The Big Read at Kansas City Public Library

Bankers. They know how to cut through the malarkey and get to the bottom line. It’s no wonder the fifteen readers who shared their lunch hour with me, Henry and Ernest Hemingway appreciated A Farewell to Arms. They zeroed in on what they wanted to discuss and happily flipped pages to read aloud examples of points made.

Members of the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City spent the noon hour thoughtfully analyzing the relationship between Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry; the perceptions of war at the time of publication as compared to perceptions today; and thoroughly discussed the theme of “love as religion.”

Staff members also found the humor in AFTA, particularly the drinking scenes of the soldiers and one reader mused aloud, “Do you suppose Hemingway wrote that passage while he was drinking or did he just remember what is was like to be drunk and trying to carry on a meaningful conversation?”

All attendees were happy to spend their lunch hour discussing a classic and encouraged KCPL to apply for another Big Read grant. Parting zinger from an accountant, “It’ll be Big Read: the sequel, “A Welcome Back to Arms!”

Who says government employees don’t have a sense of humor?