Rating: 
Summary: One of the five best books ever written
Review: The greatest book by one of the world's greatest authors. Anyone who considers themselves remotely interested in reading or literature should read this novel immediately. Hemingway reached the peak of his craft here, from the storyline to the characters to the prose itself. It's part war novel, part love story, and part historical documentary of the Spanish Civil War. All three blend together seamlessly to create a book without any recognizable flaws.
Rating:
Summary: One more thing to be said
Review: This book, which I've just finished, is incredible. To the reviews already posted I can add very little, they say the things I would say, only more eloquently. The one thing I would like to share with readers is a point about the dialogue. The dialogue seems to be written very strangely. Lots of thees and thous. I think it is because it is written as Spanish is spoken, and it is good to keep this in mind as one reads, or it can become tiresome.
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Summary: Truly an American classic!
Review: I only started reading Hemingway last year, yet he's become one of my very favourite authors. Of course I am humble enough to I ask myself "What more is there to say about "For Whom the Bell Tolls" that the reviewers and others haven't said already?" Yet here I am... writing another review about Hemingway's masterpiece... "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is the tale of two of man's most cherished and hated traditions: Love and War. We enter the story somewhere in Spain, in 1937, under the Spanish Civil War. We follow Robert Jordan -the American (teacher, now a demolition expert), and a group of guerrilla loyalists; Pablo leader of the group, his woman Pilar and the girl Maria (a prisoner rescued by Pablo). We follow the group, and especially Robert's, effort, fighting for the Republic against the Fascists. The entire novel only covers a span of three days, so we truly get a sense of the time passing. While the story develops we recognise that the real leader of the group is not Pablo, but his woman, Pilar. We watch Robert develop an intense love for the girl Maria and reading the part where Robert and Maria are taking farewell brought tears to my eyes... It is not possible to not genuinely care for each individual in the story, because the characters are few, and they are all very well developed. In fact, they must be the most complete characters that I've found in any novel that I've read. They say that good novelists write books with strong main characters. Great ones make even the minor characters memorable. And so it is with "For Whom the Bell Tolls", the old man Anselmo is as well developed as Robert Jordan or Pilar. From beginning to end, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" held my attention. This novel shows Hemingway's masterful command of the English language, and I think this novel is one of the best anti-war novels of the 20th century. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" most definitely deserves its "true classic"-label. I couldn't recommend it more highly!
Rating: 
Summary: I'd just like to say...
Review: I found the book to be a little tiresome to be honest. Although I did really enjoy the final section of Robert Jordan's thoughts on death, I found the rest hard to read at times. The style I thought was dry and bare, too much so for my liking, and the characters (particularly the hero) incapable of much emotion themselves or of summoning emotion in me. His style was "sparse and halting", as Jack Kerouac said, and this definitely had a bad effect on the book, especially the sections with Maria, which I expected to be brimming with passion and joy. Instead, we just got rather turgid descriptions of "it moving". Having said that, it improved as the time of the bombing drew near and the tension rose, but personally I found it too dry and arid.
Rating:
Summary: an amazing novel
Review: From beginning to end, this novel shows Hemingway's masterful command of the english language to affect his readers. This novel expertly touches upon every emotion a human being is capable of, holding a mirror to each and every one of us. Robert Jordan's sense of honor wavers several times throughout the novel but in the end, decides he must sacrifice himself for the good of his country. In a sense , he is almost like Jesus Christ. What a great novel.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough can be said
Review: There is no way to cover in 1000 words everything that this book has to offer. Centering around one man who must undertake one mission with the help of some guerillas in the Spanish Civil War, this book is in fact the deepest most complete work on war that has ever been written. Although, as I mentioned, the whole book is only about Robert Jordan blowing up a single bridge, the book widens in scope as it goes on allowing us to see the war from more and more angles, through more and more people, on both sides of the fight and of all rank and position. It drives homet the point that the title of the book suggests. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, the bell tolls for thee. This refers to the church bells that would be rung to announce a death and is part of a larger quote which begins familiarly enough, "No man is an island." Simply put, there is no such thing as isolationism, there is no way to not consider yourself a part of the human race. When you hear of someone!'s death, there is no need to wonder whose death it is, for whomever it was, they were a part of you, and so their death is in a way your death. Their jouney was your journey. Thus this book does not allow us to leave any vantage point of this war and this battle unturned, and every character relates and reacts to every other character, every action has a reaction, for no man is an island, as this beautifully crafted book points out time and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Let Down
Review: F. Scott Fitzgerald himself said of this novel: "It has all the profundity of REBECCA." REBECCA being a sleight novel. This book reads like a 2nd-rate journalist's attempt at writing a novel. It lacks the subtlety of Hemingway's other novels. I love Hemingway. But I didn't love this book.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting novel of loyalty and courage
Review: Ernest Hemingway was one of the most popular, influential, and charismatic of the American 20th century novelists. Books On Tape has undertaken to publishing an unabridged audiobook edition of Hemingway's body of work. Ably narrated by Alexander Adams, For Whom The Bell Tolls is Hemingway's classic story of Robert Jordan, an American fighting with anti-fascist guerillas in the mountains of Spain. This riveting novel of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, inspired idealism and battlefield disenchantment is a timeless testament....
Rating:
Summary: It tolls for you
Review: The complexity, depth and beauty of this book are immeasurable. I have never read a more moving book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Gripping, Sad, Interesting, and Worthwhile Story!
Review: This novel certainly deserves its billing as a "classic." The action takes place during the Spanish Civil War (of the 1930's), and the story follows a group of guerilla loyalists, who are fighting against Franco's fascist forces in the name of the Republic. The entire novel only covers a span of three days, so the reader truly gets a sense of the time passing. Because of this, it feels as if the events are actually occurring as one is reading. Each moment is important, and there are few discontinuities in the story. Also, the novel is written in an interesting format where the climax doesn't occur until the final pages-this adds quite a bit of suspense. What really makes this book so excellent is the delicate combination of action and lull, and love and hate, which Hemingway builds into the story. There is a very beautiful (if only slightly unrealistic) love story carefully interwoven with murder, conspiracy, and disaster. It is impossible not to deeply care for each individual in the story because there are few characters, and they are all extremely well developed. The reader can find a piece of somebody that he/she knows in every character. Hemingway also deals effectively with emotion. It is always easy to understand exactly what each person is feeling. With Robert Jordan, specifically, Hemingway uses a unique series of monologue-type passages so that the reader really can "get inside" Jordan's head. Somehow, Hemingway manages to do this while keeping out that uneasiness one gets when reading a play monologue. The novel has an anti-war feel to it, but it still contains several enthralling battle scenes. If only the love story were a bit more believable, this book could be truly fantastic. "For Whom The Bell Tolls" is definitely a worthwhile read right from the opening quote by John Donne all the way to the very last page.
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