a farewell to arms ernest hemingway hemingway combines austere realism and poetic language to present a powerful argument against war and to tell a touching love story at the same time possessed of the most remarkable time sense of the period between wars, his disillusioned temperament and technical skill have influenced a whole generation of writer in spite of its hard boiled realism of detail and its tragic ending, a farewell to arms is nevertheless an idealistic book the novel was dramatized by laurence stallings and was made into a motion picture lieutenant frederic henry was a young american attached to an italian ambulance unit on the italian front an offensive was soon to begin, and when henry returned to the front from leave he learned from his friend, lieutenant rinaldi, that a group of british nurses had arrived in his absence to set up a british hospital unit rinaldi introduced him to nurse catherine barkley between ambulance trips to evacuation posts at the front, henry called on miss barkley he liked the frank young english girl in a casual sort of way, but he was not in love with her before he left for the front to stand by for an attack, she gave him a st anthony medal at the front, as henry and some italian ambulance drivers were eating in a dugout, an austrian projectile exploded over them henry, badly wounded in the legs, was taken to a field hospital later he was moved to a hospital in milan before the doctor was able to see henry in milan, the nurses prohibited his drinking wine, but he bribed a porter to bring him a supply which he kept hidden behind his bed catherine barkley came to the hospital and henry knew that he was in love with her the doctors told henry that he would have to lie in bed six months before they could operate on his knee henry insisted on seeing another doctor, who said that the operation could be performed the next day meanwhile catherine managed to be with henry constantly after his operation, henry convalesced in milan with catherine barkley as his attendant together they dined in out of the way restaurants, and together they rode about the countryside in a carriage henry was restless and lonely at nights and catherine often came to his hospital room summer passed into autumn henry s wound had healed and he was due to take convalescent leave in october he and 