Ernest Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls

Pros: Well written, tense and action packed.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Don't be put off by Hemingway, this is a great read.

Review: When a friend suggested I read this book I thought I had a fairly good idea of what to expect. I had never read any Hemingway before but I had seen some film adaptations of his novels and I knew enough about his life (the love of bullfighting, the...

Pros: solid plot, sparse writing style

Cons: sparse writing style, no characters to really care about

The Bottom Line: This book is not for everyone, although some may like it. I would never recommend it to my friends as a group, it's not my cup of tea.

Review: I've been trying to decide how exactly to write this opinion, because my view of this book is definitely not that of the majority. I did not like it. It got to the point of being a chore to get through, but I had told myself I was going to read this...

Pros: very realistic. Very entertaining.

Cons: the beginning moves very slowly

The Bottom Line: Love, War, Issues of trust.. what's not to like?

Review: This is a story about a young man on a mission. Sent alone to meet up with a bunch of "peasants"- resistance fighters in the Spanish Civil war.. They are taking on the superior force both in technology and in numbers, and things aren't looking too...

Pros: The prose.

Cons: Stasis. Conversation. Characters.

The Bottom Line: was there in front of a white rigid computer in a room with a dark hue with a glass by his side.

Review: "The mountainside sloped gently where he lay; but below it was steep and he could see the dark of the oiled road winding though the pass. There was a stream alongside the road and far down the pass he saw a mill beside the stream and the falling...

Pros: Some great, precise writing. Unmatched portrayal of reality. It almost feels like non-fiction.

Cons: A sometimes dull plot. Obscure allusions. Wordy and diffuse language for Hemingway.

The Bottom Line: I hesitantly recommend this book. If you're looking for an introduction to Hemingway, please choose something else. But if you're a Hemingway and literature veteran, you'll enjoy it.

Review: As a fanatic of Hemingway's short stories and novels, particularly "A Clean, well-lighted place," "The Old Man and the Sea," and "A Farewell to Arms," my expectations for this novel were high. While others criticize him as dull and sparse, I've...

Pros: Action, Human Interest, War, Love, Great Storytelling

Cons: What Cons?

Review: I approached reading the book "For whom the Bell Tolls" with some trepidation. Since I knew it is considered a classic, I wondered if it would be the type of classic that was a chore to read, like "Moby Dick", or a page-turning treat, like "Grapes...

Pros: good plot

Cons: a bit lengthy

Review: In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway shows what the title promises. The title is derived from a sermon by John Donne: ?No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent..And therefore never send to know for who the bell...

Pros: Superb prose, focused plot, and beautiful description

Cons: Somewhat long

The Bottom Line: Despite the length, For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of the greatest war novels and deserves a place on your shelf.

Review: When I first came upon Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, I was surprised how much of a better writer Hemingway had developed into as compared to his previous works, A Farewell To Arms and The Sun Also Rises.

His prose is the most...

Pros: a beautiful novel about war

Cons: kind of depressing

Review: Hemingway experienced the grime and blood of the Spanish Civil War through his gig as an ambulance driver. He takes his first-hand knowledge of the war and applies it neatly to FWTBT. In this story, an American, Robert Jordan, is assigned to blow up...

Pros: Great adventure story

Cons: Hemingway turns commercial

Review: "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was the first Hemingway I ever read. I was a high school kid in the early 1970s, working on my campus newspaper, newly graduated from Jack London but not yet ready for Jack Kerouac.
To my young eyes, it was a good...