Rating: 
Summary: A long repetitive novel about a cave
Review: I've read two other previous books by Hemingway. Feel free to read those reviews as well. In his best piece, Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway describes a man's courage and conviction in a mini-epic struggle between and elderly man and the greatest catch of his life (a giant marlin). In another book, The Sun also Rises, Hemingway paints a very rich and colorful portraitt of Spain and Pamplona that I could not sum up in a few sentences. Both books create a vivid picture almost unequaled in literature.This book, however, does nothing of the sort. Excluding a side story that concerns the massacre of a town of locals, it is repetitive, boring, and provides little insight. The majority of this 450 page book takes place in one cave and provides very little substance. Personally, no picture was painted for me, no human character was exposed, and no real lasting meaning came from this book. I grew tired of the cave, tired of the speculation about killing the Guerilla leader Pablo, and bored of the lightweight, unreal romance. An editor could have spliced away pages 200-400, and the book would have not missed a beat. If you're a casual reader like myself, stick with other Hemingway works.
Rating: 
Summary: Swiftly compelling--Hemingway at his best
Review: Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee-exactly what was Donne conveying to us? The fortuitous nature of existence, or the unbiased treatment of fate, or the luring equivocation of individuality? In the pitifully short three days, no, better be accurate, two and a half days during a crucial advance for the republic forces in Spain, Hemingway leads us toward the bullpen, behind which hid a chimera that is to hunt us all our lives with the echo of Donne's famed line. Hemingway draws every little details together as a pounding fist-beating recursive chimes into the readers' ears. And with the slower, more passionate journey into Jordan's memory and future in a way, we become enthralled as well to the question of choice. How will he choose? Jordan, a formal Spanish professor in the University of Montana, chooses to foresake the capitalist luxury of America and pursues the life as a republic dynamiter in Spain. There is no question of individuality, only a question of choice, a choice between masses and not identities. All this remains intact until Robert's own vision is no longer able to see between simple black and white in the Spanish mountains where he prepares to blow up a bridge during a republic offensive. His comrades are not all communists, nor are his enemies all fascists; these men die not for an ideal, but for an idea. And as he grows to love the rough Spaniards around him: shrewd yet cowardly Pablo, thoughtful hunter Ansemlo, strong and foreseeing Pilar, and most of all, a young woman ravaged many times by fascist soldiers, Jordan starts to doubt the path he chooses. And between life and death, ideal and reality, he waivers. Pablo is a sharp thread that seams between characters and draws Jordan on with questions; he appears cowardly despite his heroic records as a guerilla leader, and his own dawdling conviction towards the idea of republic pricks Jordan's own sense of duty. Especially with more and more emotional involvement (dependency) on Maria's love, Jordan is wondering whether enough killing is enough killing for a vague concept. Pablo's seemingly growing discontent, as a part of a mass, is complemented by his woman Pilar's undying strength. She reads palms and smells death, and it is through her strong faith in the union of freedom seekers that the guerrilla group stays together. But exactly "for whom" the bell tolls? For the Spaniards who shed blood among themselves with visible strings from Moscow? Yes, warfare befalls all, no one is missed by the silent blow although some can smell its scent and others shun its path. A dangerous sadness identifies Pablo while an optimistic cheerfulness characterizes Pilar, why are they essentially the same "lot" then? Because Hemingway shows us, through the interaction of specter of differences, a single vibration enlivens every frequency on the scale. Robert Jordan is a mere node not knowing which direction to lean towards, especially as he is starting to doubt the vibration. America hasn't had her share of good wars, but what happens in one war is reflected in the next, or isn't it? If one strong man's mentality comes tumbling down because the buttress isn't strong enough, why shouldn't the next one fumble as well? It tolls for thee, and there are a million "thee" out there blindly believing they are the only "thee". They hear the same ringing, although each believes he is able to distinguish a unique frequency; and they die, their deaths as mere statistics. Thus it is actually an oxymoron Hemingway presents through Robert Jordan's developing anxieties; he feels "tricked" into believing the impact he himself can make in the war, as a part of a hovering mass, instead, he recovers pieces of individuality when he is physically and emotionally removed from the same mass. So at the beginning, he lays on one stretch of pine forest floor and hears this bell chime calling him to begin, he joins the guerilla band; at the end, he is wounded and is left behind to lay on the same stretch of pine forest floor, and he hears this bell chime calling him to end. The integration and disintegration mark his journey from blindness to sight. Two and a half days, who ever lives out their entire existence in such a short period? Jordan does, and he sees so far into the pattern of living that he does regret the ultimate choice he makes, not as a soldier, or a leftist, but as a man redeemed through the moral bath of contemplation.
