Rating: 
Summary: Like a dusty jacket in the corner hall. . .
Review: this book reminds me again what is real. Hemingway really was a truth fanatic. He purged pretense and falsity so nearly completely in this book, I put it down and walk outside
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent
Review: Like "Islands In The Stream", this book encapsulates the hard edge of existence as it is, but with hope for the human heart and a wonderful sense of humour that shows us what a true and honest book is all about
Rating:
Summary: DRESS REHEARSHAL FOR WWII
Review: EXCERPTED FROM "GOD'S COUNTRY" BY STEVEN TRAVERS"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is based upon Hemingway's support for the anti-Communists fighting in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. He and many other Americans went over to fight in the war, which some say was a "dress rehearsal" for World War II. It did not materialize into the kind of idealized Spanish government that many had sacrificed for. The fascistic Francisco Franco ended up ruling an isolationist Spain until the 1970s. While the nation is now Democratic, the Franco regime was the final event that took Spain from greatness to mediocrity. Hemingway also wrote a stageplay about the Spanish Civil War called "The Fifth Column". STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"...
Rating:
Summary: Another great one
Review: Hemmingway transcribes his expat experiences in the Spanish American war into a gripping story of the futility of combat. The main characters hide in the hills struggling between loyalty to their anti-fascist cause, and the scars caused by the attrocities they've experienced.
For whom the bell tolls, as we all know, "It tolls for thee!" This summarizes the story. To Hemmingway, war is futile. We all lose. Agree or disagree with the morality, the story captures Hemmingway's ability to lay emotions bare with strong minimalist prose and dialogure.
Rating:
Summary: My favourinte Hemingway novel!
Review: This book is definitely a "desert-island" book for me. I love all of Hemingway's extensive body of works, but this novel is by far my favourite. The story is about a young American man who is fighting voluntarily against Franco's Fascist forces in Spain. This man ends up leading a band of guerillas in what turns out to be a totally useless military foray. The novel itself only encompasses seventy-two hours, but in that time Robert Jordan, our American hero, loses his comrades in battle, falls in love, and is badly wounded. Hemingway's writing is masterful in this classic! This book, even more than "A Farewell to Arms" outlines Hemingway's thoughts on the futility of war, and the effect that war has on one single man. Even though the novel encompasses such a short time, Hemingway makes use of flashbacks to bring the reader into the series of events that led to this particular point in Jordan's life. Again, Hemingway makes use of personal experiences for this novel. He was actually involved himself in this Spanish civil war. His writing style is spare, although incredibly vivid. This is a truly wonderful book, that I feel encompasses all the best of Ernest Hemingway.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Statement
Review: Author Ernest Hemingway spared little in this searing look at the Spanish Civil War. Readers see that hatred, loyalty, doubt, atrocity, ideals, and emotional wear were all part of this tragic conflict. The story centers on American volunteer Robert Jordan and his anti-fascist comrades, a band of Spanish Loyalist guerillas operating in the hills behind enemy lines in 1937. Jordan is planning to blow up a Fascist-held bridge as part of an upcoming Loyalist/Republican offensive. His comrades include Pablo, a once-dependable leader now unstable and sick of war, Pilar, a woman of remarkable fiber, and Maria, a victim of fascist atrocities with whom Jordan falls in love. These guerillas hide in the hills while Hitler's bombers fly overhead helping the fascists. Readers learn of atrocities committed by both sides, and see that ideals can die along with those that fall in battle.
This 1940 novel makes a powerful statement, despite losing some effect from Hemingway's wordiness and too-lengthy descriptions. Despite this flaw, readers see the cruelties of war, and sense the author's heartsickness at this dreadful conflict.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best ever
Review: I thought none of Hemingway's books would top The Old Man and the Sea. But after reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, I realize that this is just as good if not better. It has all of Hemingway's beautiful writing as well as great characters. It takes place during the Spanish Civil War and depicts the war in all of its reality. Neither side is glorified as he shows how both can be exceedingly cruel.
With a devastating war as its setting, Hemingway is able to show all sides of humanity, and in a way that is very real. The main characters are tired of the struggle. Pablo seems content to live in the forest and avoid fighting, and Robert is looking forward to a life after this mission. But Pilar is still dedicated to the cause, and is as strong a female character as you will find. There are issues of love, trust, and friendship all while trying to reconcile to the realities of war and that they might not live another day.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I recommend everyone read this, especially people who like classic literature and anyone who has read and enjoyed Hemingway.
