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US Mall 1 - For Whom the Bell Tolls
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List Price: $25.70
Our Price: $25.70
Your Save: $ ( % )
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
Manufacturer: Topeka Bindery
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: School & Library Binding
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780881036275
ISBN: 0881036277
Label: Topeka Bindery
Manufacturer: Topeka Bindery
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1999-10
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Reading Level: Young Adult
Studio: Topeka Bindery
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Vivid portrayal of the morals of people involved in war
Comment: Note that this review is for the audio book version of this novel. The narrator was Campell Scott. The audio quality was excellent and the narrator did a good job; he spoke with a slight Spanish accent, which seemed to fit well with the narrative. He did some characterizations with his voice, but not much compared to other narrators I've listened to.
This is the second time that I have read this novel; the first time was over 30 years ago in high school. It's amazing to me how differently I looked at this book this time around. The first time I read it; I saw it as an adventure story with some interesting character development. The second time around I read it as a fascinating look at how war brings out the best and worst in people.
I feel that Hemingway accurately captured how certain people would act in a civil war; the cruelty by some and acts of courage by others. In all cases, the characters were in a situation where there were no great options. He also accurately showed that there are good people on both sides of a conflict; that soldiers do suffer by taking the lives of others.
As a Spanish speaker; I enjoyed Hemingway's use of language. Most of the unique use of English is actually a direct literal translation of Spanish. I hadn't heard the phrases directly translated that way before, but immediately recognized them as common Spanish slang.
This is a book worth reading; you will learn that life is not always black and white.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Moments of perfection
Comment: As a huge fan of The Old Man and the Sea, I was very excited about reading this novel. I was therfore surprised to find that parts of this book I struggled through and found slow moving.
In particular, the love story between Robert and Maria did nothing to move me, finding Maria not so much the tragic heroin, but a woman so obsessed with the happiness of her lover that her personality is lossed in a need to please. So much so for me, that I found it difficult to understand why Robert would fall so madly in love with her.
Characters such as Pilar who show a more outspoken independence were more appealing to me. Pilar's description of the revolution of the small town coordinated by Pablo was a magic moment in the book. This narrative was the kind of writing I was expecting and was dissapointed that this was for me the highest part of the book, and so early in the novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it as a great read, it just didn't quite live up to the expectations i had assigned to it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Historical Novel's I've Read...
Comment: Yes, I said "historical novel," because, even in H.'s day, history passed by very quickly. It's this novel A Farewell to Aarms, and The Old Man and the Sea that, for me, are the real crown jewels of Hemingway's output. Even if you're just interested in the historical aspect of the The Spanish Civil War, you'll get much out of this work. There isn't much more I can add that hasn't already been said.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Slow, but good and artful
Comment: The author's style is strong and detailed, but with so little happening over so many pages, I found myself becoming impatient with the story. Perhaps just a sign of the times and my own personal taste, I put the book down after reading only half of it. In reflection, the characters, the settings and the building of the story line are all quite beautiful as a whole, but the pace was just too stretched out for me to endure. Perhaps I'll pick it up again sometime.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Typical Hemingway
Comment: This is my third experience with Hemingway, and while I fully expect to complete the entire Hemingway collection, I can't quite find it within myself to award five stars to any of the works I've read to date.
In each of the novels (The Sun Also Rises and Farewell to Arms being the other two) I've been entranced at times by the hauntingly beautiful writing, however there have been periods where the story drags, where the almost stream of consciousness style grinds the action to a halt. Not long enough to kill the story, but enough to impact the overall reading experience.
This novel is set in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, the idealogical precursor to the Fascist/Communist clash soon to come on the Eastern Front of World War II. The story primarily involves American Spanish professor and converted Republican partisan, Robert Jordan and the 72 hours he spends with an anti-fascist partisan force in the hours preceding a Republican offensive.
The characters crafted by Hemingway are fascinating, most specifically the partisan leaders Pablo and Pilar. The interaction between the rebels and with Jordan are spellbinding. The character of Pilar is especially haunting and her story of the execution of the fascists (a/k/a prominent citizens) in her small Spanish village is some of the best and most captivating writing I've ever read.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, this 470 page novel is about 100 pages too long, as it is interspersed with periods of inaction, punctuated by stream of consciousness meanderings, which admittedly many may find enjoyable.
Some may find the style of language irritating (Thee, Thou, Thy mother, etc.) but I found this to be a minor issue. More problematic to me is what I can only guess is the censorship (either self censorship in light of the times or editorial censorship) whereby all instances of profanity or coarse language is omitted and replaced by bizarre alternatives. For example, these beauties from the mouth of Pablo, "I obscenity in the milk of all," and "Go and obscenity thyself." I find it hard to believe that Hemingway actually wrote this, and if not (or even if he did), these bizarre omissions cannot be rectified.
