Review on A Farewell to Arms.docx

1、Review on A Farewell to ArmsReview on A Farewell to Arms Compared to other 9th or 10th grade books, the English used in this book is not too difficult, but many of the historical and cultural references will require additional research if you want to fully understand them.Ernest Hemingway is known f

2、or his distinctive writing style, an unusually bare, straightforward prose in which he characteristically uses plain words, few adjectives, simple sentences, and frequent repetition. Nevertheless his powers of description are not diminished by his taking care to choose such simple language. Take a l

3、ook, for example, at the opening paragraph of A Farewell to Arms.In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were.A Farewell to Arms focuses on a relationship between an American officer f

4、ighting for the Italian army and a British nurse during World War I. It therefore covers two of the most common topics in Western (and perhaps all of) literature: love and war. The book provides a first-person account of the Great War, which is a critical event in Western history, and it discusses s

5、ome of the perceived cultural differences between Americans, Italians, Britons, Austrians, and Germans. Moreover, for those of you especially interested in writing, this book is famous for its direct, impassive writing style.Hemingways straightforward writing style usually keeps the grammar simple.

6、However, this also means that the book sometimes describes important events in very few words, so it is easy to miss something important. Moreover, the book makes many references without any explanationfor example, references to Europe, European languages, and war vocabularywhich may make it difficu

7、lt to understand without looking these up on your own. The Analysis of the Iceberg Principle and Unyielding Man in Hemingways WorksThe Iceberg Theory (also known as the theory of omission) is a term used to describe the writing style of American writer Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 July 2, 1961).

8、Hemingway is best known for works such as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea.He began writing as a journalist, and in the 1920s he was stationed in Paris as foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. Through writing as a journalist, he learned the importance of focu

9、sing only on that which was being reported, though other important matters might lurk in the background or below the surface. He omitted these matters.As a writer of short stories he honed his craft and created a surface story from which often the main story was omitted, or was merely hinted at. The

10、 meaning of a piece is not meant to be immediately evident from the surface story, because the crux of the story lies below the surface. Critics believe his iceberg theory, or theory of omission, in combination with his distinctive clarity of writing, created a distance between himself and the chara

11、cters he created.The famous American novelist Ernest Hemingway was well-known for one of his particular styles: Iceberg Principle. He once drew an analogy between his works and the iceberg floating on the sea. Only one-eighth was on the water and the other part couldnt be seen. Hemingway thought tha

12、t his writing was just like the iceberg. He simply described the scenery, the action, or the dialogue and didnt give any commentary. That is, he presented the readers one-eighth of the iceberg and left a large space for them to imagine what the seven-eighths part left should be like, including the s

13、etting, the background, the characteristics of characters, the relationships between the heroes and other characters, even the ending. What he tried to achieve was “the vivid picture obtained through the direct communications between the eyes and the reference and that between the reference and the

14、readers”. For this purpose, he deleted the explanations, the inquiries and the comments; he eliminated the superfluous words, and only kept the concise, refined language. He regarded it important for a writer to give the readers enough space to imagine by themselves. He believed that a writer knew w

15、hat he was writing about, he could omit some details, and, if the writing was good enough, the readers could figure out what the writer had omitted in his writing.Hemingway is one of the greatest writers in the 20th century. He created a characteristic writing style which is well-known as the Iceber

16、g Theory today. He explained this theory in this way: “If it is of any use to know it, I always try to write on the principleHow is the iceberg principle used in Hemingways works? Answer Hemingways theory of omission is widely referred to as the iceberg principle. He explains this principle in chapt

17、er 16 of his 1932 book, Death in the Afternoon. Essentially, the principle states that by omitting certain parts of a story, a writer actually strengthens that story. The writer must be conscious of these omissions and be writing true enough in order for the reader to sense the omitted parts. When t

18、he reader senses the omitted parts, a greater perception and understanding for the story can be achieved. Lets apply Hemingways “iceberg principle” to the endings of some of his most famous works. At the end of The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes and Brett Ashley contemplate a life together. At the end

19、of A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry walks back to his hotel alone in the rain. At the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls, Robert Jordan awaits his impending death. The fate of these characters is never directly stated. Hemingway doesnt tell the reader that Jake Barnes and Hemingways Iceberg Principle

20、in The KillersHemingway pioneered a new style of writing that is almost commonplace today. He did away with all the florid prose of the 19th century Victorian era and replaced it with a lean, clear prose based on action rather than reflection. He also employed a technique by which he would leave out

21、 essential information of the story under the belief that omission can sometimes add strength to a narrative. It was a style of subtlety which contrasted greatly (and in a way enhanced) the themes he wrote about.war, blood sports like bullfighting or boxing, crime, etc. It is hard to find anyone wri

22、ting today who doesnt owe a debt of influence to Hemingway.The Iceberg Theory In The Old Man And The Sea .This paper is mainly looks into the Hemingway Iceberg Theory. Hemingway Iceberg Theory, now is generally adopted by writers around the world, was first created by Ernest Hemingway. And it makes

23、his works unique and helps him convey his ideas effectively in the works. “The Old Man and The Sea”, which is a masterpiece if Hemingway, typically shows how the Iceberg Theory is applied in the works of Hemingway. By analyzing some examples of employing the iceberg theory in this novel, the readers

24、 can get a better understanding of the Iceberg Theory and the important role it plays in Hemingways works.Hemingway is famous for his Iceberg Principle, that is, to present the story with simple sentence sand dialogues and leave a large space for readers to explore, to reflect. It was just like the

25、iceberg, which had only one-eighth part on the water and seven-eighths part under the water. This essay discusses how the iceberg principle was used in the short story The Killers. It analyses the characters respectively: the two killers, George, Nick and Sam. It also penetrates through the nature o

26、f the society. It shows that we can deeply understand Hemingways works with the help of the Iceberg Principle.Lets apply Hemingways “iceberg principle” to the endings of some of his most famous works. At the end of The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes and Brett Ashley contemplate a life together. At the

27、end of A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry walks back to his hotel alone in the rain. At the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls, Robert Jordan awaits his impending death. The fate of these characters is never directly stated. Hemingway doesnt tell the reader that Jake Barnes and Brett Ashley will never b

28、e together. Instead, it is “pretty to think” that they could have had a damned good life together. Hemingway doesnt tell the reader what lies in store for Frederic Henry after he leaves his dead lover in the hospital. Does his walk alone in the rain represent emotional freedom or devastation? Robert

29、 Jordan is surely to die at the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls, but Hemingway leaves the reader with the image of Jordans “heart beating” against the forest floor. In Hemingways short story The Killers, we can see his Iceberg Principle being applied. In this story, conversation is the most important

30、 element and the most important source for the readers imagination.Hemingway disliked discussions regarding the symbolism in his works. The iceberg principle,” however, by its very nature, invites symbolic interpretations and I think Hemingway acknowledged this in his own subtle way. Fraser Drew onc

31、e quoted him as saying: “No good writer ever prepared his symbols ahead of time and wrote his book about them, but out of a good book which is true to life symbols may arise and be profitably explored if not over-emphasized.” Hemingways iceberg theory highlights the symbolic implications of art. He

32、makes use of physical action to provide an interpretation of the nature of mans existence. It can be convincingly proved that, “while representing human life through fictional forms, he has consistently set man against the background of his world and universe to examine the human situation from vari

33、ous points of view”.Hemingway believed that if context or background had been written about by another, and written about well, then it could be left out of his writing. Of The Old Man and the Sea he explains: “In writing you are limited to by what has already been done satisfactorily. So I have tried to do something