booccmaster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
cris_redondoo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The book failed to grasp my attention, and it felt as if it was a story that would never end. Maybe this book could be informative for someone who doesn’t know anything about the Spanish Civil War, but as a Spaniard didn’t brought anything new to the table for me.
simonator's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was my first Hemingway and took my breath away. There is such richness in this tale of humanity stripped to its bone, heart-pounding action, and deep emotion. It's all the better because this could have been such a bad novel.
One could have easily mocked the pathos, the damsel-in-distress Maria character, and the romanticisation of rugged men in war. But that's not what this is. Instead, this novel paints a cast of painfully real and believable characters who are both complex and simple in their beliefs, desires, weaknesses and heroism. Maria, helpless and infinitely devout to the protagonist as she is, is at her core a fundamentally broken girl who has seen the worst of fascist monstrosity, her disposition being a natural reflection of her lived experience. An experience which by no means is absurd or invented; it is historical reality. Her lack of agency is more than compensated by Pilar, the headstrong and stubborn authority of the Guerilla band, and one of the most well-rounded female characters written by a man ever. The other Guerilleras bring the scenes of bonfire chats, tactical discussions, heated arguments to vivid detail; each of them a true-to-life painting of the complexities and contradictions of real human life.
This is a story of anti-fascist struggle. It takes no wishy-washy both-sides approach to the Spanish Civil War, but firmly and thankfully locates the moral authority with the Spanish Communists (including some funny digs at the Anarchists). Although I was amused by Hemingway's apparent compulsion to make the protagonist a WASP from Montana who was less than enthusiastic about planned economies. There is only so much American audiences were willing to indulge, it seems. The tale is cast into glum twilight from the beginning because readers will know that the Republic would eventually fall to Franco's barbarians. The military offensive that the plot centres around is therefore from the start the heartbreaking symbol of Spain's inevitable doom. Many people take issue with the book's ending. But I believe it represents the futility of the Communist tragedy as well as it possibly could have.
One could have easily mocked the pathos, the damsel-in-distress Maria character, and the romanticisation of rugged men in war. But that's not what this is. Instead, this novel paints a cast of painfully real and believable characters who are both complex and simple in their beliefs, desires, weaknesses and heroism. Maria, helpless and infinitely devout to the protagonist as she is, is at her core a fundamentally broken girl who has seen the worst of fascist monstrosity, her disposition being a natural reflection of her lived experience. An experience which by no means is absurd or invented; it is historical reality. Her lack of agency is more than compensated by Pilar, the headstrong and stubborn authority of the Guerilla band, and one of the most well-rounded female characters written by a man ever. The other Guerilleras bring the scenes of bonfire chats, tactical discussions, heated arguments to vivid detail; each of them a true-to-life painting of the complexities and contradictions of real human life.
This is a story of anti-fascist struggle. It takes no wishy-washy both-sides approach to the Spanish Civil War, but firmly and thankfully locates the moral authority with the Spanish Communists (including some funny digs at the Anarchists). Although I was amused by Hemingway's apparent compulsion to make the protagonist a WASP from Montana who was less than enthusiastic about planned economies. There is only so much American audiences were willing to indulge, it seems. The tale is cast into glum twilight from the beginning because readers will know that the Republic would eventually fall to Franco's barbarians. The military offensive that the plot centres around is therefore from the start the heartbreaking symbol of Spain's inevitable doom. Many people take issue with the book's ending. But I believe it represents the futility of the Communist tragedy as well as it possibly could have.
adambwriter's review against another edition
4.0
For Whom the Bell Tolls is the fifth of Hemingway's works (not including short stories) that I've gotten through. Out of two novellas (The Torrents of Spring and Old Man and the Sea) and two other novels (The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms), I would say this is absoutely my second favorite, so far.
The Good
I could go on and on about Hemingway's use of language and dialogue in this novel. He breaks somewhat from his tradition of minimalism and gives real thought and feeling to his descriptions. He plays with automatic-writing (probably heavily-influenced by his time with the prominent modernists of the time, most of whom didn't think much of him as a writer, aside from his journalism). I see Hemingway taking risks in this novel that I don't think he managed - either to attempt or to accomplish - in his earlier works. He also does a brilliant job of translating Spanish into English, re-translated into Spanish. It's hard to explain this, especially for monolinguists, but all of the action and dialogue in For Whom the Bell Tolls is enacted in Spanish, then written in English (of course), but when it is written, it is written to preserve the distinct voice, dialect, idioms, etc. of the original language. I've never encountered a writer who was able to accomplish this so well, so brilliantly, and who could convince their publisher not to re-work it into standard English for the readers.
