Who am I?
My passion for historical fiction evolved late in my life. I was assigned to teach the second of the core courses required of all undergraduates at Holy Names University. Required materials: the Divine Comedy, the Canterbury Tales, Sundiata, Don Quixote, Othello, the Tale of Genji, Leonardo da Vinci, Islamic calligraphy, the music of Ravi Shankar… But everything was set in history–boring!–dates and places I could never remember, events that meant nothing to me. But my passion for genealogy and for oral history made me realize that everything had a story. This course was about people telling their stories. Now that I’m retired from teaching, I want to tell people’s stories–in their historical context.
Judith's book list on stories interwoven with the events of their time
Discover why each book is one of Judith's favorite books.
Why did Judith love this book?
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 the background of the dialog and occasionally bursts out raw. I loved translating to myself phrases like, “I obscenity in the milk of thy mother,” and laughed at Hemingway’s tirades against anarchism, completely contrary to Orwell’s viewpoint.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Why should I read it?
3 authors picked For Whom the Bell Tolls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
What is this book about?
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…
