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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica
Make his fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, for they're right, yes, but who's to say?
For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Take a look to the sky just before you die
It's the last time you will
Blackened roar, massive roar, fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery
He hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Make his fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, for they're right, yes, but who's to say?
For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Take a look to the sky just before you die
It's the last time you will
Blackened roar, massive roar, fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery
He hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for, and I hate very much to leave it..."
It's the Spanish civil war. There's guerilla fighters in the mountains trying to blow up a bridge. They talk, get drunk, have sex, fall in love, fight, talk about the war, die. Truly, humans can be so cruel to one another.
It's the Spanish civil war. There's guerilla fighters in the mountains trying to blow up a bridge. They talk, get drunk, have sex, fall in love, fight, talk about the war, die. Truly, humans can be so cruel to one another.
This was in equal parts astonishing and frustrating. Pilar was real. Maria felt imagined. But when Jordan said his last words to Maria, it felt entirely earned, and as much as I wanted more from Maria as an individual, I also wanted more from Jordan. The characters around them were realer than real life. They bled off the pages and will be stuck in my soul forever, Pilar in particular. But Maria and Jordan came off more as ideas, some masculine ideal of partnership and manhood and womanhood, than they did as people. I would argue that in any way Maria fell flat as a character, so did Jordan. Jordan dying was more than Jordan dying, the assault on Maria was an assault on more than her herself, their love-making made the earth “move,” was so perfect that for a moment it defied any human limitations. Jordan represents what a mind goes through when it lives and dies; Maria is then what the mind leaves behind, how it imprints itself on another mind, another heart, and survives lodged there like a scarred-over lion’s tooth.
Of course Hemingway grounds his representation of the human mind in a male figure… which is both a limitation on Hemingway’s part as he tries to represent female sexuality, AND strength, in that he knows what he knows and does not know and paints the world as real as he can see it. Jordan’s limitations are apparent—Jordan knows them, Hemingway knows them, and the reader of course is a party to them, specifically when it comes to Pilar. Jordan feels an immediate kinship to her, they understand each other; but he is nevertheless puzzled in how she treats Maria. Is Pilar a pimp, a mother, a warrior-guardian? She confuses Jordan as much as he appreciates her. When she waves her ladle, is it authority she has, or a proximity to patriarchal power in her manliness… in her “ugliness?” And what does that say about Jordan? About men? About war? Hemingway succeeds with Pilar in that she is both very real and deeply symbolic; I would argue he fails with Jordan and Maria, in that they both fall flat as characters but ring true as expressions of the human spirit.
And yet they’re very real to me. I loved this book in all its failings because of how fearless it was in its discussion of suicide. Jordan feels a deep shame about his father’s decision; yet he is confronted with the horror (and peace) that he had consigned himself to the same fate as a participant in war, as a participant in life itself. You put your life on the line every day. Doesn’t matter how you do it, you do, and you achieve something. You blow up a bridge. You don’t blow up a bridge. It’s all the same, and it’s maudlin, but El Sordo got his kill in the end, or maybe he didn’t, but they lived and that’s triumph enough, right? You choose your death no matter how long you avoid it—because you’re a part of this violent world, you are a part of what kills you. There’s no avoiding it.
Of course Hemingway grounds his representation of the human mind in a male figure… which is both a limitation on Hemingway’s part as he tries to represent female sexuality, AND strength, in that he knows what he knows and does not know and paints the world as real as he can see it. Jordan’s limitations are apparent—Jordan knows them, Hemingway knows them, and the reader of course is a party to them, specifically when it comes to Pilar. Jordan feels an immediate kinship to her, they understand each other; but he is nevertheless puzzled in how she treats Maria. Is Pilar a pimp, a mother, a warrior-guardian? She confuses Jordan as much as he appreciates her. When she waves her ladle, is it authority she has, or a proximity to patriarchal power in her manliness… in her “ugliness?” And what does that say about Jordan? About men? About war? Hemingway succeeds with Pilar in that she is both very real and deeply symbolic; I would argue he fails with Jordan and Maria, in that they both fall flat as characters but ring true as expressions of the human spirit.