Despite these minor complaints, this is an extremely educational piece of work, both from the standpoint of literature and for the insight it provides for an extremely important and interesting period of world history. Highly recommended.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Vivid portrayal of the morals of people involved in war
Comment: Note that this review is for the audio book version of this novel. The narrator was Campell Scott. The audio quality was excellent and the narrator did a good job; he spoke with a slight Spanish accent, which seemed to fit well with the narrative. He did some characterizations with his voice, but not much compared to other narrators I've listened to.
This is the second time that I have read this novel; the first time was over 30 years ago in high school. It's amazing to me how differently I looked at this book this time around. The first time I read it; I saw it as an adventure story with some interesting character development. The second time around I read it as a fascinating look at how war brings out the best and worst in people.
I feel that Hemingway accurately captured how certain people would act in a civil war; the cruelty by some and acts of courage by others. In all cases, the characters were in a situation where there were no great options. He also accurately showed that there are good people on both sides of a conflict; that soldiers do suffer by taking the lives of others.
As a Spanish speaker; I enjoyed Hemingway's use of language. Most of the unique use of English is actually a direct literal translation of Spanish. I hadn't heard the phrases directly translated that way before, but immediately recognized them as common Spanish slang.
This is a book worth reading; you will learn that life is not always black and white.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Moments of perfection
Comment: As a huge fan of The Old Man and the Sea, I was very excited about reading this novel. I was therfore surprised to find that parts of this book I struggled through and found slow moving.
In particular, the love story between Robert and Maria did nothing to move me, finding Maria not so much the tragic heroin, but a woman so obsessed with the happiness of her lover that her personality is lossed in a need to please. So much so for me, that I found it difficult to understand why Robert would fall so madly in love with her.
Characters such as Pilar who show a more outspoken independence were more appealing to me. Pilar's description of the revolution of the small town coordinated by Pablo was a magic moment in the book. This narrative was the kind of writing I was expecting and was dissapointed that this was for me the highest part of the book, and so early in the novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it as a great read, it just didn't quite live up to the expectations i had assigned to it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Historical Novel's I've Read...
Comment: Yes, I said "historical novel," because, even in H.'s day, history passed by very quickly. It's this novel A Farewell to Aarms, and The Old Man and the Sea that, for me, are the real crown jewels of Hemingway's output. Even if you're just interested in the historical aspect of the The Spanish Civil War, you'll get much out of this work. There isn't much more I can add that hasn't already been said.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Slow, but good and artful
Comment: The author's style is strong and detailed, but with so little happening over so many pages, I found myself becoming impatient with the story. Perhaps just a sign of the times and my own personal taste, I put the book down after reading only half of it. In reflection, the characters, the settings and the building of the story line are all quite beautiful as a whole, but the pace was just too stretched out for me to endure. Perhaps I'll pick it up again sometime.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Typical Hemingway
Comment: This is my third experience with Hemingway, and while I fully expect to complete the entire Hemingway collection, I can't quite find it within myself to award five stars to any of the works I've read to date.
In each of the novels (The Sun Also Rises and Farewell to Arms being the other two) I've been entranced at times by the hauntingly beautiful writing, however there have been periods where the story drags, where the almost stream of consciousness style grinds the action to a halt. Not long enough to kill the story, but enough to impact the overall reading experience.
This novel is set in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, the idealogical precursor to the Fascist/Communist clash soon to come on the Eastern Front of World War II. The story primarily involves American Spanish professor and converted Republican partisan, Robert Jordan and the 72 hours he spends with an anti-fascist partisan force in the hours preceding a Republican offensive.
The characters crafted by Hemingway are fascinating, most specifically the partisan leaders Pablo and Pilar. The interaction between the rebels and with Jordan are spellbinding. The character of Pilar is especially haunting and her story of the execution of the fascists (a/k/a prominent citizens) in her small Spanish village is some of the best and most captivating writing I've ever read.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, this 470 page novel is about 100 pages too long, as it is interspersed with periods of inaction, punctuated by stream of consciousness meanderings, which admittedly many may find enjoyable.
Some may find the style of language irritating (Thee, Thou, Thy mother, etc.) but I found this to be a minor issue. More problematic to me is what I can only guess is the censorship (either self censorship in light of the times or editorial censorship) whereby all instances of profanity or coarse language is omitted and replaced by bizarre alternatives. For example, these beauties from the mouth of Pablo, "I obscenity in the milk of all," and "Go and obscenity thyself." I find it hard to believe that Hemingway actually wrote this, and if not (or even if he did), these bizarre omissions cannot be rectified.
Despite these minor complaints, this is an extremely educational piece of work, both from the standpoint of literature and for the insight it provides for an extremely important and interesting period of world history. Highly recommended.
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