I read two widely acclaimed books from my long "Catch up on these great ones" reading list, and they both turned out to be wonderful love stories. Who knew?! But wow, they could not have been more different.
I read Great Expectations a few weeks ago, and then just finished A Farewell to Arms this past weekend. Talk about all over the spectrum!
I loved Great Expectations for the humor, humanity and strangeness. Dickens was brilliant. Apparently, he wrote this quickly, in a frantic attempt to keep his weekly newspaper alive, so it was given to the public in chapter installments. He told his editor, "I think I have a great idea for a story." Clearly he was given to understatement.
What a wonderful way to enjoy a book. I know The New York Times tried to have a serial novel in the magazine a few times, but I confess I never got into the stories they picked. I believe The Scotman of Edinborough still publishes the 44 Scotland Street series from Alexander McCall Smith, which I love in the book form. Enough people back in the day loved Great Expectations because it saved the newspaper, and put Dickens back in the black, at least for a few more years.
My heart went up and down with Pip's as he grows older, world-wiser, more mature - and just plain nicer as a person, too. I hoped he would find his love at the end; that she would wait for him. He's certainly true enough, despite his silly boyish behaviors. But of course, you really don't think he's got a chance until the last chapter. Bravo, Pip.
I realize that I had been missing references to "A mess that would make Miss Havisham comfortable" and "Scented hands of a barrister" all these years. They always just went over my head, and now I realize they were literary! Doh. Glad I finally caught up with this classic. Plus, I read it in a beautifully bound edition with gold leaf and fine paper. That really does make a difference. Just the heft of it in my hands, the whisper of the page turns and the cool, soft cover make you feel you are reading the words of a master. That it is Dickens surely helps, too ;)
I have never been a big Hemingway fan, and was not sure what to expect from A Farewell to Arms. It's incredibly sad. He always claimed it was semi-autobiographical, so perhaps the underlying theme is a personal philosophy of Hemingway: That the good and brave die young, the rest of us suffer longer and then get it in the end, but no one is ever really happy anyway, so don't aim for it, you will just be disappointed.
The lyrical, conversational tone is actually quite easy to get into, even though the first two chapters are so vague I felt like I was joining a conversation already in progress. Took me a while to catch up and get it. I suppose all Hemingway characters are stoic. I liked Lt. Henry, he was clever, resourceful and thoughtful. But wow, talk about keeping your emotions in check! Even his lover, Catharine, is reserved and low key. They have a beautiful and completely blissful, committed relationship that is just barely grounded in any sustainable reality. Hemingway sets them up for the big fall at the end. As she lies dying in the last chapter, she says simply, "I'm sorry to leave you. It's really a dirty trick."
Two very different books. Which is part of the reason I love books so much - there are so many ways to tell the tale - love story or otherwise.
