Blog written by Lee
I chose this book due to my current obsession with Spain and having visited Ronda where the atrocity on the bridge took place, and having been shocked by a photo I saw in a restaurant there of a Republican supporter being dragged away by Nationalist soldiers possibly to his death.
This classic antiwar novel was enjoyed by all, surprisingly so as I wondered if Hemingway's literary style might seem dramatically out of date compared with the more contemporary works we generally read. Our group discussed it in the light of the history of the Spanish Civil War and in comparison with foreign fighters in current conflicts. Anselmo was singled out as the most appealing character and of course Pablo as the most despised. Pilar was much admired and her telling of various relationships allowed Hemingway to digress into Spanish culture and bull fighting in particular. His writing regarding the nature of fear as felt by the bull fighter and the participants and victims on both sides of the Civil War is deeply sympathetic and at odds with the machismo style we usually expect of Hemingway. Several of the group questioned what Robert Jordan's motives could be for signing up as a foreign fighter in the International Brigade and we discussed the influence of his father and grandfather in Roberto's decisions, one, becoming a fighter and then two, ending his life rather than being captured. We all enjoyed passages describing Roberto's day dreaming about what life could be and his imaginings of a life with Maria and discussed the impossibility of a future in those circumstances. Hemingway's machoism was viewed and noted to be rather out of place in 21st century literature, but as a Nobel Prize winner for Literature we all thought that that his canon is worth rediscovering.
Our rating for this classic novel averaged 8/10 with one member rating the poem by John Donne 10/10. We take the opportunity to quote the poem "No man is an island" below :
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Our next meeting is on Oct 20th Thursday at Melissa's and our book will be The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante.
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