Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great novel, awful paperback!, 1 Sep 2005
I can say nothing new about the novel itself. It is a masterpiece, as thoroughly human as every one of its characters. It is a brilliant study of life and human emotions, and Hemingway's writing is exciting and astonishing if not a little intense at times. However I must express most strongly how bad the quality of this edition is. It is laden with misspellings, and the binding is truly atrocious - my copy fell apart under very little stress. I urge you to buy hardback or the Arrow edition.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hemingway at his thought provking best!, 25 Nov 2001
For Whom The Bell Tolls is a novel of incredible intensity and power. Although the prose is relatively simple (in typical Hemingway style), it belies a work of uncompromising power, which will stay in the mind long after the reader has reached it's electrifying conclusion. Here, Hemingway gives us a number of inter-woven ideas, each of which has been argued as being the central theme of the novel. On the one hand, we have a simple tale of the attempt by a group of partisans, over a four day period, to blow up a facist-held bridge. Wthin this, Hemingway also effectively develops a very moving love story between the central character, Robert Jordan, and Maria. The back-drop to all this is a thought provoking account of the brutality and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War. It is very much the combination of these three threads which make For Whom The Bell Tolls such a fine and captivating work. The characterisation is impressive throughout, and the reader cannot help but feel a gret sense of empathy and understanding for those caught up in this tale. As the novel surges to it's explosive finale, Hemingway succeeds in creating a number of very mixed emotions in the reader's mind. Indeed, these feelings are only intensified by the inevitable completion of the text. Hemingway may have had his critics, but this is a work that even his most ardent detractors cannot fail to be moved by. A relatively easy and certainly enjoyable introduction to the Hemingway style, this is a novel to be read, savoured, and returned to again and again. Be warned though, new readers might just find this to be the beginning of a lengthy and compulsive Heminway adventure. A true masterpiece.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deservedly a Classic, 26 Jul 2002
By A Customer
This is an entertaining book that has everything: military action, history/politics, memorable characters, a love story and a suspenseful plot. The characters are very true-to-life and it paints a vivid picture of what life was like for combatants in the Spanish Civil War. The love story is also extremely well done and moving. What makes it a classic, however, is the way it so effectively explores a number of profound themes including the futility of war and the significance of duty, honour, love and death. The writing style is also very interesting. The dialogue is provided in literal translations from Spanish, with Spanish sentence structures and formal words like "thou" to reflect the formal and informal usages in the Spanish language. This makes the dialogue feel very authentic, as if the characters were actually speaking Spanish. Hemingway is known for writing with simple language, but the description of the scenery and military action was very vivid. On the negative side, the first half of the book is quite slow. But the story really picks up at about the half-way point. Overall, this is a true classic that should not be missed.
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