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Summary: Single best embodiment of the human spirits of love and life
Review: No single other book can express such raw emotion, such passion, such dignity, such human spirit, as Hemingway did in "For Whom The Bell Tolls". The main character (Robert Jordan) goes from being an unemotional advocate of war to hating it, hating the loss of life that springs from it. His lack of caring for life, caring for anything, is whirled around and manifested into a zest for life when Maria enters his world. Every detail, every single aspect of this book, is excellently wrought. From even the simplest descriptions of the land around the main characters, to the masterful sequences in which Jordan questions himself and his beliefs, this is a novel to be read again and again: and appreciated no less each time.
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Summary: A good insight into the Spanish mentality
Review: The style of the book may not be as elegant as Paul Auster's and the love story may be unrealistic. This is beside the point. Hemingway gives an excellent description of the Spanish civil war as it is seen from a handful of individuals. Hemingway shows a profound understanding of the Spanish people and their mentality. Readers who primarily draw conclusions from the fact that the female protagonist's hair has been cut short (by the falange not the male protagonist) have probably read too many (Freudian) psychology books.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: Hemingway falls short with FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. The writing is suprisingly clumsy, and the characters contrivances. (Incidentally, why do Hemingway's heroes alway want their women to cut their hair "like boys," as Jordan wants his lover to in TOLLS??? In at least one Hemingway short story, the female lover cuts her hair like a boy to please her man; in THE GARDEN OF EDEN both women cut their hair like boys to please the man; in A FAREWELL TO ARMS, Catherine Barkely cuts her hair like a boy to please Frederick Henry. What's the deal??? One could make some rather interesting conclusions about Hemingway himself while pondering this recurring detail in his work!!!) Anway, about TOLLS, F. Scott Fitzgerald said it had "all the profundity of REBECCA" (a famously sleight novel). I think Fitzgerald sums TOLLS up well.
Rating:
Summary: A good novel
Review: I happen to think Hemingway is one of the most overrated novelists of the 20th century, but this particular book is "a good read." Hemingway does deal with many subjects such as duty, brutalization, love, or loyalty, all the while telling a good, moving story. Not my vote for "the great American novel", but worth reading.
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Summary: Real people in a real world
Review: Hemingway's work never ceases to amaze me, in that he peoples a very real world with painfully real people, and all with a paucity of words that would cripple any other author. You can feel the burden, the frustration, the hope and the cynicism of each person in the first few words they speak. The Spanish Civil War is simply a pressure cooker that brings out the inner being that truly defines the person, in all their fragile and sometimes irrational glory. An unmatchable masterpiece.
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Summary: Hemingway's Finest
Review: For Whom The Bell Tolls is Hemingway's masterpiece. Every word has a meaning. The story in itself is excellent, although Robert and Maria's romance is sometimes somewhat unrealistic. This book is a great examination of self doubt and belief. This book shows us that we must believe in ourselves and believe in others to survive. It is not about faith in god, but about faith in man, which I think is a wonderful thing. In my opinion, too many writers seem to have lost faith in the human race, but Hemingway didn't, and that makes For Whom the Bell Tolls a great novel.
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Summary: Wonderful. A real treasure.
Review: Hemingway's masterpiece is one of those books that makes you feel as though your life will change just from reading it. A master of style, Hemingway constructed his clean prose as though he was writing a simple translation of Spanish poetry. Indeed, the author has skillfully crafted a story that reads as through a filter of that Romantic language, and the result is stunning. You will not be prepared for the tears you will cry upon finishing this story.
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Summary: An incredible look at humanity
Review: Hemmingway touched my heart as a reader in a way no author ever has. I cannot put down in words to describe the kind of masterpiece this novel is.
Rating:
Summary: The Best.
Review: You understand you have to like Hemingway. This work embodied his distinct style of writing, the spare, yet eloquent manner that is known as his. Hemingway's ability to saddle every word with meaning and emotion is at it's ripest in this work, where he writes a war story that encompasses the entire spectrum of the human experience, form love to hate, spite to sacrifice. While the Spanish Civil War included tens of thousands, Hemingway writes of a handful of people who represent the whole of the country. Heroes do not always win in Hemingway's world, but in their defeat, they do win. The bravery and ultimate sacrifice of the protagonist captures that bitter fact of life. This novel has a meaning and lesson that can only be appreciated and understood by those who have read it. It would be a loss not to.
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Summary: Hemingway's novel offers a deep look at Humanity.
Review: Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls is undoubtedly his greatest work, and arguably the greatest American novel of the 20th Century. Told in Hemingway's unique style, it is easy to understand but keeps the reader thinking for hours. Robert Jordan, the novel's main character, enters the Civil War in Spain, his mission being to destroy a supply bridge. He soon falls in love with Maria, a young girl whose life was almost lost in the war. At the conclusion of the novel, after the bridge has been destroyed and Jordan is attempting to flee, he is injured and it becomes apparent that he will soon die. Maria, who is in love with him, refuses to leave despite Jordan's pleas for her to do so, until he finally convinces her that he will always be with her. His words bring to mind the sermon by John Donne that the title for the book was taken from. Donne states that everyone is part of one big entity, part of the "island" of humanity, and we are reminded that Jordan is part of Maria, and all the rest of humanity
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