For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

for whom the bell tolls

What can I say about Ernest Hemingway’s 1940 masterpiece For Whom the Bell Tolls?

Read It.

I’ll have to give it a little time to settle, but I suspect this novel will officially enter my favorite top 10 novels of all-time list.

It is written in Hemingway’s usual terse style. Descriptive adjectives are few, replaced by verbs. Lots of verbs. This is not to say that it is a book filled with action. For, in fact, much of the novel consists of waiting, sitting, and talking. In the nearly 600 pages, there are only three scenes of real action: Pillar’s retelling of the beginning of the revolution in her town; El Sordo’s last stand, and the bombing of the bridge. The remaining pages consist of the relationships between those involved in the war.

The war is the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. Instead of focusing on the larger aspects of this war, Hemingway decides to focus on a single guerilla outfit fighting against the fascists. The main character is Robert Jordan, an American Spanish professor, who has volunteered to fight against the fascists as well. He has been ordered to destroy an important bridge and enlists the guerilla band of Pablo. In doing so, he details the experiences of the average, normal citizens of a country fighting for its destiny.

With the exception of World War II stories, most retellings of war, come from a perspective that all war is terrible and unjust. Here, Hemingway shows not only the horrors of fighting a war but also the sometimes necessity of it. Yet, he is also able to show the confusion of its participants.

Anselmo, a trusted companion of Jordan, midway through the novel ponders what he would be doing had he been raised with fascist ideals. He truly believes in what he is fighting for but realizes that under different circumstances he would be fighting on the other side of the lines. Many wars are fought by soldiers without any true sense of the ideals behind them. For Whom the Bell Tolls is often called a novel on the death of ideals. And it is true, nearly every idealized truth that is held up by the band seems tarnished and destroyed by the novel’s end.

It is impossible, within the confines of a review, to fully expound upon the greatness of this novel. It is a piece of literature, of art, that should be read, reread, studied, and made mandatory reading for every human being.

Read It.

A Day In The Life

It is amazing how with nothing to do, I still struggle to write for this blog. To demonstrate I’ll break down today’s activities.

I awoke at 8:30 this morning. I then spent the next hour or so checking my e-mail, having breakfast, and generally shaking the sleep out of me. Around 9:30 or so I got a shower and dressed. Amy and I then went to the library to return some books. Even though I had promised myself I would not check any more books out in order that I would concentrate on finishing Les Miserables, I check out three more books. We returned home around 11:00. I read for a bit and then fixed lunch. Post lunch I continued my reading because Amy was busy researching our next trip on the computer. I did manage to write out a rough sketch of my For Whom the Bell Tolls review. I also played a little Gameboy. Then it was to the grocery store to pick up the next several day’s meals. Fixed supper and then watched the X-files on DVD. Around 7 I finally got on the computer to start writing a review. It’s not almost 9 and I am just now getting to blog, the first time in several days at that.

I don’t know if that’s bragging that I get to spend my days reading, lounging, and writing, but to me, it seems like the days just fly and I can’t get what I want to do accomplished.

It has been clouds and rain the last several days, so I have been unable to walk to the park. It has been a good time to clean up the house though! There is a new AIMer here in Strasbourg, Kailyn. We had her and Pamela over for dinner last night. She is a very nice, sweet girl fresh out of high school. Her youth and nativity are both refreshing and a little unsettling. It’s been so long since I was so fresh and not cynical that it surprises me when I find someone so buoyant.

Million Dollar Baby, Misbehaving, and Flowers

My wife is currently out seeing Million Dollar Baby without me. The louse! She had class all day today, and my memory said that she isn’t usually home until around 5 or so. So, a little after lunch I took off to the park, once again. I seem to be quite addicted to park strolling. I hate to rub it in again, but I really love not working and living in France. Anyways, I returned home to find a note from the wife explaining that she had gone to see the film. It’s a movie she didn’t really want to see anyway! Why couldn’t she wait for me? I guess that’s what I get for not being home. Actually, I think it is payback for yesterday.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling rather nauseated and dizzy. I laid in bed awhile, and by lunch time the nausea had turned into just an upset stomach, and the dizziness was a pounding headache. A little later, I felt rather fine. We were going to church at 2 in the pm, but I decided to skip it. You see Sunday was another French holiday, and the trams were not running. Daniel had agreed to pick us up and drop us home afterward, but I didn’t want to get there, only to feel ill again and have to make someone take me home early. So, Amy took off to the supposed meeting spot without me.

