Negative Positive
Title: Worth reading
Review: I just finished listening to this novel in an audio book format. Although several scenes felt overlong and slightly ludicrous, there are other passages that are as well written and moving as anything Hemingway wrote. In different spots I choked up while driving, particularly during the description of Hurtgen (sp?) forest, etc. The description of the Venetian marketplace was superb and rivaled James's Venice from The Aspern Papers. I loved the underlying wit and self-entertainment that permeated much of the dialogue and interior monologues. Renata, too good to be true? Sometimes cloyingly so, but at other times the way she manages the sensibilities and ego of her twilight lover was quite touching. I also appreciated the Colonel's cynical attitude toward politics, military bureaucracy, etc.I can see being frustrated by this novel in print; it's imperfect as a work of art and objectionably melodramatic at times; still, I love Venice and Hemingway, and, yes, this book also.
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