For Whom the Bell Tolls (fiction)

Ernest Hemingway (1940)

THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

One of Ernest Hemingway’s better known works, and one of the best war novels of all time, is For Whom the Bell Tolls, a story about an American named Robert Jordan who is assigned to fight with Spanish guerrillas against Franco’s fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War.  Hemingway drew material for the book from his own personal experience covering the war in 1937 for the North American Newspaper Alliance.  Jordan is an experienced dynamiter who is ordered to travel into enemy territory to try to win some support from a local group of rebels to blow up a bridge.  The intensely emotional story encompasses four days and three nights, providing a powerful and authentic look into the tragedy of war, and the strength of loyalty and courage.  For Whom the Bell Tolls was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
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OTHER A5 RECOMMENDED TRAVEL BOOKS - ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Ernest Hemingway is of course an amazing writer, known for his adventurous lifestyle, his love of bull fighting, and for several classics in American literature.   He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.  Click here to learn more about Ernest Hemingway.

GREAT QUOTES:

“How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think than in all other time. I'd like to be an old man to really know. I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time.”
- Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls

INTERESTING FACTS & LINKS:

  • The Spanish Civil War took place from 1936 - 1939 and was fought between the leftist leaning Republicans and a rightist counter-revolutionary group called the Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco, who ended up ruling Spain for 36 years as the victor,  The war was famous both for the deep political division and the atrocities of hundreds of thousands who were executed.
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls was turned into a movie in 1943 starring Gary Cooper and the beautiful Ingrid Bergman.  The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one.  Interestingly, Hemingway had both Cooper and Bergman in mind for the role of Robert Jordan and Maria before he even started writing.  The movie poster is a nice gift for fans..

THE TOWN OF RONDA, SPAIN

The town of Ronda is likely the basis for the famous scene in the book describing the execution of Facist sympathizers thrown off a cliff.  It is a spectacular city in the province of Malaga, famous for the 100+ meter deep gorge and a history dating back to the Spanish Acquisition.  Learn more about Ronda from Lonely Planet.