Twenty minutes or so later and I was feeling rather good, and rather bored. I decided some fresh air would do me good. As always, my feet led me straight to the park, where I spent a good two and a half hours sitting in the shade. I came home to find a very upset Amy asking me where I had been. Apparently, she never met up with Daniel because I got the meeting place wrong. After 45 minutes of waiting she came home expecting a sick husband, and finding an empty apartment. She called Daniel, who sent Tammy because Amy broke down on the phone. Tammy sat with Amy calming her down and then left her here at home. Needless to say, she was not pleased.

I felt like a boy with his hand in the cookie jar. I tried to explain that I had felt better and decided to take a walk. I hadn’t meant for it to be such a long absence, but there it was. The doghouse is where I stayed for a good while. And now she’s seeing the movie without me.

I have so many pictures of flowers, it is ridiculous. As stated I travel to the park often. I always take my camera with me and I always take a ton of pictures. Even though I’ve pretty much covered the entire park in pictures several times over, I can’t help but take more. I’ve always been a flower fan, and the ones at the park are so gorgeous I get swept up in their beauty and take more and more pictures. Maybe I’ll post another one here.

The Big Sleep (1946)

the big sleep poster

This classic film noir has very few of the characteristics generally associated with noir. It contains no skewed camera angles, it is not overcome with murky, obscuring shadows. The hero is not down-and-out, poor, or desperate. There is no retrospective narration or flashbacks. Yet, The Big Sleep is widely considered to be one of the very best of the genre. It is a cynical, perverse, murderous world filled with loads of confusing action, and unknown motives. It is, in fact, one of the great films from one of the screen’s greatest actors, Humphrey Bogart (for my personal top 10 actors list, click here), and its most talented directors, Howard Hawks.

Hawks was fresh off of the successful pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Becall in To Have and Have Not (1944). The two star here again and it is easy to see why they made another two films together. Based on a Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, many people complain that this film is incomprehensible. Somewhat famously it is reported that Bogart and Hawks, after arguing over who killed one of the characters, called up Chandler to get the correct answer. Chandler didn’t have the slightest idea, for the novel is rather vague on this point. It’s true that both the novel and film leave many plot points as to who did what to whom more than unclear, but there is so much style in both that it’s hard to make a convincing argument against them.

A good deal of the confusion within the film comes from the production codes in effect at the time it was produced. Chandler’s novel deals with murder, homosexuality, heterosexuality, and pornography. At the time, these things were deemed unfit to show on a movie screen and so Hawks had to hint at them using various subtle methods. For instance, when Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers) is found by detective Phillip Marlow (Bogart) in the novel she is completely nude and sitting posed for a hidden camera. Since pornography is explicitly against the code, in the movie she is dressed in a silky, Japanese gown. There is still a hidden camera, and its missing film becomes a catalyst for much of the action in the film. We must infer from the exotic nature of the gown that there was more than just pictures of a woman in a gown going on. There are many similar instances in the film like this. For an audience member who has not read the book, they must pay close attention to the subtext, or the film will seem baffling.

Personally, I am very much a fan of the book, and all of Chandler’s work. While I appreciate that some of the finer plot points are a bit vague in this film, I also understand that the film succeeds not in the details of the story, but in a sinister sense of style. The film oozes with a dark, disquieting atmosphere. Nearly everyone Marlowe meets is hiding something and is of less than upstanding moral character. Hawks does a great job of keeping nearly every scene in the dark or in the rain, or both. There are so many characters coming in and out of the shadows with their own shady character that it is difficult to keep up.

Bogart, of course, does a marvelous job as Marlowe. He seems to understand a lot more information than the audience is ever given. Chandler wrote Marlowe as a detective who sticks by his own set of morals, remaining somewhat of a noble creature trying to stay afloat amongst the muck and sewers of the city. Lauren Bacall does a very good job portraying Vivian Sternwood Rutledge, in a role that is much different than the one in the book. Like many films from this era, they create a romance that wasn’t really in the source material. I don’t mind though, because Bogart and Bacall really sizzle.

What can I say that hasn’t been said before? This is really classic noir at its best. It’s got Bogart and Bacall. It was directed by Howard Hawks, and written by William Faulkner from a novel by Raymond Chandler. What more could a lover of classic cinema want?

Red as a Lobster

It has been quite sunny here the last couple of days. Having a couple(!) of days off from work, I went to the park and relaxed with a book. Today I even managed three parks!

I’ll explain. I was stuck in the house all morning, washing dishes, cleaning up a little, and basically piddling around. Amy was gone for several hours at school working. When she got back we washed clothes and had lunch. By this time I was really jonesin’ to go outside and enjoy the day. Amy, being Amy, she thought she might like to go with me, but just wasn’t sure at the moment. How anyone can not be sure whether or not they want to take a walk is beyond me, but Amy moves at a pace that is not my own.

After some heated discussion, we finally decided that I would go out then, and maybe later we’d check out a little park on the other side of town. So, I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I let my feet do the walking, which generally leads me to the Orangerie Park. I go there so often that I’ve pretty much-photographed everything possible, so I just took a quick walk around. I next decided to walk to what I have dubbed “Laura’s Park,” dubbed so because it is close to our friend Laura’s home, and she’s admitted to visiting it often. There isn’t much to photograph there, so I again just walked around it, enjoying life. I took the long walk home, returning after about 2 and a half hours of sun baking.

Shortly thereafter, Amy and I did indeed check out another park. It is on the other side of town, just behind Auchan. It has a little lake and there were lots of kiddies swimming, old men in Speedos, and contrary to popular opinion, no topless women. We sat on the bench for a good while enjoying the surf and sun.

All of this is to say, that I am one toasted fellow. I now joke that I am going to come home thin, sporting long hair (I haven’t cut my hair since being in France) and with a deep, dark tan. No one will recognize me!

We’ve just about figured out our travel plans for the summer. It looks as though we are going to head to Barcelona for a few days and slowly meander through France making out way home after a week or so. I will really miss not being able to tour Ireland, or see Prague, but we just can’t afford to see everything, so cuts had to be made. Oh well, this gives us a good excuse to come back.

Harvey (1950)

harvey movie poster

Towards the end of the 1950 film, Harvey, Elwood P Dowd (played by James Stewart in an Academy Award-nominated role) says this:

“In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.”

It is a memorable line and one that sums up the film quite well. For the picture is filled with lots of smart people, and a few pleasant ones. It, in fact, seems to be the film’s central theme. Dowd is an alcoholic and mentally ill, all of which creates quite a disturbance throughout the film, but is ultimately washed over because he smiles a lot, allows others to pass through the door first, and speaks in a gentle, even voice.

Perhaps I’m being too unkind myself, it is after all a harmless comedy, slapstick and all. At that, it fairs well enough. The catch of the film, if you’ve somehow managed to not hear it before in the 55 years since its release, or forgot to look at the picture on the front of the DVD box, is that Dowd’s best friend happens to be an invisible 6-foot rabbit, named Harvey. Much of the film’s humor, and a great deal of its heart, come from that rabbit, which the audience never sees.

The conflict comes from Dowd’s sister, Veta Louise Simmons (Josephine Hall), and her daughter Myrtle Mae (Victoria Horne). They have grown tired of Dowd’s antics with Harvey, and the embarrassment of having such a relative has caused untold grief for their social positions. Early in the film they decide to have Dowd committed to an insane asylum. Slapstick ensues when Verta is mistaken for the crazy one.

I found it to be a fine, humorous film. All of the cast members are firing on all cylinders and create a wonderful ensemble cast. Stewart and Hall are particularly fine as Dowd and his sister. The jokes work well enough, at least they are not particularly unfunny, and are pleasant enough. I think this is where my complaint comes in; it is all just too pleasant. Even the Simmons’ are rather sweet and kind while they try to put Dowd away.

It was slightly disturbing to me to watch a man with an obvious mental illness be touted as the film’s hero and a character that we should all emulate. But again, I’m probably being too unpleasant. I realize that the film is more Peter Pan than Awakenings in this aspect. For Harvey seems more fantastical than a hallucination, but Dowd never once hints that the giant rabbit might not be real. I know, I know, I’m being too much the tired cynic at this point. Dowd did give me the same brief desire for improvement that Atticus Finch give me while watching To Kill a Mockingbird. Though Finch never spotted giant rabbits, just a black man served more injustice.

It is difficult to complain about a film that really just wishes we would all be happy and kind to one another. Indeed a brief search of the IMDB’s user comments finds an agreement with everyone that this is a wonderful, joyful film.

It is a heartwarming film, which only managed to kindle a low flame in my heart. This is a weird feeling. It is as if I feel the chastisement of a million fans calling me a cold-hearted son of a sailor. It just failed to make me laugh enough, or move me enough to declare it wonderful. While I don’t have any hard complaints about the picture, it is not something that I’ll be placing on any top films list.

Best Concerts Ever

It has been a while since I posted any top 5 lists. So, I thought I’d do something a little different today, meaning that this one is even more subjective than all the others. So, I present to you, my humble readers, the top 5 Concerts I have personally experienced.

5. Leftover Salmon – May 2, 2000 – Knoxville, TN

Leftover Salmon are an eclectic mix of bluegrass, country, Cajun, southern rock, and boogie. We got front-row tickets at the Bijou and smiled every minute of it. Their music is all about fun, and I danced my little rump off until the last cord. These guys made sounds come out of the mandolin and banjo I wouldn’t have thought possible.

4. Lucinda Williams – September 25, 2001 – Bloomington, IN

Lucinda is one of my all-time favorite musical acts. We got there early and were rewarded with spots right off the stage (there were no seats) and to the left. Dressed in a low-cut, red tank top and tight-fitting blue jeans, Lucinda was dressed to please, and she did just that. I would have preferred it if the band had stretched some of the songs a bit, but what they left out in improvisation, they more than made up for with energy. She sang all my favorite songs and a few that quickly became new favorites.

3. Ratdog – April 10, 2001 – Knoxville, TN

I’ve seen Ratdog several times before, but this was my favorite performance. I decided to go at the last minute, on a whim, and I’m glad I did. It was a mixed setlist, containing both songs I really don’t like and some of my very favorites. But even on the crappy songs they played tremendously.

2. Furthur Festival – June 25, 1998 – Atlanta, GA

Through various circumstances, I was never able to see the real Grateful Dead in concert. What I have to live with is their various incarnations minus Jerry Garcia. In the second year of the Furthur Festival, a touring festival featuring members of the Dead as well as other Dead influenced bands, the remaining members of the Grateful Dead (minus drummer Bill Kreutzman) formed The Other Ones. This was the first time since Garcia’s death that all of them were playing together, and the first time they set out playing the old classic Dead songs. It was not a disappointment. The jams were hot and smooth, in fact, much of the three-hour show seemed like one giant medley of music. It was a perfect time, perfect place and I enjoyed some great music with even better friends.

1. Willie Nelson
I’ve seen Willie Nelson twice: Once at the Brady Theatre, in Tulsa, OK, and again at the IU Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana. They were completely different types of shows, and yet I cannot claim that one was better than the other. In Tulsa, they took all of the seats out of the theatre to give it a livelier atmosphere. The bar was running plenty of drinks out and the crowd acted like it. Willie’s music was up to the task. He played a huge medley of all of his classic hits without taking a break to say a word. It was loud, obnoxious, and fantastic. I’ll never forget Willie standing on the stage with a wrinkled face, and broken guitar running through “Amazing Grace” and “Uncloudy Day” with about 20 bras having been thrown on the stage and the audience saluting their beer mugs to the gospel music. It was quite a time.

In Bloomington, the atmosphere was completely different. It was an academic auditorium and the people were all dressed appropriately. Willie played his songs as songs, pausing between each one to say thank you. The audience sat politely in their seats, except for a few moments when they gave an ovation to the giant American flag and his tribute with some patriotic songs. It was vastly different than the crazed party scene I had witnessed before, and yet it was still a wonderful night of music.

That was really tough. There are other concerts that just barely missed the top five. The Indigo Girls, Sam Bush, and Jamgrass were difficult to cut out. But that’s what a top list is for, I guess.

Google News

I wrote my first piece for Google News today. Let me explain. I’ve been writing for Blogcritics for a couple of months now. Mainly I’m posting the reviews I write there over there, but there have also been a couple of music essays as well. Many Blogcritic authors also write on current events, such as the Michael Jackson court case, the new Pope, or whatever happens to be going on in the world. A lot of those posts are picked up by Google News which is subsequently picked up by just about everybody.

I’m not really cued into any current situations of the world, thus I’ve stayed away from posting anything. Until today. I just heard that Dark Star Orchestra’s keyboardist recently passed away and felt moved enough to write about it. I must say that I’m not particularly a huge fan of the band, but I know enough people dig them that it is newsworthy. I feel a little opportunistic in taking a tragedy and using it to put my name a little further into cyberspace, but I suppose that’s the breaks. I guess, really, I happened into this information and realized it had not been posted on Blogcritics, so I took that opportunity. Read my post here (sorry the link is no longer valid).

Plans

Wow! That was a lot of reviews. I guess with a week off for vacation I had a lot of things to review. I still have a couple more to write, but I may wait a day or two. Things have been pretty tame around here the last few days. The weather has been crap too. Lots of clouds and rain.

We finally purchased our plane tickets home. We will fly into Louisville on July 21. Amy did a great job of looking all over creation for a decent price, and found none. It cost us just over $2000! With that cost we have had to rethink our European tour plans. I just had a good long talk with my sister and her husband about it. We have decided to do a 3 day packaged tour of Ireland, then fly into Barcelona for a few days. We plan to take a slow train through France, hitting various smaller towns throughout before we make our way to Paris. We'll take a couple of days there and then head on home. Should be fun.