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Title: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0-684-80335-6 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.27 (177 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: No man is an Iland ...
Comment: I like this Hemingway book even better than A Farewell to Arms. It "stayed with me" long after I had forgotten most of the details. I read the book as a university freshman, then reread it after it came strongly to mind in summer 1987. I was standing on a steep, green meadow in Schwarzwald, reshuffling the deck of life. Like a Hemingway character, I was traveling around Europe living an adventure.
Descriptions of many scenes are memorable. Reading as a twenty year old, dynamiting the bridge and the part where Maria crawls under the blanket with Robert Jordan were the strongest. One still likes those descriptions twenty-five years later, but one then also pays attention to the long description of old dead roses as the essence of the odor of death. And one never forgets the powerful ending. Here's how I remembered the ending before rereading it yesterday: Robert Jordan, mortally wounded, sends the pregnant Maria toward safety with the rest of his escaping band of comrades. Lying on his stomach on the steep meadow, as Franco's fascist troops come up the hillside into sight, he pulls back the bolt and takes a bead on the lead officer on horseback ....
Because all dialogues in the book should take place in Spanish, Hemingway wrote partly in the early seventeenth century English of John Donne (readers familiar with the king James Version of the Bible, translated early in the seventeenth century, will easily recognize the language). This has the advantage of giving the reader the sensation of reading 'not-English'.
It's still a very powerful book. In the context of history, Hemingway was impregnated with the Teddy Roosevelt brand of heroism.
Rating: 5
Summary: A true masterpiece of human redemption
Comment: It is not by mere circumstance that a novel is considered a classic. It takes years and years of the work standing up to critique, criticism, public response, and the test of time. The latter is perhaps the greatest of example of why Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls is labeled among the great works of the twentieth century. This novel's moving and intense story has not lost meaning over the years of its existence. The romance and adventure appeals to fans of many different genres, but to call this book a war narrative is missing the scope and depth of the work by a long shot. Hemingway, as he does in many of his books, brings into view some of the most basic questions and sought-after answers that have always been at the heart of the nature of man. Hemingway explores the very simple yet profound principles of death and honor in this work, and his conclusions are by no means simple reflections.
While only occurring over the course of several days, the events that take place in For Whom the Bell Tolls, along with the superb style of writing, draw the reader into the world of Robert Jordan, the book's protagonist, while he attempts to destroy a fascist-controlled bridge, and along the way discovers humanity, love, and himself. This is possibly Hemingway's greatest feat in the novel: the creation of a connection between oneself and humanity; that we all share a responsibility with each other and that our honor lies in the hands of our neighbors.
As a fairly long book, For Whom the Bell Tolls is by no means a story for inexperienced or pedestrian readers, and even an older audience might find the plot tedious at some points. However, there is ample swashbuckling to satiate the thirst for adventure of any war genre fan, and plenty of romance to keep a reader of softer disposition happy. The journey is well worth the effort, and I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of great literature.
Rating: 5
Summary: You cannot beat this!
Comment: Having read two Hemmingway novels, I was not impressed. Frankly, I was surprised that I did not enjoy them. After growing up and hearing about the great Hemmingway, the man's man, I found his characters weak and whinny. Ready to give up, I gave him one more try and I am glad he did. This is a magnificent novel.
Set in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s it tells the story of Robert Jordan, an American volunteer fighting against Franco and his fascist allies. This is first-rate story telling, it grabs the reader from the offset and pulls him into the story. Unlike other Hemmingway novels (i.e., The Son Also Rises), these are heroic characters that we deeply care about.
The imagery is magnificent. I can still see in my minds eye, the retreating Republicans, the panicked soldiers, the horses out of control and the cartridge casings spilled in the road way. If you are unfamiliar with Hemmingway, read this book first. All the others will pale in comparison.
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Title: Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684800713 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684801469 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684801221 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 05 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck Centennial Edition (1902-2002) by John Steinbeck ISBN: 0142000663 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway : The Finca Vigia Edition by Ernest Hemingway ISBN: 0684843323 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 03 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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