And yet they’re very real to me. I loved this book in all its failings because of how fearless it was in its discussion of suicide. Jordan feels a deep shame about his father’s decision; yet he is confronted with the horror (and peace) that he had consigned himself to the same fate as a participant in war, as a participant in life itself. You put your life on the line every day. Doesn’t matter how you do it, you do, and you achieve something. You blow up a bridge. You don’t blow up a bridge. It’s all the same, and it’s maudlin, but El Sordo got his kill in the end, or maybe he didn’t, but they lived and that’s triumph enough, right? You choose your death no matter how long you avoid it—because you’re a part of this violent world, you are a part of what kills you. There’s no avoiding it.
I recently read Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms & enjoyed it. This book has been noted as his best & has won much acclaim. I decided to try it next.
When you were in school, did you ever have 2 similar assignments, so just tweaked a paper to fit both assignments (or am I the only one who ever did this??)? That's how I felt Robert Jordan's relationship with Maria was, compared to Frederic Henry's relationship with Catherine at the beginning.
I must admit, I am disappointed by the shallowness of the relationships for the majority of the book; it felt like high school & junior high relationships. Jordan's relationship with Maria felt over-romanticized & shallow beyond the nightly sex.
The end of the book was a bit better, with a little more depth of character for Robert Jordan & some autobiographical allusions, but the book left me wanting. I'm very glad I read A Farewell to Arms before this.
When you were in school, did you ever have 2 similar assignments, so just tweaked a paper to fit both assignments (or am I the only one who ever did this??)? That's how I felt Robert Jordan's relationship with Maria was, compared to Frederic Henry's relationship with Catherine at the beginning.
I must admit, I am disappointed by the shallowness of the relationships for the majority of the book; it felt like high school & junior high relationships. Jordan's relationship with Maria felt over-romanticized & shallow beyond the nightly sex.
The end of the book was a bit better, with a little more depth of character for Robert Jordan & some autobiographical allusions, but the book left me wanting. I'm very glad I read A Farewell to Arms before this.
Dnf @ 50% because jesus fuck this book was stupid
I did enjoy some parts of it at the beginning but i'm "giving up" because I feel like this book as nothing more to offer.
To say the prose is dry would be an understatement; The main Character is completely utterly boring and honestly quite boring; the book is 450p long of an American man going to blow up a bridge with bad flashbacks of boring shit in the main characters past life (and before you think oh this is just a slow book. No, this isn't a slow book this is a pointless book that makes the Spanish civil war feel like the most ridiculous, boring war in history); Maria was one of the worst developed characters I have ever seen and also, Hemingway, darling, this is not how you describe/ talk about rape also that made her character make no sense. Also she talked like she was a child?? I'm so confused by Maria. Her character just.. didn't make sense. It was just there so the main character could think abt boobs let's be honest.
The only good character here was Pilar, in my opinion. At least the woman had something to say of use. Also SHE was a good storyteller.
So:
If you want to read Hemingway- read something else.
If you want to read about the Spanish Civil War, read something else (preferably a book with a main character that isn't American and Boring)
I did enjoy some parts of it at the beginning but i'm "giving up" because I feel like this book as nothing more to offer.
To say the prose is dry would be an understatement; The main Character is completely utterly boring and honestly quite boring; the book is 450p long of an American man going to blow up a bridge with bad flashbacks of boring shit in the main characters past life (and before you think oh this is just a slow book. No, this isn't a slow book this is a pointless book that makes the Spanish civil war feel like the most ridiculous, boring war in history); Maria was one of the worst developed characters I have ever seen and also, Hemingway, darling, this is not how you describe/ talk about rape also that made her character make no sense. Also she talked like she was a child?? I'm so confused by Maria. Her character just.. didn't make sense. It was just there so the main character could think abt boobs let's be honest.
The only good character here was Pilar, in my opinion. At least the woman had something to say of use. Also SHE was a good storyteller.
So:
If you want to read Hemingway- read something else.
If you want to read about the Spanish Civil War, read something else (preferably a book with a main character that isn't American and Boring)
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated