For Whom the Bell Tolls (from Ex Libris)

7/10-7/17/05—For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get through this book. Its not one that I’d read on my own anyway, unless it was simply a whim—which I guess you might say of this latest reading spurt. I’m not much on war stories, especially ones that are so chocked full of male bravado it sometimes makes my eyes roll back in my head with disbelief. There are only two major female characters in the novel—one is more male than female in her actions and responses (including a scene that she very nearly professes lesbian love for the younger girl). The injenu is so one-sided and un-fleshed out its laughable. I guess Hemingway became famous because of the testosterone crowd that still haunts the halls of upper academia. I have a hard time believing that this would make a splash if it were released today.