The Good Fight (For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway)

Member Name: Kool_Beans_1

Product:	For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Date:	28/09/02 (430 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thought Provoking, It's Hemingway

Disadvantages: Long, Dry at times

Last summer I decided to tackle a few books I had been meaning to read. Among these was a novel by Ernest Hemingway. At the time, I wasn't particular about exactly which Hemingway novel I wanted to read. So I stood in the bookshop reading the back cover of a number of novels. I walked out with For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Little did I know it would take me over a year to finish the novel. This was partly due to enrollment in UNI. The rest was due to the short descriptive prose staggered in a number of sentence combined with paragraph long sentences Hemingway uses when writing. Matched in difficulty to read only by Clockwork Orange, Hemingway became an incredible challenge to read.

The novel is set in the Spanish Civil War and requires a basic knowledge of the time period. The possibility to understand the novel is only slightly decreased by a lack of research into this time period; however, I would highly recommend the acquisition of at least a foundation in the history of the Spanish Civil War.

The story follows a young American sent to aid antifascist guerillas. Robert Jordan is on a mission that consists simply of blowing up a bridge. The plot is complicated by his emotional attachment to the band of guerillas to which he is assigned. Jordan goes so far as to fall in love with the beautiful Maria of the band.

Hemingway is able to turn a simple task of blowing up a bridge into a war in and of itself. Jordan is forced to fight with his hidden fears of death and the death of others. The guerillas are each forced to fight their own battles with morality within their own minds. At the same time, the guerilla band is forced to face a mutiny of sorts with their group. All of this seems to take precedence over the on going civil war. The larger war seems to slide into the background of the guerillas? own struggles for morality and survival.

The tragedy of war is almost romanticized by Hemingway. The scenes are
eloquently painted by Hemingway's language and the beauty of the Spanish countryside al
most diverts the reader from the ongoing war. Hemingway's ability to being the reader into the lives of the characters is amazing.

At the same time, the moral dilemmas of the characters are presented through a number of antidotes. From Robert Jordan's memories of Madrid to Pablo's regrets for what he had done at the start of the war, a complex emotional picture comes into focus.

Hemingway's own experience in Spain during the civil war greatly affected the writing of this novel. In 1937, Hemingway covered the war for American newspapers. This novel was completed three years after that. In Hemingway's time, the Spanish Civil War was also referred to as "the good fight". In some ways, Hemingway portrays this idealist view of the war. At the same time, Hemingway vividly portrays the tragedy of war in this novel.

Overall, the novel is definitely worth reading. I would strongly recommend it to anyone with a long attention span. The main negative of this novel is that from time to time Hemmingway tends to get carried away by descriptions. Other than that simple set back, the novel is extremely touching.

Summary: