It took me about 2 months to read Hemingway’s “Classic” novel, For Whom The Bell Tolls. On the real, I don’t like most of the classics I have read. There’s nothing inherently wrong with For Whom The Bell Tolls, I still found it boring and difficult to read.
I often wonder about the books kids are forced to read in school. I appreciate that certain books from yesteryear are good to read. I remember really liking All Quiet on the Western Front. I even think you should read stuff you don’t like, so I painstakingly fought through this Hemingway novel, 5-10 pages at a time.
For Whom The Bell Tolls is 435 pages (the version I have) of tiny font verbosity. I still think it’s worth the exercise of finishing a few classic novels here and there, but I can tell you one thing, this may be a trash way to make kids excited for reading. This kind of reading exists for English Literature students in my opinion. Let the kids read some lit shit instead.
Once they are excited for reading, drop some classic history on them.
The problem is how he writes
This is entirely a subjective style problem. I don’t like the tone he takes. The way he pivots point of view out of nowhere mid paragraph was frustrating. The dialogue or thoughts expressed blended into a hodgepodge of rantyness. I can see how someone else would read the same book and think it is the definition of perfection.
A big problem with the classics is that as time goes on the language used in the books becomes dated. You literally have to adjust to words like “thou” in this one. Throughout my entire life no one has used that level of old timey English. I get that people may have spoken like that more commonly in Hemingway’s day. Maybe our grandparents grew up with that diction and they were comfortable reading it. Personally it feels like extra effort to have to figure out this 1940s version of waxing poetic English.
The plot of the novel is fine. I can see how it’d make a good movie. He also does a good job expressing how complicated the burden of killing is. Given the second world war was underway when it was published, this was a relevant and interesting psychological breakdown of managing the guilt and emotions attached to killing people, righteous or otherwise.
I’m cognizant that the main beef I have with this book is how he chose to tell the story. I often find myself bored reading classic literature that was heralded as amazing bamboozled at why people felt that way. I still try them now and again, but they never capture my imagination. I find more recent novels, using language I hear and encounter in my actual life, more compelling. They may not be classics yet, but they certainly are better gateways to reading in my opinion.
I also have a childish pallet when it comes to food. Good thing I’m a writer and not a critic.
At least For Whom The Bell Tolls has a valid message
The whole book takes place over a few days building up to a military operation. Hemingway also explores why so many people left babies overseas during war time. You show up, meet some exotic lady and the intensified circumstance leads to sex. There is a battle in 3 days and you fall in love, managing an entire relationship with the knowledge you may not be alive later on this week. I can see how people forgot about whatever loves they had back home.
I’m focusing on all the wrong things, but the point of the book is to take a carpe diem approach to the time you have now. It is precious and you should use what you have. Even though as I write this I feel sick and want to lie in bed. Sometimes focusing on your health and giving up a couple of nights of work is worth it. It’s a blessing I can afford to do that.
It also does a lot to explore the toll that war takes on a person’s mind. Whether it be Pablo embracing the dark side while galvanizing villagers to kill invaders, then burying his pain in booze. Or even Anselmo’s guilt during the climactic battle at the end. While these soldiers had a job to do, it came with a cost. Back in the days when PTSD was just shell shock, I am sure people didn’t really understand what was happening in the minds of veterans.
Arguably Hemingway’s book holds up. Unlike the absolute trash that is To Kill a Mockingbird. That book is good for white guilt appeasement. I may never make a blog on the topic because of how little I want to read To Kill a Mockingbird again, but I’d watch a For Whom the Bell Tolls movie, or TV series.
It felt like Hemingway was writing this to be a story told orally. I want to give the book its flowers for approaching the subject matter from interesting angles.
The classic works of fiction maybe aren’t for me
I specify fiction because I’ve read some old non-fiction. I even enjoyed reading Wealth of Nations when it was done (the middle was a grind). I find the non-fiction authors of the past, while sometimes boring, were bent on a mission of explanation. I can manage a boring book a lot more when I’m learning something new.
While Hemingway’s book adds flavour and context to several base human emotions, and he does it well, it’s still a very aesthetic piece. You need to enjoy what he is doing to appreciate it properly. A psychological exploration into the research surrounding the cost of death on a soul may capture my attention more.
Occasionally I’ll dabble into modern fiction. The lady who wrote “The Power” created something compelling for me to read. I related more to the themes of power, dystopian futures and feminism. Whereas with Hemingway it felt like learning what my great grandparents were like. It’s interesting in a super roundabout way, and I’m not regretful of the experience, however it’s not fun either.
I read Crime & Punishment and while I liked it more, it was still a chore to get through. Maybe I haven’t found a genre of classical fiction that speaks to me, but I can blitz through modern biographies or other non-fiction works. Absorbing all the info as I go.
I don’t read for entertainment value. It’s a chore to me akin to working out or cleaning. I need to read at least 15 minutes a day or I won’t process enough words to keep my brain sharp. Ideally I can get a solid 30 minutes in. I used to read more, but then I went ahead and added this daily blog to my life.
I’m sure many people like the classics. I think it’d be better for getting new people into reading to focus on newer books moving forward.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone