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Title: A powerful novel...
Review: Hemingway used his experiences as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War to build the structure for this novel. His descriptions of the settings are superb. The novel is a great introduction to the Spanish Civil War, a war with which many Americans are unfamiliar. Hemingway used characters like Pablo to show how people lose their humanity during war. The story is powerful. His main character, Robert Jordan, begins to question whether anything good will come of all the fighting.Despite its many wonderful attributes, this novel has some problems. The dialogue is stilted. The romance (as in all Hemingway novels) is unbelievable. Finally, Hemingway should have stuck to English. His use of Spanish in this book is embarassing.Nonetheless, in my opinion, For Whom the Bell Tolls should be required reading for all U.S. high school students. It's truly a classic.
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