Not one of my personal favourites among Hemingway's longer work, but very impressive piece of writing all the same. For Whom the Bell Tolls is very good at capturing the horrors of war as well as exploring topics related to it such as violence, death (either by murder or suicide) and political ideologies.

This is a novel that kept my interest most of the time. Still, there were times when my mind would drift- mostly when the writing felt too wordy and descriptive. Some of the descriptions of Spain at the time of war were excellent, but at times the writing felt a bit repetitive, especially towards the end. I got a bit tired of all the 'death' talk and listening to Jordan's thoughts.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel that drew me in at the beginning, but lost me toward the end. I liked the autobiographical aspect of it and the fact that Hemingway included much of his own personal experiences in it. Hemingway clearly knew what he was writing about and had personal experience of the war. This gives this novel a feeling of authenticity.

This novel is set during Spanish war. Hemingway captures the brutally of the war on a number of occasions. In that sense, the book feels realistic. Moreover, the theme of death is an important subject in this book. Most of the characters face death and react to it in different (sometimes even changing) ways. The story itself followers a young American Robert Jordan who fights for the Republic and against fascist forces. Robert has a mission: to destroy a bridge (he is an expert with the explosives). He plans to do so with the help of local anti-fascist fighters. Once he meets them, Robert also meets Maria- a beautiful Spanish girl he falls in love with. Their love story is very important for the plot and the novel itself.

“And another thing. Don’t ever kid yourself about loving some one. It is just that most
people are not lucky enough ever to have it. You never had it before and now you have it.
What you have with Maria, whether it lasts just through today and a part of tomorrow, or
whether it lasts for a long life is the most important thing that can happen to a human
being. There will always be people who say it does not exist because they cannot have it. But
I tell you it is true and that you have it and that you are lucky even if you die tomorrow.”

The novel is told in the third person narrative mode, but this is often interrupted by thoughts of Robert Jordan (and some other characters on occasion). These interruptions are mostly welcomed, but I did get a bit tired of them towards the end.

All in all, definitely a novel I would recommend.

Much better than the Metallica song.

I won't deny my youthful bloody-lust to travel afar and get the girl and die in valor "fighting the good fight"- before those words were emptied by experience and observation-; and to read the messages-in-bottles (all polished sea-glass smooth by now) my teenage self is tossing into a flood tide from far, far away in some distant dimension (where he hardly resembles myself, and I am ashamed of him) this book is "written-well". I perfectly remember my parent's back porch and sun-struck green afternoons with this book cradled in my palms and the smell of cut grass and my American Lawn and Garden (I was fortunate enough to have both). These memories aren't invalid. (In my yard the barbs of bees did pierce the naked soles of my feet and the pain was fire-bright and vivid.) Then, dreams of a romantic death were romantic and that is a truth of the mind of a young male. But now I want to live a long time, cloistered from war; I don't care if I get the girl or the girl gets me but I certainly have nothing to prove; and I'd rather have a mysterious end apart from ideology and Other's freedoms. I wonder if anything was ever as grand and noble and terrible as it is when Hemingway puts it down. I doubt it, but then again I believe the legend of King Arthur literally happened, word for word. Hemingway wants people to believe this is life, but it's fiction and that's enough. This is a "great book".

Hemingway is an acquired taste. Reading his works is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get. I liked the taste of this one. Although, I was skeptical for the first 400 pages. For me, the best part of the book came in the last 70 pages and took forever to come and I was richly rewarded. The result was satisfying.

