Why am I passionate about this?
I’ve penned (so far) seventeen novels, most set during some historical conflict or other, all of them revolving around intense personal relationships (loyalty, love, betrayal, those sorts of profound truths). I tend to read the sorts of books I wish to write. I also teach creative writing at a university (VCU); I tell my students that if they want to really know what a character is made of, shoot at them or have them fall in love. In my own work, I do both.
David's book list on love and war and describing both battlefields
Why did David love this book?
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.
6 authors picked For Whom the Bell Tolls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Inspired by his experiences as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the story of Robert Jordan, an American volunteer in the International Brigades fighting to defend the Spanish Republic against Franco. After being ordered to work with guerrilla fighters to destroy a bridge, Jordan finds himself falling in love with a young Spanish woman and clashing with the guerrilla leader over the risks of their mission.
One of the great novels of the twentieth century, For Whom the Bell Tolls was first published in 1940. It powerfully explores the brutality of…