Ernest Hemingway - For Whom the Bell Tolls

"If you want to read an award-winning author's works, do not read this edition. It is censored to remove the profanity by usning the words 'unprintable' repeatedly. Very insulting to any reader. If young people can't handle such vocabulary, they should stick with 'The Adventures of Barney.'"


"Did this guy not have an editor?"


"I just cannot wrap my arms around Hemmingway's style."


"Of course, 'learned' professors never want to admit that 'classics' like The Old Man and the Sea are really poorly written, or that the 'classical'-looking language ('thee', 'thou', 'wouldest') is really just flat, decorative writing that actually distances the author from his readers, from the characters, from their saying anything with any real flow or rhythm, and from making any direct statement at all. In short, it's a cop-out."


"I am sorry that one of the first exposures to sex in a novel was a novel by Ernest Hemingway. Gross."


"His love for strange settings and depressing story lines reflects how far into the bottle he had crawled. If I want to listen to the drunken ramblings of a person with advanced brain damage from alcohol I can call my grandmother."


"I read half of the book and then still was bored as after the first few pages, so I decided to not stop liking the beautiful places of our planet that Hemingway seems to have all visited before me but to stop reading Hemingway."


"The war hadn’t been going on for very long at the start of the book, so she wasn’t in the fascist camp for over a year I’d say. Even at 17, even being abused in a fascist camp for a year couldn’t make someone completely lose all sense of self."


"Ugh! I HATED this book!!!! Story had a BAD ending, and furthermore, the gal and girl went WAY too far---and the first night too!"


"It is my earnest belief that Hem ought to have titled this novel, For Whom the Book Bores."


"I put it down because I'm in my 30's, not in High School and don't have to read books just because they are classics."


"The dialogue halted me a lot, with the 'thee, thou' language that seemed as if it were trying to hard to sound 'old', even though it was supposed to be a translated piece."


"While there is no denying that the book is different in its perspective and technique, overall it falls short for the simple reason that it makes readers dig through wordy dialogue and monologue to remain engaged in the story."


"This book deeply disappointed me ... It's portrayal of war struck me as more old-era (think WW1 minus nations and money plus guerilla warfare) than anything"


"I skimmed all the bullfighting scenes because bulls are my friends and I don't give a crap whether or not a bullfighter is a winner or a loser. They're all losers to me."


"His main character Robert Jordan is russian and is assigned to destroy a bridge."


"I only read about a third of the book. Hemingway committed suicide; so, what of value could he have possibly had to say?"


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I INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING HILARIOUS AND LEGITIMATE CRITIQUE OF FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLLS IN PART BECAUSE I HAVE SOME QUALMS MYSELF ABOUT PRAISING THE BOOK TOO HIGHLY...

"the novel can be summed up thus: 'i am a man, a silent, authentic man, a man who drinks for sorrow and a man who sleeps with women for joy and a man who loves violence for its own sake - allthough im saying something else to myself... to myself, a man. a silent man. a man who doesn't swear in front of the mucks of spaniards, the spaniards who fight. who fight for justice. i am a man who fights for justice. i love this woman - i truly love thee oh my spanish fullbreasted slim woman - till the earth moves, the earth did move - did it really move? yeah, it moved, it moved for me, the silent man - who still loves to drink and swear and sleep with women and shoot. yeah, me.'"

...BUT PRINCIPALLY TO QUOTE THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE, FROM AMAZON USER "SERIOUS REVIEWER":

"I only feel it neccessary to tell you that this review really reflects negatively on you. You sound incredibly immature. I reported your review for abuse but I guess Amazon has more pressing concerns than defending a classic that brought tears down from my eyes from people who would wish to insult it. Coming from an Artist, your review is thoughtless and arrogant, I mean I am an Artist, you are a sour critic :)"