Rating:
Summary: Hemingway is Brilliant and this Book Proves It
Review: Excellent, Excellent, Excellent. One of the best war novels I've ever read. Now I know why Hemingway is known as one of the greatest writers of all time. I absolutely loved "The Old Man and Sea", but when "A Farewell to Arms" fell a little short, I had my doubts. This was the one that finally clinched it in my mind that Hemingway deserves all of the accolades he's received over the years. It's a love story that takes place up in the mountains of Spain during the Spanish Civil War which took place in the 1930's. The main character Robert Jordan, is a young American dynamiter in the International Brigade. Back in the State's Jordan used to be a college professor. Jordan's grandfather used to be a great war hero, but since his father was labeled a coward, he has set out to try to redeem the family name. It becomes his assignment to travel into the mountains of Spain, hook up with a band of guerillas, and to blow a pivotal bridge during an upcoming campaign. Not being as familiar with the Spanish Civil War as I would like have been before reading this novel it was a little hard at first to try to figure out who was fighting and what side Jordan was on. I then found out there are the Fascists vs. the Republic and Jordan is on the side of the Republic. At first I thought that members of the Republic were Communists with the ideals they were preaching and since the Russians were advising them, but then when they said some disparaging things about Communists that made me think otherwise. The guerilla band he joins up with is led by a man named Pablo who at one time used to be great leader, but recently has lost his nerve. He no longer is as interested in the cause as he once was, and now would rather tend to his horses instead. He once led this band on a successful assault on a train and everybody in the band still seems to consider this their crowning achievement. Pablo is still very smart, but nobody now knows if he can continue to be trusted to lead them. His female companion Pillar is really the one who has held the band together for the last few months of the war, but she lacks Pablo's cunning. She says she has a little bit of gypsy in her and at times she tells people's fortunes, not all of them however are good. She is very feisty and was probably something in her day when she used to date several matadors. The rest of the band is made up of an old man named Anselmo who Jordan loves very much and is one of the few people he really can rely on. Then there is a few younger men, a pair of competent brothers, plus a strong and loyal man named Agustin, as well as a gypsy who for the most part everybody considers useless. Finally there is the young girl named Maria. She was rescued from the fascists during the raid on the train. She is the daughter of a former Mayor. Her hair had all been cut off and she isn't as beautiful as she once was, but Jordan immediately falls in love with her the first time he lays eyes on her. In war a few days can sometimes seem like a life time and the pair make the most of what time they have together. Pillar had taken Maria under her wing and had been teaching her how to one day be a good wife. She approves of Jordan and Maria's union and after the fighting is over she wants him to take Maria away from this place. As the battle nears there are several scrimmages and some great fights. El Sordo's last stand is very memorable. Hemingway's descriptions are magnificent. At times Hemingway switches back and forth between Spanish and English but it never seems to be a distraction as he always provides a translation. There are things wrong with the Republic that eventually will lead to their downfall, but at this point in the war Hemingway shows them as just little inconsistencies. For instance, the Republic doesn't seem to believe in religion, so it is ironic that all of the band still say their little prayers every time they are in the middle of a battle. The people also want to rule themselves rather than be ruled by the government, but they have no trust in one another. If you are not from the same town as these people you will always be considered an outsider and an enemy. There are too many fractions in the Republic. They have some good ideals, but they are unable to really bring any of them to life. Jordan figures even if they win they would probably need to get rid of most of the leaders since the majority of the ones remaining are all incompetent or murderers. Both the Fascist and the Republic come off as being very brutal at times. I wonder what Hemingway's political views really were. I believe he probably had some of the same ideals that Jordan displays. This book will make my list of the top 100 books of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Falls Short of Greatness
Review: Half of this book is a brilliant, visceral portrayal of war and the men and women who are swept up in it. It shows the different ways through which men confront their own mortality, and exposes the inherent dirtiness and corruption of war, and how this destroys hope and idealism.
While some right-wing critics of this novel accuse Hemingway of romanticizing Communism, anyone who actually reads the book can see that this is simply not the case. On several occasions, the novel's main character, Robert Jordan, a volunteer soldier in the International Brigades, flashes back to his time in Madrid. In these flashbacks, we see how Robert became disillusioned with Marxist doctrine after seeing the extent of Soviet control and corruption that was rampant in the city, and how the Soviets lied to the Spanish people. One of these flashbacks includes a thinly veiled reference to the Moscow show trials, when a Soviet journalist mentions the name of Zinoviev, an executed Bolshevik, to Robert. Hemingway also shows how Communist Party structure doomed the Republican effort through the character of Andre Marty, a paranoid, inept French Communist leader who, in his power and stupidity, assigned men to impossible missions.
It is shown that most of the left-wing Republican fighters were anti-Communist socialists who simply wanted to be free and to be governed fairly. Hemingway even manages to insert a criticism of American racism, when, after being told a story of how the guerilla group he has joined attacked a village and allowed the inhabitants to murder their right-wing neighbors, Robert recalls a childhood experience of seeing a black man lynched by a group of whites (this part of the story may have been inspired by Hemingway's friendship with the black poet Langston Hughes).
If this book was nothing more than the parts that I just described, I would have awarded it five stars.
However, roughly half of this book is the horribly unconvincing love story of Robert Jordan and Maria, a girl who the guerilla band saved from the Fascist forces. Maria is a flat, one-dimensional character whose only goal appears to be to submit to Robert's wishes and to pleasure him. She is weak-willed, and, for the most part, air-headed. These parts of the book drag terribly, and their only redeeming quality is Hemingway's beautiful, vivid descriptions of the mountains of Spain. For these failings, I am forced to say that this novel does not deserve five stars.
Rating:
Summary: doesn't get much better, one of my top ten favorite books
Review: Mark Twain once said that "a classic is a book that everyone wants to have read but nobody wants to read." It is a shame that "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is considered a classic, because unlike some of Hemingway's works, this is such an exciting, vivid, impossible-to-put-down novel. It should never be required reading in high school, although intelligent young readers would certainly love it. (Now that I think about it, some of the violent scenes are probably too gory for today's politically correct curriculum anyway.) It is the sort of book that someone's older brother at college lends to them, and then they pass it on to their best friend, and so on. There's a lot to this book beyond the plot, but unlike many other books that strive to explore deep human themes of life, sex and death, this one is approachable and very readable.
The only reason I can think of not to drop everything and read this book right away (look how cheap the used copies are, for crying out loud!), is if you are planning a long voyage and want to make sure you have something really great to read along the way, in which case I would wait. While I am sorry that I didn't the book myself until I was 34, I had the great gift of reading it on a camping trip amidst hills, streams, pine tress and a rocky coastline that made it easy to imagine myself in the mountains of Spain along with the characters, and that made it worth the wait.
|
