A Farewell to Arms

I doubt there is single simile in this novel. I can't remember one. For me, a judicious use of similes is one of the best ways a novelist can bring events and personalities into sharp, three-dimensional focus. Hemingway's genius here is to achieve that clarity and depth using the bluntest of tools. But the surface realism is an illusion: A Farewell to Arms is more like a dreamscape. The only time you are conscious of reading a novel is during the (few) instances when characters make philosophical statements. These are like road markers on the trip through the dream.

The Redbreast

This Norwegian crime novel by Jo Nesbo arrived in the mail from a former colleague who shares a fondness for translated fiction. The hero, an Oslo police detective named Harry Hole, is full of the angst and life failures that plague his breed. The novel reaches back into Norway's collaborationist history in World War II and threads it into the present. All the pieces lock into place by page 500 with a satisfying thunk.