i found my henry.

reading… there was a while that i hadn’t picked up a book and actually sat down to read. i have attempted. i have purchased books. i have grabbed those books, plopped myself down.. made it to about chapter 2 and just gave up. i would like to blame this on my short attention span. finding a book that actually catches my attention is quite hard, as well as the fact that i am always out doing one thing or another that i just don’t have time. stop, okay that right there is just an excuse… i recently just finished reading a a farewell to arms by earnest hemingway, and i could not put it down. if i had 5 minutes to spare, i would pick up my copy and start reading. i took it everywhere with me. (confession: i found an online version and when i had time at work, i would read it). the book is about a man, in the army, and a nurse. it is about their budding romance. their separation. his time at war. her craziness (which i can relate too, i am one crazy girl). falling in love. and then there was the ending. of course i will not give that part away because it made the book, but it was one that left me in awe. the way earnest hemingway writes is incredible. with every scene in the book, i felt as though i was that fly on the wall watching it all unravel before my eyes.

“Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.” – a farewell to arms.

how did reading get this connotation that it was uncool. it is pretty amazing to be able to use your own imagination to picture the scenario, the characters and the world they live in. using your own knowledge of what you have seen and applying it to what you are reading creates a crazy image in your head. i have never read a book by hemingway before but i think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. as i mentioned before, the end was ridiculous. the way he expresses the emotion through his writing was quite extraordinary and completely made me fall in love w. his technique.

“Often a man wishes to be alone and a girl wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. But we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.” – a farewell to arms.

this is a must read. it is a classic. and i completely recommend it.