The honesty to the story of the Spanish Civil War, the people, the relationships, the many cultures involved. I'm no historian, granted, and I don't know much about the Spanish Civil War or the anti-fascist movement, but Hemingway certainly seems to understand it, and his simple, 72-hour exploration of a small group of mountain bandits, of a budding love, and the emphasis on "living and learning your life" regardless of having 20 years or 20 hours in which to do it - it's masterful and moving and truly well done.
The Bad
The ending was beautiful, until the final line! Yes, it was incredibly simple, plain-spoken, and (no pun intended) down-to-earth. But, after such an incredbily well-delivered, beautifully rendered final few pages of a novel, to be left with such a blunt, non-ending just almost seemed heartless. Of course, this doesn't seem to be Hemingway's intent.
Also disturbing are the many references to suicide by shotgun - both in the case of the main character, Robert Jordan, and that character's father. Though the novel was written well before Hemingway's own suicide (by shotgun), the parallels to his life are there and they are haunting. It made it painful to read, at times, because the inner-turmoil becomes so personal to a reader who is familiar with Hemingway's life, history, and legacy.
The Final Verdict 4.0/5.0
Despite the sudden (almost seemingly unfinished, to be honest) ending, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a brilliant and honest novel. Certainly one of the most thoughtful, well-written, and purposeful Hemingway works that I've encountered. While I find Hemingway's earlier A Farewell to Arms more effective as a war novel (simply due to taste - in A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway writes a war novel which doesn't even include much "war" at all, and I found that appealing and genius), For Whom the Bell Tolls is certainly an accomplishment in terms of plot and language, in particular. Recommended for those interested in Spanish history, modernism, Hemingway, or just a good, classic American read.
The Good
I could go on and on about Hemingway's use of language and dialogue in this novel. He breaks somewhat from his tradition of minimalism and gives real thought and feeling to his descriptions. He plays with automatic-writing (probably heavily-influenced by his time with the prominent modernists of the time, most of whom didn't think much of him as a writer, aside from his journalism). I see Hemingway taking risks in this novel that I don't think he managed - either to attempt or to accomplish - in his earlier works. He also does a brilliant job of translating Spanish into English, re-translated into Spanish. It's hard to explain this, especially for monolinguists, but all of the action and dialogue in For Whom the Bell Tolls is enacted in Spanish, then written in English (of course), but when it is written, it is written to preserve the distinct voice, dialect, idioms, etc. of the original language. I've never encountered a writer who was able to accomplish this so well, so brilliantly, and who could convince their publisher not to re-work it into standard English for the readers.
The honesty to the story of the Spanish Civil War, the people, the relationships, the many cultures involved. I'm no historian, granted, and I don't know much about the Spanish Civil War or the anti-fascist movement, but Hemingway certainly seems to understand it, and his simple, 72-hour exploration of a small group of mountain bandits, of a budding love, and the emphasis on "living and learning your life" regardless of having 20 years or 20 hours in which to do it - it's masterful and moving and truly well done.
The Bad
The ending was beautiful, until the final line! Yes, it was incredibly simple, plain-spoken, and (no pun intended) down-to-earth. But, after such an incredbily well-delivered, beautifully rendered final few pages of a novel, to be left with such a blunt, non-ending just almost seemed heartless. Of course, this doesn't seem to be Hemingway's intent.
Also disturbing are the many references to suicide by shotgun - both in the case of the main character, Robert Jordan, and that character's father. Though the novel was written well before Hemingway's own suicide (by shotgun), the parallels to his life are there and they are haunting. It made it painful to read, at times, because the inner-turmoil becomes so personal to a reader who is familiar with Hemingway's life, history, and legacy.
The Final Verdict 4.0/5.0
Despite the sudden (almost seemingly unfinished, to be honest) ending, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a brilliant and honest novel. Certainly one of the most thoughtful, well-written, and purposeful Hemingway works that I've encountered. While I find Hemingway's earlier A Farewell to Arms more effective as a war novel (simply due to taste - in A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway writes a war novel which doesn't even include much "war" at all, and I found that appealing and genius), For Whom the Bell Tolls is certainly an accomplishment in terms of plot and language, in particular. Recommended for those interested in Spanish history, modernism, Hemingway, or just a good, classic American read.
berill's review against another edition
2.0
*spoilers might lay ahead*
now listen. I might understand why this book is such a big hit, why so broadly appreciated, respected, loved. I understand why this book was so acclaimed back in the 40-50's, why it is so important. I don't deny it, I learned some things about the civil war, about the spanishes, and for someone, who's gonna spend half a year in Madrid (me), starting from August, this was informational, yet at the same time confused me throughoutly. But maybe this book shouldn't have been my first and primary source of information about the country and its history.
