For Whom The Bell Tolls

Robert Jordan's orders are simple enough. At least on the surface they are, though he has his share of misgivings about them. Jordan, an American demolition expert who is fighting with Spanish Republicans versus the Fascists in the vicious Spanish Civil War, is assigned to destroy a key bridge with the aid of a band of a partisan band. Sound simple enough? However, unprofessional allies, bad weather, worse infighting, a budding romance, the threat of betrayal, and a growing realization that his orders are impossible to fulfil all collide to greatly complicate Robert's task. Will Robert succeed in his mission? Or will his obstacles get the better of him?

Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, in addition to having a title that yours truly thinks is one of the coolest on the market, is one of the world's classic war novels and is widely considered Hemingway's best novel. I was particularly impressed with this novel's intense realism. Hemingway was a soldier in WWI and served as a war correspondent in the Spanish Civil War, so his portrayal of combat and partisan life behind enemy lines is authentic and gripping. (Warning: A few of the scenes describing brutal atrocities against civilians, though told through flashback, are a bit difficult to read. The chapter describing the liquidation of one town disturbed me profoundly. I thought my readings about Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia had made me hard to shock. I stand corrected.) The real treat for me, though, was the characters. Robert Jordan is not my favorite protagonist, but I do like how complex Hemingway makes him. He is practical and levelheaded, but a bit distant and isn't always sympathetic. Robert's personality quirks were refreshing, because they made him seem more real than the flawless hero of many books. The supporting cast is superb. Hemingway's Spanish guerrillas are so colorful that the come alive: the brutal, inscrutable guerrilla leader Pablo; his brash, willful wife Pilar; morally upright, noble guide Anselmo; foulmouthed, hotheaded Agustin. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I knew them all.

I enjoyed this book, but I thought the pacing was uneven. The first and last parts of the book focus on the complicated mission to destroy the bridge and were suspenseful and entertaining. The middle part, however, slows down to focus on Robert's romance with Maria, a traumatized young woman who the partisans rescued from the fascists. I thought the romance was overly simplistic and a bit too pat. I just couldn't buy the "I saw you and immediately decided to devote my life to you" aspect of their relationship. Part of my problem was that, despite the constant talk of how wonderful their relationship was, it seemed more like blatant lust than true love to me. Also, Maria struck me as being so bland, especially as compared to the other Spaniard characters, that I didn't find her that interesting. I didn't dislike her; on the contrary, I felt sorry for her, but she seemed one dimensional and didn't intrigue me. My only other problem (and this is an odd one) is the profanity. Hehe No, I don't mean that there is too much. In fact, there was too little of it, if that makes any sense. Hemingway, in order to make this novel more marketable, choose to use euphemisms in place of cursing, That didn't bother me, novels with really heavy cursing annoy me, but he also chose to use the word "obscenity" in place of cursing. This confused and distracted me, especially when it was used multiple times in one sentence! This caused me to stop and try to decipher what was being said, so it ended up just disrupting the reading experience. As long as language is not used gratuitously, I do not mind it and actually would have preferred it in this case, because it would have been easier to read.

Pacing and language aside, For Whom The Bell Tolls is a powerful war novel with an exciting story and compelling characters. I have always been fascinated by Spain, but I am not as familiar with the Spanish Civil War as I should be. (Most of my knowledge is about foreign involvement in the war, rather than the actual conflict itself.) Hemingway's realistic, well-crafted book intrigued me and made me want to learn more.

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Announcement: I loved posting three times a week during my winter break, but, alas, I returned to school this week. I like school, but this means that I can only post once a week now. (Waaa!) I will continue to use Wednesdays as my day to post reviews, as I did last semester. (My apologies for being late! Life has been crazy lately.) Unlike last semester, my reviews will be posted in the afternoon or evening, rather than the morning. Thanks to all of you for reading! I will try to continue to give you at least one post a week while I am in school. The good thing is I am taking World Lit. II with my amazing professor, so I should get to blog on some of my assigned reading.

Next Week: I will try my best to review Terry Pratchett's Guards, Guards! I have fallen in love with Discworld and am looking forward to blogging about this combo of humorous fantasy and crime.

