For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ernest Hemingway's masterpiece on war, love, loyalty, and honor tells the story of Robert Jordan, an antifascist American fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from “the good fight” and one of the foremost classics of war literature.
For Whom the Bell Tolls tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades, is attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain. In his portrayal of Jordan’s love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of a guerilla leader’s last stand, Hemingway creates a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise. Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author’s previous works, For Whom the Bell Tolls stands as one of the best war novels ever written.
In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from “the good fight” and one of the foremost classics of war literature.
For Whom the Bell Tolls tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades, is attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain. In his portrayal of Jordan’s love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of a guerilla leader’s last stand, Hemingway creates a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise. Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author’s previous works, For Whom the Bell Tolls stands as one of the best war novels ever written.
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Community Reviews
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a powerful and technically masterful work. Hemingway sculpts war, love, and duty with a prose of ice and steel, creating an epic fresco of the human struggle. However, despite its undeniable greatness, its detached style and stoic characters kept me at an emotional distance that prevented total immersion. I deeply respect it as a pillar of literature, but it did not become my book.
The book was way too long to enjoy the entire prose as one master piece. In contrast to Hemingway's other books such as The old man and the Sea and the fiesta, this one was much less entertaining and rather dragging to be precise.
Even as the detailing and the depth of emotion of each character is appreciable, I felt that the characters as such was irrelevant and the plot even more so.
Nevertheless, The book was a half-classic in all sense of language, portrayal and entirety.
Even as the detailing and the depth of emotion of each character is appreciable, I felt that the characters as such was irrelevant and the plot even more so.
Nevertheless, The book was a half-classic in all sense of language, portrayal and entirety.
I love classics and have read many. For Whom the Bell Tolls surpassed all my favorites, taking the place at the top of my list of favorite books. Hemingway charted new territory with his narrative structure and interior dialogue. The physical context of war and its toll are mirrored internally in the hearts, minds and souls of the characters. Robert Jordan's inner conflict is constantly challenging what he thought he believed. The story is simply palpable. Hemingway's mastery of this writing is breathtaking.
Really loved some of the internal monologue that Hemingway showed. Some three dimensional characters (loved Pilar’s strength particularly in comparison to Maria), engaging plot (the whole book leads up to a moment you know about in the first chapter) but most importantly was the interesting historical context within which it is set. Some definite reflections on the bureaucracy of Spanish civil war.
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