نکته:این مرور نقدی است برکتابی که مترجم ساخته و نه کتابی که همینگوی تالیف کرده.
(البته بعید می دانم تالیف همینگوی هم چیز دندانگیری بوده باشد.)
ترجمه افتضاح بود.یعنی نمره ای که به ترجمه می دهم صفر با ارفاق است.فکر کنم کتاب را کلا نابود کرده بود.شاهکار دیگر نشر امیر کبیر غیر از جلدهای خیلی خلاقانه و زیباش:| این بود که توی متن پشت کتاب که قاعدتا باید یک توضیح کوتاه از داستان باشد که خواننده را به خواندن ترغیب کند،کل داستان را لو داده بود.:|واقعا نصف انگیزه ام برای خواندن را از بین برد.
گذشته از ترجمه و امیرکبیر که تا بتوانم دیگر کتابی ازش نمی خرم،من با خود داستان هم مشکلاتی داشتم.توصیف هایش واقعا بیش از اندازه بود.سالها پیش که پیرمرد و دریا را می خواندم از بس توصیف هایش زیاد بود می خواستم سرم را بکوبم به دیوار.در مورد این کتاب هم همینطور بود.صدجایش نوشته بود رابرت جوردان غرق افکار دور و دراز شد یا رابرت جوردان روی زمین دراز کشید:|توصیف لازم است تا خواننده بتواند فضا را تجسم کند،ولی توصیف های بی فایده و مسخره فقط خواننده را دلزده و خسته می کنند.
این همه نوشتن از یک عملیات به نظرم جالب نبود.کلا کتابهای جنگی را دوست ندارم ولی حتی بین کتابهای ایرانی هم جنگی های خوب پیدا می شود.کل کتاب فقط درباره ی انفجار یک پل بود.حتی من درست و حسابی نفهمیدم منفجرکردن این پل چه تاثیری روی ادامه ی مبارزه شان می گذارد؟فقط برای این که راه فاشسیتها را می بست اینقدر مهم شده بود؟!
یکدفعه به فکر افتادن جوردان درباره ی شکست هم که عالی بود:|بعد آن همه برنامه ریزی خیلی ناگهان شب حمله به ذهنش رسید اِ با این تجهیزات که ما موفق نمی شویم.شب حمله آدم باید به این فکرها بیفتد واقعا؟
فقط یک جایش "عالی"بود به زعم من و آن هم جایی بود که ماریا درباره ی سرگذشتش توضیح می داد.آن چندصفحه واقعا نفسگیر بود و همان چندصفحه به بهترین وجه نشان داده بود چقدر جنگ کثیف است...
کاش یک روز من هم از شاهکارهای ادبیات جهان لذت ببرم!تا الان که جز ناامیدی چیزی برایم نداشتند.

I read For Whom the Bell Tolls many years ago, I still remember Ernest Hemingway's splendid story of an young American, Robert Jordan, that fights along with the guerrilla in the Spanish Civil War, and his love for Maria. Simply beautiful. This novel kept me company for hours, it totally consumed me. And how I loved it! Worth revisiting.

5 + stars! Highly recommended.

Oh dear, I fear this review will be lambasted and that people will note that this is the second time I have dismissed a "classic" this week. In my defence, I did enjoy Orwell's Animal Farm.

I really wanted to like this and persevered to past the half way point. But when I got to the stage where I was dreading picking up the book as I was finding it so monotonous, I decided enough was enough--it was going back to the library from whence it came.

The lengthy novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.

By the half-way point, he still hadn't blown up the bridge but was instead engaging in seemingly never-ending debate about why it needed blowing up, how to do it, whether or not everyone in his group was in favour of the destruction .....the list could go on but I will spare you. I turned each page wondering if it would be the culmination of 250 pages of planning but sadly it was not to be. Or maybe that was a good thing because the soldiers guarding the bridge were spared for another day.

Imagine writing down every single action you take in a typical day from morning until evening whether relevant and interesting or not. Then gather a group of people and ask them to do the same. Then merge the pages and you have this book.

There is limited bad language although I found it amusing that for the stronger language they have simply inserted the word "obscenity" whether it made sense or not. There is some violence and some sexual content. The content wasn't offensive enough to put me off. I just thought this was extremely dull...

I now await the barrage of comments bemoaning my ignorance and explaining why I should have been excited about this book.....please feel free.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway is a classic novel that Hemingway published several years after he covered the civil war in Spain in 1937 as a newspaper correspondent. The book is dedicated to Martha Gelhorn, who was also covering the civil unrest in Spain as a freelance newspaper correspondent at that time. This is the wonderful story of an American, Robert Jordan, who as part of the International Brigades, is attached to a Loyalist band of guerillas fighting Fascism in the mountains of Spain. This ragtag group was to blow up a key bridge. I found myself unable to put this book down as the tale unfolded in the simple but very human prose of Ernest Hemingway. I loved the book.

