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For Whom the Bell Tolls  By  cover art

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By: Ernest Hemingway
Narrated by: Campbell Scott
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Publisher's summary

In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.

The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise.

"If the function of a writer is to reveal reality," Maxwell Perkins wrote Hemingway after reading the manuscript, "no one ever so completely performed it." Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author's previous works, it stands as one of the best war novels of all time.

©1952 Ernest Hemingway (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This is the best book Ernest Hemingway has written, the fullest, the deepest, the truest. It will, I think, be one of the major novels in American literature." (The New York Times Book Review)

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What listeners say about For Whom the Bell Tolls

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Campbell Scott’s reading is extraordinary.

Hemingway’s opus is a love story enfolded in a tale of revolution. Scott’s choice of voice for each character is perfectly balanced inside the book’s swirl of tenderness and brutality. Writer and narrator bring their best in this performance, and it’s thrilling to hear.

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Masterpiece

Classic American literature. A must read for any English speaker. Fantastic story and exceptional narration of a fascinating historical time and place.

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The Bell Tolls for Papa H.

Surely among the greatest literary creations. Hemingway has given us a gift of words, wisdom, creation.

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One of the best

one of the best narrations I've ever listened to of one of the best books ever written.

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Great narration!

“The world is a good place and worth the fighting for.”
Superb narration brought this classic to life.

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Campbell Scott did amazing.

Excellent book and narrator. One of the best I have listened to. I now want to learn more about Spain.

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A classic

Very well read, very emotional, classic Ernest Hemingway. Makes you think about the fragility of life and the futility of it all. “Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee”.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls - “clean” version

Loved it, though unfortunately, all the bad words have been replaced in this version. It is important that this classic novel should have an audible version that is true to the original book, including the bad words.

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This has to be Hemingway’s best novel!

I’m pretty stingy with high praise, but this novel/audiobook combo was truly first rate. The story and writing are pure Hemingway: distinctive, powerful, and terse. I loved the protagonist’s inner dialogue, but I also appreciated how both the author (Hemingway) and the narrator (Scott) expertly personalized the various characters in this novel. I very much enjoyed it and find the carping and complaining of some of the reviews here to be more than a little baffling. As for me, this audiobook and novel were wonderful and memorable. I am very happy I purchased them both.

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Masterpiece of War era psychology and sociology

The narrative details of both speech and thought is incredible. Taking place in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 was a precursor to WWII evil on a minor but catastrophic scale relative to Nazi Germans and Imperialist Japan.
Hemingway is perfectly delivered by Campbell Scott . The horrors of war are intimately revealed, as is bullfighting. This was an excellent audiobook purchase.

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