For Whom The Bell Tolls

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway was a shocking book. I saw say shocking, because I was shocked that I actually really enjoyed it. I've read A Sun Also Rises, and be the story or Hemingway's disgusting, blatant misogyny or his writing style, it was dreadful. But FWTBT was different, well, kind of. I had attempted to read it while in High School, still too young, and just couldn't get into it. So I was a little (read a lot) hesitant when I began my journey into FWTBT.

For Whom The Bell Tolls follows the story of Robert Jordan, an American college Spanish instructor, who has traveled to Spain to help the Republic during the Spanish Civil War. He is a dynamiter, and has been sent to blow up a bridge. He meets a group of guerrillas who are going to help accomplish his goal. During that time he meets, and falls in love with a member of the band (who does not fight and was once a prisoner of the Fascists) Maria. The story weaves between Jordan convincing the band to help him and his love for Maria.

Noted as one of the best war books written (Hemingway himself was a journalist in the Spanish Civil War), I can see why. There are multiple times where Hemingway's characters tell Jordan of their past and why they are fighting. Pilar, who is the ad-hoc leader of the band when her husband/partner wavers, tells a particularly graphic story of the flailing and murder of 20+ Fascists (and that story is not for the weak stomached).

By the end of the novel, we are left in a battle for the bridge, to ensure that it is blown properly. I found myself having favorite guerrillas who I wanted to succeed in their mission and walk away unscathed. But it is war, and without revealing too much, not everyone walks away. But, the last chapter was especially riveting and kept me glued to what was going on, which I was not expecting. I found myself having great concern for many of the characters and found myself cringing and biting my nails (quite literally) when things didn't necessarily go exactly as planned.

I have only two complaints, but they were issues that I figured I would have. The first is Hemingway's style of writing. He has a tendancy to repeat things over and over and over and over again. Hemingway likes to repeat things. Every once in a while, Hemingway will repeat his point, even if it is not the most important point. There is frequently a chance that Hemingway will repeat himself.

The second problem that I had was Hemingway's misogyny. He makes no attempt to hide his feelings towards how women should be in a relationship. I frequently found myself disgusted for no other reason than the way Maria would talk to Robert.

But all in all, those two points can be over looked, and For Whom The Bell Tolls can, in my opinion, but read as a truly beautiful novel.

Moral Of The Story: Even in war, beauty can arise from the ashes.