"Farewell to Arms" passage

Indeed and belles-lettres you don't do:



It was a seat, Dale.



Had you read the book, you would know that it was not usurped, the captain had the right to claim the seat.

Dale wrote:
been saving him a set

Alas Tim I would have caught that eventually tho a2k doesn't allow much time for edit. My apologies to all for such grotesque raillery

Quote:
then usurped by a captain of artillery

Thank you for that report, Tim. Actually I had read the book but being forgetful, I'm in the process of rereading

Since I read only during the commercials I keep a second bookmarks going halfway thru the remainder of the tome and even so disremember such detail

The Captain's authorization aside, however, I'm wondering about deeper meanings, belletristic technique, allegory, etc

But thanks for your interest Tim

In fact I was gratified at getting any response at all. My interest arises not from my love of Hemingway out of a sense of guilt in not having pursued the classics, among other possible uplifting pursuits while at my advanced age I often don't comprehend the subtleties, taking most input literally at face value and that's why I inquire about the significance of the train seating incident. Note Tim I spelled it right this time

Yeah.

The old man and the seat..

Being Recording Secretary of the Greater Southwest Beer-Tasting Society

I only fly by the sea of my pints

If nobody comes to your help, I'll get back to you, one of these days..

Be wading with baited berth

It's been probably somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years (no exaggeration) since the most recent time I actually perused any part of Farewell to Arms. Loved it at the time. But as I seem to recall its major appeal lay in Hemingway's style, his vocabulary and method of telling an essentially simple story. The plot is actually minimal and I don't recall anything that I would have identified as allegorical at the time. Since I was young then, I might well have been wrong on that score. But I still recall the style,particularly the poetry of that opening paragraph, more than anything else about the book.

Delighted to learn there are 3 of us anyhow

Yea Andy indeed that's his forte, and any subtle humor one might have missed in his youth

..or even his old age (me)


Alas, speaking of age, didn't the poor fellow eventually commit suicide

Oh yes. He knew when his time was up. His widow Mary kept insisting that it had somehow been an accident while he was cleaning a shotgun. Why would one stick the barrel of a loaded shotgun in one's mouth,take off his socks and pull the trigger with his big toe while cleaning the piece? Unlikely, if you ask me. Time magazine, as I recall, devoted an entire issue to the obituary with tributes from every author and sycophant still living. But, as Yogi Berra used to say, you can look it up.