For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway is my friend, Jeannette, favorite book, in the world. I can see why. It has something for everybody. It is a thriller because you don't know how it will end. It has romance. There's Robert Jordan and Maria's love affair. The reader learns history. Lastly, there's plenty of action. This is a war story.
The setting is the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is working for the Republican Army. He is assigned to blow up a bridge. That's the story of how the bridge is blown. Jordan is with the guerilla fighters. The guerillas have taken in, Maria, who was raped by the fascists. There's another woman in the group, Pilar. She's the wife of one of the guerilla's, but much more than that. She holds the group together. She has the most common sense, and she encourages everyone.
Hemmingway's diction is exact. The reader is involved. The novel was made into a movie. I understand that at first, the sex and violence raised a few eyebrows, but nowadays, that wouldn't be an objection. Today, it is considered a classic.
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