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man
is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a
Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lessee,
as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor
of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death
diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

--- John Donne

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway is a masterful novel that brilliantly captures the human spirit in the face of war. With Hemingway's trademark sparse yet powerful prose, the story of Robert Jordan, an American dynamiter fighting with the Spanish guerillas during the Civil War, is both intimate and universal. The novel explores themes of sacrifice, love, and the inevitability of death, making it profoundly moving. Hemingway's ability to convey complex emotions through his characters' struggles and interactions is unparalleled. A deeply impactful and timeless work, For Whom the Bell Tolls resonates long after the final page.

Monumental, heavy, and beautifully written. But the longest three days ever.

Sto cercando inutilmente di ricordarmi quando lo lessi per la prima volta. Nulla.
Di certo fu dopo aver ricevuto in regalo un volumetto che comprendeva Fiesta (subito adorato), alcuni dei 49 racconti (idem), Addio alle armi (mai finito) e Il vecchio e il mare (noioso, ma a quell'età finsi con me stessa che mi piacesse).
Devo averlo preso in biblioteca, Per chi suona la campana, esattamente come adesso, perché non ne ho una copia in casa. Avrò avuto sui 18-19 anni.

Di sicuro non mi piacque. Lo dimostra anche soltanto il fatto che ricordavo diversamente i racconti di Maria su cosa le hanno fatto prima di essere salvata dalla banda di Pablo, e soprattutto il ricordo sintetico di una faccenda che ruota attorno a un ponte da minare, che all'epoca mi rese tutto noioso, meccanicistico, poco poetico e soprattutto, date le mie scarse cognizioni di guerra e di bombe, incomprensibile. Quante pagine devo aver saltato!
Ho pensato per anni che il romanzo fosse sopravvalutato, esagerato, non una delle migliori cose di Hemingway.

Ecco, è difficile dire quanto mi sbagliassi. Riletto adesso, alla luce di molte conoscenze storiche accumulate nel frattempo, non solo ho trovato questo libro bellissimo e la sua prosa una delle migliori dell'autore, ma sono rimasta sorpresa dalla dose di sarcasmo e di satira politica presente soprattutto nelle scene madrilene e nei personaggi dei politici spagnoli, dei commissari e dei giornalisti stranieri, russi, americani etc.
I dialoghi sono quasi tutti di alto livello, anche nell'alternanza di spagnolo e inglese; i personaggi di Pilar e Pablo forse ancora migliori, nel senso di meglio caratterizzati e più indimenticabili, di quelli di Robert e Maria. Direi anzi che Robert Jordan, pur avendo una sua credibilità, appare soprattutto una proiezione più giovane ed eroica dell'autore.
L'andatura, il respiro del romanzo è meraviglioso, con i tre giorni dell'oggi - attesa febbrile, azione, scontri politici - alternati con mano sapiente a lunghi monologhi interiori di Robert e di altri personaggi, o a rievocazioni del passato (quella di Pilar sulla sua vita nel mondo dei toreri è una delle cose più belle di Hemingway in assoluto). La vicenda si dilata, si allarga cronologicamente e geograficamente.
Fino al pre-finale (la battaglia mortale della banda di El Sordo) e al finale, sempre più concitati, dove il ritmo accelera nei punti giusti e seguiamo in simultanea il destino del messaggero Andrés e quello del resto della banda.

Insomma: non era brutto il libro. Ero immatura io.

Review on English, followed by the Bulgarian one. Ревюто на английски е първо, следва това на български.

Hemingway at it's finest!

Great novel, I did read it at least five times and find it more and more fascinating, despite all dark moments in it...

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Най-доброто от Хемингуей!

Страховит роман, който съм чел поне пет пъти и който винаги ме очарова, въпреки мрачните и тежки моменти, които се крият в него...