My boredom with For Whom the Bell Tolls didn't last long. I read for a long time yesterday and finished this morning. I'm still not sure if I "liked" the book, but I do feel like I read something important, something very good. The last 50-100 pages were surprisingly very intense too. I definitely think this is a much better book than Garden of Eden, which I read last summer and didn't like very much. Reading For Whom the Bell Tolls made me want to read A Farewell to Arms or read (actually I have listened to it on tape) The Sun Also Rises, so that I could make some kind of comparison.
Classics are supposed to be works that remain relevant, and this book is no exceptions. Passages like this one speak to today's world as much as it speaks about the Spanish Civil War: "To kill them teaches nothing...You cannot exterminate them because from their seed comes more with greater hatred. Prison is nothing. Prison only makes hatred." -- This statement explains why I am not the least bit surprised that so many ex-cons end up back in jail or that someone released from a place like Guantanamo would return to fight against America.
I don't generally read biographies, but I think I might like to read about Hemingway, especially his attitude toward war. I feel like this book shows that he was rather cynical about war. Of course, he was part of the "lost generation" so his disillusionment shouldn't come as a surprise to me. Still, I might like to read some of his letters or a good biography.
Okay, that's enough for tonight. I'm going to watch some TV now. Later.
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