A Lack of Description

When I first started A Farewell to Arms I didn't like the lack of description. When reading the work of descriptive authors the scene they explain comes to life for me. But that wasn't the case for Hemingway's novel. He expressed thoughts and scenes that didn't seem out of the ordinary. For example, after Henry arrives to the front after his leave he says "The fields were green and there were small green shoots on the vines, the trees along the road had small leaves and a breeze came from the sea." We as readers already know that the grass in fields is green. We also understand that in the beginning of spring all natural life sprouts green. Because I wasn't experiencing that moment with Henry I want to be given details that I don't know already. But after listening to Mike's presentation last week I changed my mind. He explained how Hemingway's work lacked description on purpose so that readers can use their imagination. I had never thought about it that way. A lack of description puts the reader to work. Instead of being handed a picturesque scene without doing any thinking at all, Hemingway's audience must fill in the blanks, create their own picture. Now that I understand Hemingway's motive for a lack of description in A Farewell to Arms, I learned to appreciate his work more.