My copy of the book did not have a list of chapters at the front, but I see there are forty-two. That means I will have to read two a day to finish it this month :-/
I have only read two chapters, but it reminds me of those 60's and 70's WW2 stories like the Dirty Dozen or The Guns of Navarone in which a select group of specially talented fighters are sent on a suicide mission behind enemy lines. I will be interested to see if it turns out like that.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
I thought the insertion of words like "unprintable" for the swear words uttered by Agustin in chapter 3 was rather pathetic. It would have been better to print the first letter and the correct number of asterisks, or to leave out the swearing altogether if it was not possible to write swear words at the time the book was published.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
Though it can be a bit annoying, in a way I can see the use of the substituting swear words with "unprintable" as being a way of keeping the integrity of it intending to appear as if this work is being translated from Spanish. Though it can be awkward in reading, it is a way of suggesting that such words were omitted from the text.Originally Posted by kev67
To leave the words out altogether would perhaps not do full justice to the characters or give a false impression as most likely realistically such individuals no doubt would have swore quite freely.
I see it as being almost a sort of protest or snub at the publishers, because he is not trying to hide the fact that he is using swear words but quite bluntly stating he was being censored from doing so.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
How Hemingway portrays woman was brutal.
Might be a lot better. Brutal from Brutus. A lot better than Caesar.
I was a bit puzzled by Robert Jordan's physiological reaction when he had thoughts about young ladies. His throat swelled. I think this must be code for something else that was swelling.
This book is somehow not what I was expecting.
Last edited by kev67; 07-15-2013 at 02:36 PM.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
I wonder whether Hemmingway influenced a lot of later war films. In many of those classic 50s, 60s and 70s war films, the first half of the film would be scene setting, establishing the characters, resolving difficulties, outlining the mission and training. In the second half, the action would finally get under way. It's a bit like that in this book, except there is no training and the fighters are irregulars, not servicemen. I am hundred pages in and they are still all talking around the cave.
It reminds me of a book called Trapp's War by Brian Callison, which I read when I was a teenager, but I have not read many books of this type.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
The wonderful thing about this novel (and Farewell To Arms in the same way - is that they are not war books. They are set during the war, explicitly on the frontlines - but it is about the people and the interactions. Hemingway was a medic in WWI and a reporter in the Spanish Civil War: this is what he is drawing on. For Whom The Bell Tolls is the story a group of people, not the struggle itself.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
Very good estimate. True.
Chapter 10 was a departure from what I was expecting. It now no longer reminds me The Guns of Naverone, and I have changed sides to the Fascists.
Last edited by kev67; 07-15-2013 at 08:24 AM.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
Maria starts to get really annoying around this point. Certainly not the most likeable female character created.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
I have only read the first 3 chapters yet but wondering why Robert Jordan is continuously referred to with his full name while all the other with their first names.
Any thoughts?
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
It sounds cooler than just Robert?
I think it helps designate Robert Jordan as a higher class than the rebels.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
I have to admit I actually like Maria. I guess in my own way I feel like I can understand her. I rather enjoy the scenes of her and Robert Jordan together.
I have to say I thought one of the most poignant moments in the book was when Anselmo reflects upon his regrets about having to kill and sees to try and find absolution. It is in Chapter 15 I think.
I thought it was quite a chilling sign of the times (and war time in general) when he makes the statement "All that I am sorry for is the killing. But surely there will be an opportunity to atone for that because for a sin of that sort that so many bear, certainly some just relief will be devised."
An act that is normally considered to be one of the most heinous things a person can do, is regulated to something so common place.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Yes I think this might be true, as the others also make jokes about him being Don Robeto.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
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