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A review by simonator
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was my first Hemingway and took my breath away. There is such richness in this tale of humanity stripped to its bone, heart-pounding action, and deep emotion. It's all the better because this could have been such a bad novel.
One could have easily mocked the pathos, the damsel-in-distress Maria character, and the romanticisation of rugged men in war. But that's not what this is. Instead, this novel paints a cast of painfully real and believable characters who are both complex and simple in their beliefs, desires, weaknesses and heroism. Maria, helpless and infinitely devout to the protagonist as she is, is at her core a fundamentally broken girl who has seen the worst of fascist monstrosity, her disposition being a natural reflection of her lived experience. An experience which by no means is absurd or invented; it is historical reality. Her lack of agency is more than compensated by Pilar, the headstrong and stubborn authority of the Guerilla band, and one of the most well-rounded female characters written by a man ever. The other Guerilleras bring the scenes of bonfire chats, tactical discussions, heated arguments to vivid detail; each of them a true-to-life painting of the complexities and contradictions of real human life.
This is a story of anti-fascist struggle. It takes no wishy-washy both-sides approach to the Spanish Civil War, but firmly and thankfully locates the moral authority with the Spanish Communists (including some funny digs at the Anarchists). Although I was amused by Hemingway's apparent compulsion to make the protagonist a WASP from Montana who was less than enthusiastic about planned economies. There is only so much American audiences were willing to indulge, it seems. The tale is cast into glum twilight from the beginning because readers will know that the Republic would eventually fall to Franco's barbarians. The military offensive that the plot centres around is therefore from the start the heartbreaking symbol of Spain's inevitable doom. Many people take issue with the book's ending. But I believe it represents the futility of the Communist tragedy as well as it possibly could have.
One could have easily mocked the pathos, the damsel-in-distress Maria character, and the romanticisation of rugged men in war. But that's not what this is. Instead, this novel paints a cast of painfully real and believable characters who are both complex and simple in their beliefs, desires, weaknesses and heroism. Maria, helpless and infinitely devout to the protagonist as she is, is at her core a fundamentally broken girl who has seen the worst of fascist monstrosity, her disposition being a natural reflection of her lived experience. An experience which by no means is absurd or invented; it is historical reality. Her lack of agency is more than compensated by Pilar, the headstrong and stubborn authority of the Guerilla band, and one of the most well-rounded female characters written by a man ever. The other Guerilleras bring the scenes of bonfire chats, tactical discussions, heated arguments to vivid detail; each of them a true-to-life painting of the complexities and contradictions of real human life.
This is a story of anti-fascist struggle. It takes no wishy-washy both-sides approach to the Spanish Civil War, but firmly and thankfully locates the moral authority with the Spanish Communists (including some funny digs at the Anarchists). Although I was amused by Hemingway's apparent compulsion to make the protagonist a WASP from Montana who was less than enthusiastic about planned economies. There is only so much American audiences were willing to indulge, it seems. The tale is cast into glum twilight from the beginning because readers will know that the Republic would eventually fall to Franco's barbarians. The military offensive that the plot centres around is therefore from the start the heartbreaking symbol of Spain's inevitable doom. Many people take issue with the book's ending. But I believe it represents the futility of the Communist tragedy as well as it possibly could have.