Genre Fiction
![Ernest Hemingway - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000APYVZU.jpg)
For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition
Presented by Hemingway's grandson Seán Hemingway, with a personal foreword by the author's son Patrick Hemingway, this new enhanced Library Edition of Ernest Hemingway's masterpiece about an American in the Spanish Civil War features early drafts and supplementary material, including three previously uncollected short stories on war by one of the greatest writers on the subject in history.
In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight," and one of the foremost classics of war literature in history.
Published in 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise.
"If the function of a writer is to reveal reality," Maxwell Perkins wrote Hemingway after reading the manuscript, "no one ever so completely performed it." Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author's previous works, For Whom the Bell Tolls tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. When it was first published, The New York Times called it "a tremendous piece of work," and it still stands today as one of the best war novels of all time.
In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight," and one of the foremost classics of war literature in history.
Published in 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise.
"If the function of a writer is to reveal reality," Maxwell Perkins wrote Hemingway after reading the manuscript, "no one ever so completely performed it." Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author's previous works, For Whom the Bell Tolls tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. When it was first published, The New York Times called it "a tremendous piece of work," and it still stands today as one of the best war novels of all time.
Editorial Reviews
"It's my favorite novel of all time. It instructed me to see the world as it is, with all its corruption and cruelty, and believe it's worth fighting for anyway, even dying for." -- John McCain
"A tremendous piece of work." ― The New York Times
"For Whom the Bell Tolls is 1) a great Hemingway love story; 2) a tense story of adventure in war; 3) a grave and sombre tragedy of Spanish peasants fighting for their lives." ― Time
"A tremendous piece of work." ― The New York Times
"For Whom the Bell Tolls is 1) a great Hemingway love story; 2) a tense story of adventure in war; 3) a grave and sombre tragedy of Spanish peasants fighting for their lives." ― Time
Readers Top Reviews
MC_SquaredDaniel She
The Hemingway Library Edition books are very high-quality, large-format hardbacks with good print and paper - often with extras such as photos and articles. They cost a bit more than others but the premium is worth it. When bought from Amazon, the dust covers are occasionally smudged for some strange reason - but I have always been able to remove the smudge with an eraser.
Garry S.
I enjoyed it found it an easy read. Study of the war constanly brought up this work so i read out of interest did not disapoint. Book arrived in good time and good condition
Pen NamedcJ. William
This is only about 1/4 of the novel by page length,making it more of a Cliff's Notes version. NOWHERE was that indicated on the page. I don't care about having paid for it, but I HATE that they stole the experience of reading it for the first time.
Kindle
I turned 70 last year and decided to catch up on some literature that I had somehow ignored in my youth. I did some research on Hemingway, and picked 3 titles to read: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and this one. In order to get the most out of each one, I purchased the Kindle versions of the Hemingway Library editions, which contain essays by Hemingway's son and grandson, as well as early versions, drafts, and rejected chapters that didn't make it into the final edition. I liked all 3 books, but found that Hemingway's great detail sometimes seemed excessive to me. Many of his scenes were indeed written so well that I could easily imagine being there; on the other hand, sometimes I just wanted him to get on with the story, already. TSAR was great for learning about bullfighting, but there was little else I could relate to. How in the world these American ex-pats managed to pay rent, dine out every meal, and drink the quantities of alcohol they did with a limited income is beyond comprehension for me. AFTA was a nice war story, with a kind of predictable end, but I did learn a lot about how foot soldiers related to officers when under fire. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a different kind of story, being much longer yet telling the details of just 3 days in the Spanish Civil War. It certainly got me interested in that conflict, and I have done a lot of further reading on a subject I knew almost nothing about. The bottom line, for me, is that I appreciate Hemingway's books but I wouldn't rank him as the best. Just as an example, I prefer James Michener's long and well-researched novels a bit more. I will say that Hemingway's actual life experience as material for his work is impressive. For more on that, I would highly recommend Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir, by A. E. Hotchner, a journalist and friend who traveled with Hemingway during his last 10 years. FWTBT was my favorite of the three that I read.
Terri Rice Welborn
All of the negative reviews seem to be for an older kindle version that may have been bad, but this hardcover edition is really wonderful. It is a beautiful printing that an avid Hemingway fan can be proud of. It has many features that you would not otherwise get such as author notes and a forward by Patrick Hemingway. I highly recommend.