I can't tell how much my head hurts after finishing this book. feel like my mind split in two just like Robert Jordan's mind, for I kept wondering if he ever been clinically diagnosed as a schizoprenic. his monologues were confusing asf, kept me discombobulated, they were long, neverending and utterly unnecessary. he argued with himself throughout the book! and I get it, who doesn't argue with themselves? I do, that I know of, but it does not mean you have to write it down. this detailed. no one shits about it, does not make any sense, and if you were to include this, to show the reader how torn between the Mc is, do it better. do not shit around. and in the first place, how can one write a five hundred pages long book jut about four days' happening? half of the dialogues, monologues and descriptions were unnecessary. I kept thinking maybe I'm just missing a point, I'm not looking behind the words, maybe they will make sense in the end, but I was left hanging and disappointed. This could easily have been shortened into maybe a 250-pages novel, but nothing further. I was lucky to be able to rush through the book in two days, but if not given the circumstances, I would have dnf it.
the only two, slightly interesting and in-depht characters were Pilar and Pablo. the rest, including the MC were so shallow, so 2 dimensional, i couldn't have cared less about them. really, I can't help but be amazed at how dull, how boring an MC Hemingway wrote. I cannot understand it. Robert Jordan is the MC, but he only could care about a pair of tits, and maybe a personality called Maria attached to it, but nothing more. Because, oh god, the only depth and information we knew about Maria was that she had short hair (super important!) and stiff tits (also PSA) and that she was brutally raped and wanted to be a good partner to Robert Jordan. And that her parents were killed. And I kept wondering, how in hell did they even fall in love? was it even love? they kept talking about getting married this and that, that I started to think I might have skipped a chapter or two, even a hundred pages in their love story, it was so nonexistent at that point. I remember, I even snorted aloud when Robert Jordan, at some point when they were snuggled up next to each other, because they just had sex, or couldn't because of the Maria's pains, told her to let's talk, because they haven't even talked with each other, they barely knew anything about the other, and their pasts. Yes please talk, and maybe we get to know you too, if there's anything more to know. Blow my brains out please.
And as I already mentioned, but can't get past it, is how long this motherfucker was. 500 pages long? for god's sake. if maybe, it were more decorated with past stories, with more bonding between the characters (and by that, I don't mean that "earthquake" the lovebirds felt when making love), for example, I was suuuuper intrigued in Anselmo's story, he seemed such an interesting and loyal person with a good heart, who's got a rich and eventful past. But no, let's kill him on the bridge, never giving him the credit and attention he deserves. fuck 'em.
And the title does not make sense, in the slightest. You can find a little qoute on the first page, you can link the two things together, but the quote and the book, the title and the book were not even on greeting terms. weren't even related.
so much babbling around. empty words. nonsense.
I have to add, I kept thinking maybe this was all fault of the translation. I read it in an old, 1957 Hungarian translation, and maybe there are better translations now, maybe it would be totally different in English. But for now, I'm certainly not gonna run another lap with this massive bullshit. Gotta keep my head sane. ((this is my biggest dilemma with translations: if I don't like the book, I can't help but wonder, if it's better in English, maybe just the translation is shitty, and the other way around - if I didn't like it in English, maybe that's because I couldn't fully understand it, and I would like it better in a Hungarian translation. We'll never know, as long as I don't see it myself in both languages. And that's certainly not gonna happen with this book.))
I think I'm putting Hemingway away for a bit. But I'm still curious about The Old Man and the Sea.
now listen. I might understand why this book is such a big hit, why so broadly appreciated, respected, loved. I understand why this book was so acclaimed back in the 40-50's, why it is so important. I don't deny it, I learned some things about the civil war, about the spanishes, and for someone, who's gonna spend half a year in Madrid (me), starting from August, this was informational, yet at the same time confused me throughoutly. But maybe this book shouldn't have been my first and primary source of information about the country and its history.