Rating:
Summary: Literary master
Review: Hemmingway is a literary master and displays it in this book. The haunting tale of war and love will speak to any reader. No writer can immerse the reader in a story the way Hemingway can.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest EH novel I've read yet
Review: I loved Farewell to Arms, so I picked this up at the bookstore near work and couldn't put it down. It really grabbed me. While the first chapter in any Hemingway book is difficult due to his lack of immediate characterization, it soon becomes easy to understand. I loved the dialogues between Pilar, Jordan, and Maria. They were so funny. I even learned some Spanish. I love Hemingway's prose and for a while I tried to model my own writings after his. Unfortunately, I'm not as good as he is at it. Anyway, this book has inspired me to go to Spain for my semester abroad and to research the Spanish Civil War more deeply. Great novel that happens to be educational.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting, lyrical masterpiece
Review: This is the most profoundly emotional book that I've ever read, and the only book that ever made me cry. It's the one book they rarely make you read in english class, because there isn't any pretentious allegory to uncover--it's just a great story, pure and simple, about human beings fighting impossible odds in a desperate attempt to make the world a better place. The characters are so real that their passion and pain and thoughts stay with you long after the book is over...the last 100 pages are, in my opinion, the most exciting and moving pages in literature. And Hemingway's message is one that every human being should know...
Rating: 
Summary: Hemmingway's Classic, For Whom The Bell Tolls
Review: I find many people that review this book critically begin by slighting the broken spanish Hemmingway uses so expertly. Mostly those who speak the language who wish to flex their bilingual muscle. However, as with anyone who has read much--if any--Hemmingway, you have to realize that everything is done for a reason. It's all about point of view. He's painting the picture. He wants you to see it the way it is portrayed, no matter his reasons. People who have problems with his techniques have a problem with the author. Similarly, many people describe the relationship discourse (as it were) to be manufactured or absent any real genuine human emotion. Again, that would be called typical Hemmingway. As he has been known to be quite cynical and distrustful of women; some women even think of him as a misogynist. This distrust is what is portrayed in the novel, very well I might add. Basically, either you love Hemmingway, you don't, or you don't get it at all. And if you are the latter, sit down and shut up, because he's here to stay. This book was incredibly well written and it should be among the greatest works of the century.
Rating:
Summary: A 20th century classic
Review: Having recently come back from Paris, I went through a Hemingway phase, starting with his memoirs of his Paris days, then I stumbled on this book. The stumbling was a fortunate accident, for this book is amazing. Hemingway's short but powerful prose is in perfect form. I actually find Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez similar in their ability to capture a thought completely in one sentence- even though their actual sentences are different. Hemingway perfectly captures poignant emotions, and the sentence sparsity adds to the strength and description beautifully. I also agree with one of the other reviewers above, in that my appreciation is probably helped by age. A lot of the emotions of loss, doubt, disillusion and love I only felt in my post high school years. It's a good adventure story nonetheless, but might lose its power for a youger audience.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: This novel brings one into close contact with the forces in dreadful conflict during civil war--Solidarity versus Brutality; Hemingway portrays both thoroughly. The story told by Pilar in this book seemed to haunt me for a few days, the images were so clear, and as one will find by reading it, it is a story which has a very grave lucidity, as if you wished Hemingway would drown the scene in a sea of lifeless and complex words. The descriptions of the love story and Jordan's internal motivations immediately soothe the unsettling images of war, and the novel as a whole works paradoxically to the point where both sets of images collide, and leave the reader both unsettled and fulfilled simultaneously.
Rating:
Summary: A must read book
Review: I'll be short and sweet. This is an excellent book that many different kinds of people will enjoy. The more intelligent the reader is, the more he or she will get out of the book. At the base, it is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. From there, there are many little symbolic happenings and hidden meanings waiting to be seen. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a must read book!
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful novel...
Review: Hemingway used his experiences as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War to build the structure for this novel. His descriptions of the settings are superb. The novel is a great introduction to the Spanish Civil War, a war with which many Americans are unfamiliar. Hemingway used characters like Pablo to show how people lose their humanity during war. The story is powerful. His main character, Robert Jordan, begins to question whether anything good will come of all the fighting. Despite its many wonderful attributes, this novel has some problems. The dialogue is stilted. The romance (as in all Hemingway novels) is unbelievable. Finally, Hemingway should have stuck to English. His use of Spanish in this book is embarassing. Nonetheless, in my opinion, For Whom the Bell Tolls should be required reading for all U.S. high school students. It's truly a classic.
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