For Whom the Bell Tolls

Perhaps no writer has ever described war and love with the precision (if either can be subjected to such clarity) of Hemingway.

I was moved on every page by the power of his scenes, like reportage, from war, matched by an internal landscape that is equally tragic and explosive. 

I loved the way Hemingway is able to describe scenes, characters, and emotions so effortlessly.

It is quite an old book now, so this has to be taken into account when reading it in a modern context, but as a writer I found it an amazing read which is why I bought it in the first place. It is the mark of a superlative writer when you find yourself engrossed in the story when you started out trying to dissect his prose and figure out just why he was so damned good.

Page after page of wonderful descriptions keep it… show more.

I love history and Historical Fiction is largely what I write, so Hemingway’s book about the Spanish Civil War seemed like a good fit, and I was right. To my mind it was superior to Farewell to Arms.

What gripped me was the cruelty and hatred that Spain was gripped with during that time. It causes me to wonder how much of that lingers to this day. Such strong emotions don’t disappear overnight.

Anaïs Nin doesn’t mention historical fiction, though she dances around this solution. So I approached Hemingway’s classic novel having already written mine, cowed by the fact that this was my first reading of the model of Spanish Civil War fiction. But I was immediately drawn in by the tangibility of the action, by the sensations, and by the completeness of the characters. It was somehow comforting to know that the main character was based on the noble Robert Merriman of the International Brigades, almost like a family connection, with other historical people mentioned by name. The Spanish language hovers in… show more.

For Whom The Bells Toll follows an American volunteer who joined the Republican forces opposing Franco. It is a reminder that fiction can often contain deeper truths than non-fiction.  I reread the work while writing my book The Ambulance Drivers. I found it had not grown dated and should remain among Hemingway’s best three novels, Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, being the other two. Its prose is so urgent. “There is nothing else than now,” Hemingway writes. “There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know… show more.

It is a beautifully written novel and is based on Hemingway’s own experiences in Spain during the war. I read this many years ago and it was what first sparked my interest in the Spanish Civil War.