Starlight Book Review – Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls

Cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway on a light blue background |
Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1940s

Published 1940

3.65/5 A few years back, I found myself on a massive “literary/classic kick.” Among the writers on this bookshelf of mine happened to be the incomparable Ernest Hemingway. His sparse, nearly taciturn prose dazzled me. During this kick, I acquired a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls and said copy hung out on my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf for various reasons. I noticed that this book hit shelves in 1940 and picked it up again for the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). Also, I thought a pre-World War II (WWII) work might diversify my reading for this SRC.

“In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from “the good fight,” For Whom the Bell Tolls. The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan’s love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo’s last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving and wise. “If the function of a writer is to reveal reality,” Maxwell Perkins wrote to Hemingway after reading the manuscript, “no one ever so completely performed it.” Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author’s previous works, it stands as one of the best war novels of all time.” 

A Gnomie reviewed For Whom the Bell Tolls on Goodreads, wishing she could rate it with 3.5/5 Stars. I admit, for the most part, I agree with her. I believe this may be the longest Hemingway work I have read! I didn’t much care for Robert Jordan, particularly in the beginning, but I discovered a bit of sympathy for the character alongside Pilar and Maria. The Old English writing style (thee, thou, thy, etc) threw me off at the beginning of my read, this seemed so distant and long ago. I reminded myself throughout that this book was written in less equitable times as well. Yet, I understand that these characters spoke in Catalan. One nod I loved though was a passing mention of Corpus Christi, Texas, the hometown of some of my grandparents and great grandparents.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.