For Whom the Bell Tolls
Published May 07, 2005
What can I say about Ernest Hemingway's 1940 masterpiece For Whom the Bell Tolls?
Read It.
I'll have to give it a little time to settle, but I suspect this novel will officially enter my top 10 novels of all time list very soon.
It is written in Hemingway's usual terse style. Descriptive adjectives are few, replaced by verbs, lots of verbs. This is not to say that it is a book filled with action. For, in fact, much of the novel consists of waiting, sitting and talking. In the near 600 pages, there are only three scenes of real action: Pillar's retelling of the beginning of the revolution in her town; El Sordo's last stand, and the bombing of the bridge. The remaining pages consist of the relationships between those involved in the war.
The war, is the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. Instead of focusing on the larger aspects of this war, Hemingway decides to focus on a single guerilla outfit fighting against the fascists. The main character is Robert Jordan, an American Spanish professor, who has volunteered to fight against the fascists as well. He has been ordered to destroy an important bridge, and enlists the guerilla band of Pablo. In doing so, he details the experiences of the average, normal citizens of a country fighting for its destiny.
With the exception of World War II stories, most retellings of war, come from a prospective that all war is terrible and unjust. Here, Hemingway shows not only the horrors of fighting a war, but also the sometime necessity of it. Yet, he is also able to show the confusion of its participants.
Anselmo, a trusted companion of Jordan, midway through the novel ponders what he would be doing had he been raised with fascist ideals. He truly believes in what he is fighting for, but realizes that under different circumstances he would be fighting on the other side of the lines. Many wars are fought by soldiers without any true sense of the ideals behind them. For Whom the Bell Tolls is often called a novel on the death of ideals. And it is true, nearly every idealized truth that is held up by the band, seems tarnished and destroyed by novels end.
I found myself reading this novel very slowly. I would read a few pages and then put it down, savoring each word. It was like a great meal that you never want to end. You cut off smaller pieces, letting the flavor fill your mouth before swallowing. Each page, each word brought new meaning to the novel as a whole. Slowly, I would read, knowing each word brought me closer to an ending I never wanted to come. Yet each word was a revelation, a petal unfolding bringing new beauty to the whole.
It is impossible, within the confines of a review, to fully expound upon the greatness of this novel. It is a piece of literature, of art, that should be read, reread, studied, and made mandatory reading for every human being.
Read It.
Mat Brewster is an American stumbling as an ex-pat through the streets of Shanghai. He is helped by his lovely wife and an enormous piles of bootleg DVDs. He is chronicling his adventures in the Shanghai Diaries and musing on pop culture at The Midnight Cafe.
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Published: May 07, 2005
- Type: Review
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: Literature and Fiction, Review
- Writer: Mat Brewster
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It has to be in the top 10 -- Hemingway at his best -- . The non-fiction story of the Spanish civil war is George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" which is frightening and the story of the whole attempt of the Republic to fight off the massed Fascists of Spain, Germany and Italy against the "neutrality" of our own country.
When I studied political science at The Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research in NYC in the early 70's there were still classmates who led discussions in class of "When I was in the Lincoln Brigade..." It is a great novel of a seminally important time as the world prepared (or didn't) for the Fascist onslaught.
This is an unbelievably great novel -- hard to give it its justice and due.
There's just a painstaking and powerful storytelling process here: I love how you don't find very much out about Jordan until you're a good way into the story. The focus is on simple details that add up and add up until you have a chilling and exhilerating and horrific whole.
Good job, Mat.
I am definitely a fan of Hemingway, and I'm a little surprised I put off reading this one for so long. I think its length and heavy subject matter kept me at bay. I finally decided I had the time to sink my teeth into and I am ever glad I did.
Thanks for the comments guys. It was a hard review to write. It is such a universally praised novel with so many people, much smarter than I am, having already written about it. I didn't know what else to say.
Great stories Duke! I fully expect it will make it to the top 10 francisco. But I have to let it settle first, right?
I agree, Eric. I loved that the story just slowly unfolded. Layer by layer we learn more, and are entrhalled and moved by the whole story.
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Glad you liked it! Hemingway scored $100K with the film rights, doesn't seem like much now, but back then that was a sizable income. He purchased a fishing boat and named it the "Pilar", I believe it was on this boat that Hemingway formulated "The Old Man and the Sea."
I understand Hemingway despised Selznick.
Once Cuba opens up for Norte Americos travel, I fully intend to see his house and museum, I have see video from English travelogs, and it looks wonderful.
www.timelesshemingway.com
and
www.ernest.hemingway.com
are both interesting sites but not all inclusive.
After I finish up some curriculum I am currently engaged in, I intend to hit the library hard and Hemingway is right up there on the "to do" list.
On a personal note. My mother's family used to work up in Walloon Lake in Northern Michigan, they were from the Charlevoix are. Early in his life Hemingway used to stay up in the lake area for fishing (and 'skeeter slapping). There were some family stories regarding Ernesto, from what I remember, (and this was in the early '60's when I heard this) a couple of my Aunties (Big Family) used to housekeep the cottages he stayed at. The community was quite proud of Papa, it was a subject that came up a number of times.
What's interesting is that (later) Madonna had purchased a place up around Petoskey, but no one talked much about that, they were still talking about Hemingway, he had endeared himself to the local history of Northern Michigan (not the U.P. but the area just south of the Mackinaw Bridge.