For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

I had a very different idea of what Ernest Hemingway was before I read this. The only previous work of his that I read was "The Old Man and the Sea". From that novella and from my knowledge of his lifestyle I had concluded he wrote adventure stories. I interpreted him as a sort of Farley Mowat from the early 20th century. That was wrong of me.

This book has the potential to become a favourite of mine after I read it a few more times (and I know I will). Hemingway's style, unique to himself in his time, has been mimicked by many who came after. His words and sentences are simple and clear, but have a poetic turn of description which softens the edges of what would otherwise be a harsh, unsympathyzing tone. Some writers who have attempted to follow in his stylistic footsteps have gotten carried away with the "poetic" thing and sacrificed clarity in their meanings (Margaret Atwood, I'm looking at you). I realize this requires some explanation. In poetry or poetic prose, the author will often leave certain things unsaid, or say them indirectly to create certain moods or tones or ideas. This is all very well. There is a limit though to how many gaps you can leave in your meaning before a reader will be discouraged from ferreting it out. In "The English Patient", I have to admit I don't know what happens in the end due to this very problem. Perhaps the problem is with me, or it is with the writing. Nevertheless, it detracts from my overall enjoyment of the book.

Hemingway dodges this bullet well. His descriptions, although poetic, are candid and insightful. A specific scene comes to mind - a character tells of the revolutionary take over in a small Spanish town. The fascists were hunted down and executed by their neighbours. I won't say that I felt I was there with them. It was more that I felt I knew and understood each of the dying men and also the executioners. This is a marvellous achievement in communication.

I haven't even said yet what the book is about. Usually when someone asks what a book is about I get so carried away talking about the themes and the style that I forget the plot. It takes place in the heat of the Spanish Civil War in 1937. A mostly fascist faction had seized power from the elected republican government, so the republicans, communists, and other libertarian groups had joined against the fascists to reinstate the republic. The main character, Robert Jordan, is sent behind enemy lines to dynamite a bridge so that a critical attack can advance. He is aided by a group of geurilla republicans who have been hidden in the mountains for many months. I'm not going to ruin the ending for you beyond the fact that the title is an excerpt from John Donne - "And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee".

Now for some themes! The primary one that I extracted is presented early in the book when the main character says "It was much better to be gay and it was a sign of something too. It was like having immortality while you were still alive". (Gay meaning happy here, obviously. Stay with me). In the few days we are with this character, he experiences the most happiness that Hemingway believes can be had when he falls in love with a girl and she loves him back. He says of this love that "There will always be people who say it does not exist because they cannot have it. But I tell you it is true and that you have it and that you are lucky even if you die tomorrow". Robert Jordan knows that they might only have hours to live. In that time he experiences all of friendship and love and happiness that he is able to. He thinks "There is only now, and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. This is how you live a life in two days. And if you stop complaining and asking for what you never will get, you will have a good life. A good life is not measured by any biblical span". This is a version of that old philosophy that those who die young have eternal youth. Also I wonder if Robert Jordan would still have thought that about love after five years of marriage, but the book doesn't say.

There are other themes, but none arrested me so strongly as that first one. Themes like fearing death, or cowardice, or the evils of war, and there are several political points buried in there which I will need to dig up sometime. This book is supremely quotable too, which always makes me happy. I love being able to quote things at people because it is like having a good citation in a report. The difference is that it's hard to find peer-reviewed articles on the value of love and the emotional experiences of a truly brave person, so we cite those writers with great minds and hearts. The serious problem with this method is that I am willing to believe anything that is said with enough conviction and style, although it may be meritless.

Overall, I'd tell anyone to read this book. It's helpful to know some Spanish, but I guess "cojones" is a common enough term that most people will get the jokes. Lots of "yo momma" jokes too, which brightened my day considerably. There are some parts where the pacing drags because the main character gets all wrapped up in political introspection, but most of those bits can be easily skipped over (maybe that's why I didn't catch on to the political themes).

I would love to tell you what book I'm reading next, but I haven't gone to the library yet and it's always a crap-shoot to know what they will have available.