Persuasion

I love Jane Austen's novels. I'm not too picky about writers: I love writers who tell great stories (even if their writing style doesn't raise pulses); I love writers who create amazing characters (even if their plots are a touch dull); I love writers who have distinctive styles (even if nothing happens in their books); I love writers who can transport me to another time and place (even if their plots and characters a bit predictable). What I love about Jane Austen is she is capable of doing all of the above. Her novels all tell great stories, feature amazing characters, display her distinctive style, and transport me to Regency-era England. Her final complete novel, Persuasion, is no exception.

Anne Elliot still rues the day she refused to marry the dashing Captain Wentworth. Her wealthy family deemed him "not good enough" for an Elliot. Eight years later, the Elliots are on the decline, Wentworth is a wealthy man, and Anne is still single, convinced that no man but Wentworth would satisfy her. But Wentworth has neither forgotten nor forgiven Anne. He's set his sights on her one of her sister's husband's sisters, and he barely even acknowledges Anne. Will Anne be able to win back Captain Wentworth? Will her family finally stop snubbing Wentworth? Will Wentworth see that Anne is far superior to that dreadful Louisa?

With Jane Austen novels, one always knows the books will end happily. The suspense and appeal comes from finding out how Austen's characters overcome the often insurmountable obstacles to their happiness. Persuasion features Austen's knack for weaving tangled webs for her characters. This novel also fully displays Austen's signature elegant, witty style, and her knack for lushly describing the social mores and manners of her day and time. One reason I enjoyed this book, though, is that Austen broke with her traditional stories in this one. Instead of describing the wooing of a teen-aged heiress to a man who is of greater or equal social position, Persuasion tells of the second romance between the nearly thirty year old Anne and a man who is most certainly her social inferior.

If you're a Jane Austen fan, you'll love how Jane tweaks with her own formula, but still manages to be, well, Jane Austen. If you're not a Jane Austen fan (is there such a thing?), try Persuasion. It's less typical than her other works, so you may enjoy it.

The Scarlet Letter

Hester Prynne is a Puritan woman who has an illegitimate child while her husband (who is assumed dead) is nowhere to be found. Hester refuses to reveal the identity of the child's father and is condemned to wear a large scarlet A (for adultery) for the rest of her life. Her ultra-creepy husband, Roger Chillingsworth, soon arrives from Europe and is furious. He tells Hester to tell no one that he is her husband and then attempts to learn the identity of her lover. Roger is determined to torment this man once he finds him. He soon befriends the fragile minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, who is nursing a secret shame. Scandalous Puritans!

When I picked up Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, I knew the plot basics but little else. I must confess that I had mixed feelings about this book before I read it. On one hand, I was expecting lots of mushy romance, of which I'm not a big fan. On the other hand, I was also expecting a lot of shame and misery, which, sad to say, I kind of enjoy in literature. By the time I finished reading this novel, I realized that there was lots of the agony I expected but not really any of the tender sentiments I've come to expect in tales of forbidden love. However, this book is more than just pious Pilgrims writhing in an internal hell. The Scarlet Letter is a very intense psychological novel that I found quite compelling.

I especially enjoyed the way Hawthorne contrasted his three main characters. Hester, suffering from public shame, comes to accept her fate and is ultimately better for it. Arthur, tormented with secret guilt, is nearly driven insane due to his personal conflicts. Roger, consumed with bitter revenge, succumbs to evil. I enjoyed following these characters' changes, even though I found the spineless Arthur a difficult character to sympathize with. I thought Roger was a very creepy villain. I'll put it this way: If holding grudges were a team sport, Roger would be my first round pick. The Scarlet Letter is also well-paced. The opening scene of Hester's public shaming grabbed my attention and many of the confrontation scenes scenes (especially the final one) were very dramatic. Hawthorne's style was another big plus for me. Although he's obviously a 19th century writer, his narration is not daunting like so many other authors from this time period. You doesn't have to be an English major to follow the story.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, classics, or intense psychological novels. And anyone who has ever been humiliated in public, nursed a shameful secret, or been obsessed with getting even will relate to these characters (even if you do dislike them.)