For Whom the Bell Tolls

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Reading Hemingway is almost always an exercise in masochism for the feminist reader, and For Whom the Bell Tolls is no exception, although this effect is somewhat lessened by the appearance of a female guerrilla leader. (Incidentally, I am just now noticing for the first time the guerr- root of guerrilla. Huh.)

Misogynism set aside, I found this an engrossing, but slow, read. I was fascinated with Hemingway's transliteration of Spanish speech patterns: "I obscenity in the milk of thy mother" being a recurrent, memorable example. It gives the book a dreamlike quality which helps reconcile the reader towards the characters' inexorable march towards disaster. At least, it did for me.