kicks over the traces. The rest of the book is a dive into Chernyshevsky's life and one big attempt to prove that he was a worthless writer. It was interesting up to some point, but it was just too much. The ending is beautiful in its uncertainty and symbolism, but somewhat crumpled because it comes after so much Chernyshevsky.

In my book:

Not recommended, unless you are really into this whole Nabokov vs. Chernyshevsky thing