I can't tell how much my head hurts after finishing this book. feel like my mind split in two just like Robert Jordan's mind, for I kept wondering if he ever been clinically diagnosed as a schizoprenic. his monologues were confusing asf, kept me discombobulated, they were long, neverending and utterly unnecessary. he argued with himself throughout the book! and I get it, who doesn't argue with themselves? I do, that I know of, but it does not mean you have to write it down. this detailed. no one shits about it, does not make any sense, and if you were to include this, to show the reader how torn between the Mc is, do it better. do not shit around. and in the first place, how can one write a five hundred pages long book jut about four days' happening? half of the dialogues, monologues and descriptions were unnecessary. I kept thinking maybe I'm just missing a point, I'm not looking behind the words, maybe they will make sense in the end, but I was left hanging and disappointed. This could easily have been shortened into maybe a 250-pages novel, but nothing further. I was lucky to be able to rush through the book in two days, but if not given the circumstances, I would have dnf it.
the only two, slightly interesting and in-depht characters were Pilar and Pablo. the rest, including the MC were so shallow, so 2 dimensional, i couldn't have cared less about them. really, I can't help but be amazed at how dull, how boring an MC Hemingway wrote. I cannot understand it. Robert Jordan is the MC, but he only could care about a pair of tits, and maybe a personality called Maria attached to it, but nothing more. Because, oh god, the only depth and information we knew about Maria was that she had short hair (super important!) and stiff tits (also PSA) and that she was brutally raped and wanted to be a good partner to Robert Jordan. And that her parents were killed. And I kept wondering, how in hell did they even fall in love? was it even love? they kept talking about getting married this and that, that I started to think I might have skipped a chapter or two, even a hundred pages in their love story, it was so nonexistent at that point. I remember, I even snorted aloud when Robert Jordan, at some point when they were snuggled up next to each other, because they just had sex, or couldn't because of the Maria's pains, told her to let's talk, because they haven't even talked with each other, they barely knew anything about the other, and their pasts. Yes please talk, and maybe we get to know you too, if there's anything more to know. Blow my brains out please.
And as I already mentioned, but can't get past it, is how long this motherfucker was. 500 pages long? for god's sake. if maybe, it were more decorated with past stories, with more bonding between the characters (and by that, I don't mean that "earthquake" the lovebirds felt when making love), for example, I was suuuuper intrigued in Anselmo's story, he seemed such an interesting and loyal person with a good heart, who's got a rich and eventful past. But no, let's kill him on the bridge, never giving him the credit and attention he deserves. fuck 'em.
And the title does not make sense, in the slightest. You can find a little qoute on the first page, you can link the two things together, but the quote and the book, the title and the book were not even on greeting terms. weren't even related.
so much babbling around. empty words. nonsense.
I have to add, I kept thinking maybe this was all fault of the translation. I read it in an old, 1957 Hungarian translation, and maybe there are better translations now, maybe it would be totally different in English. But for now, I'm certainly not gonna run another lap with this massive bullshit. Gotta keep my head sane. ((this is my biggest dilemma with translations: if I don't like the book, I can't help but wonder, if it's better in English, maybe just the translation is shitty, and the other way around - if I didn't like it in English, maybe that's because I couldn't fully understand it, and I would like it better in a Hungarian translation. We'll never know, as long as I don't see it myself in both languages. And that's certainly not gonna happen with this book.))
I think I'm putting Hemingway away for a bit. But I'm still curious about The Old Man and the Sea.
rastislavwittko's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ihtshamravi's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
guilherme_gog's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
marichka_pifagorivna's review against another edition
4.0
This work is about war, without romanticization and unnecessary heroism. Five years ago, I tried to start reading it in Spanish, but I didn't finish it.
Did I like it? Yes, well, as much as one can like works about war. I was struck by the description of the smell of death and the story of Pilar, it was terrible.
Anselmo and Fernando were my favourites. When you enter grandmother's house from the cold, the stove is burning and there is a smell of baking, it feels so cosy, these are the emotions Anselmo evoked. Fernando was simple and honest I empathized with him. He was like a big child. And of course, Pilar, an incredibly strong female character, with her own opinion, strong and sometimes authoritarian.
Did I like it? Yes, well, as much as one can like works about war. I was struck by the description of the smell of death and the story of Pilar, it was terrible.
Anselmo and Fernando were my favourites. When you enter grandmother's house from the cold, the stove is burning and there is a smell of baking, it feels so cosy, these are the emotions Anselmo evoked. Fernando was simple and honest I empathized with him. He was like a big child. And of course, Pilar, an incredibly strong female character, with her own opinion, strong and sometimes authoritarian.