For Whom The Bell Tolls

The hardcover copy of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from a library sale

had sat on the shelf many years before I picked it up last week. This has

been my way with the classics: I try and give up only to come back to them later

with renewed interest. So there's hope that I might finally get to Shakespeare.

It says about myself, I guess, and might also typifies a kind of progress.

 

Robert Jordan, a Spanish professor at the University of Montana, took a leave to

fight the fascists in Spain. A dynamiter, he was to blow up a bridge behind the

enemy line at the get-go of a major attack in three days. He turned to a

guerrilla band in the nearby mountains, marshaled the team despite of its

disillusioned drunkard leader, reported back on enemy maneuvers, and when the

time came, successfully carried out his mission. Moving out with the survivors

of the band, however, Jordan was injured at the hip, said goodbye to his love,

and was left to face the pursuing enemies and his certain death.

 

I was glad the end was short.

 

I loved the style. Without an overflow of rare words, familiar words with rare

meanings, or idiomatic devices, the clarity and elegance of the prose shine

through and the landcapes and characters stand out in 507 pages of clean

writing. For example, Hemingway would say simply "full lips" instead of

"bee-stung lips," which some modern writers seem to prefer. His "A Farewell to

Arms" spoke to me even in college. Here are two passages of Jordan's soliloquy

for a taste:

    They trusted you on the language, principally. They trusted you on

    understanding the language completely and speaking it idiomatically and

    having a knowledge of the different places. A Spaniard was only really loyal

    to his village in the end. First Spain of course, then his own tribe, then

    his province, then his village, his family and finally his trade. If you

    knew Spanish he was prejudiced in your favor, if you knew his province it

    was that much better, but if you knew his village and his trade you were in

    as far as any foreigner ever could be. He never felt like a foreigner in

    Spanish and they did not really treat him like a foreigner most of the time;

    only they turned on you.

    

    Of course they turned on you. They turned on you often but they always

    turned on every one. They turned on themselves, too. If you had three

    together, two would unite against one and then the two would start to betray

    each other. Not always, but often enough for you to take enough cases and

    start to draw it as a conclusion.

 

As the book is mine, I get to return to it as often as I like.

[7grizzly]

回複 '暖冬cool夏' 的評論 : Thanks, my friend, for reading and your comments.

I'm planning to read more Hemingway. But I love Shakespeare, if only for the many idiomatic expressions he created. I recite passages from Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice and even the not so well-known ones sound good, e.g., "He was wont to call me a usurer, let him look to his bond."

[暖冬cool夏]

"the clarity and elegance of the prose shine through"-- I like an easy read novel too, never Shakespeare:) High school students here however, like my daughter, would usually be asked to read a book or two of Shakespeare, but I don't think they understood.