For Whom the Bell Tolls

Five stars are not enough for the audio of this book narrated by Campbell Scott. I do not speak Spanish or know much about the Spanish Civil War or the geography of Spain. It did not matter. This is a great, gripping story.

Robert Jordan is a wonderful character -- macho, intelligent, generous, deliberate. Pablo and El Sordo, guerilla leaders, and Pilar, the "woman of Pablo" and Roberto's change agent, are fascinating, as are several Russians and Fernando, the rather prim guerilla. Other characters are colorful, but not as engaging. Hemingway tries very hard, but cannot quite bring Maria, the love interest, to life.

The issues are how to die well, the roles of individuals and small groups in large movements and wars, and whether any reform movement can change a country. (Robert Jordan approaches, but does not reach the conclusion "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Won't get fooled again.") Also, does religion mean anything and is it merely "the opium of the people"? Is it possible to live and die without religion when one was raised with it?

Campbell Scott should get an Academy Award for this narration. He voices all of the characters well. (It is hopeless for a man to read Maria's perpetually ernest -- no pun intended -- lines.) He conveys the irony, the disgust, the subtle sparring very well. He switches from the choppy Hemingway style for Robert Jordan's thoughts to the cadences of Spanish and Russian for the others. He absolutely brings the story and the characters to life. I have listened to many books on tape (and CD) and this is hands down the best. Very highly recommended. (Thanks, Dad, for giving it to me.)

In the audio edition, even the incidental music is perfect, as are the pauses before it begins and after it ends. It is just about a perfect production. (A map of in the CD box would make it perfect. It should identify all the places named in the text and shows the rivers and roads mentioned -- and the bridge!! -- even if this requires more than one map. Next best alternatives would be a CD or website with this info. But it would be best to have a hard copy with the audio CDs. Stephen Ambrose audio tapes about WWII came with maps like this and they were very helpful. This would help any edition of the book in any medium, as would a bibliography of the Spanish Civil War. [...]

I read this as a teenager and enjoyed it. Back then, I thought that there might be many books this good out there in the world. It turns out that there are not many books this good.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (FWTBT), is a masterpiece especially combined with Campbell Scott's superb reading. It exceeds any fiction I have ever heard or read and I have heard and read a lot.

There are few books I have encountered that merited a second read, or in this case a second listen, the Bible being an obvious one. But after listening to FWTBT, I became interested in the little known Spanish Civil War and purchased a book about it, read it and then listened to FWTBT again. The pleasure of the experience was heightened by the contextual knowledge I now possessed. I am not suggesting you must know something about that war to enjoy this book. Quite the contrary. The book spurred the interest in the war!

If you like words and dialogue you will find that listening to this book is like enjoying an exquisite wine or fine cigar. I highly recommend it. Don't let the fact it was written long ago about a long ago war have anything to do with your decision to buy listen to it. It is timeless.

An awesome work, such as I have never experienced. The Master (Hemingway) read by a master in his own right (Scott).

This is one of my favorite books of all time and I thought I would listen to it on a long trip, so I purchased the audio version through Audible.com. [[ASIN:B004NCR4BE For Whom the Bell Tolls Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged edition]] turned out to be a great investment and listening to the book refreshed my memories and gave me the feeling of experiencing the book again for the first time.

I won't spend much time reviewing the book itself because nearly everything which can be said about it has already been said. I can only add my voice to those praising the wonderful cadence of Hemingway's dialogue and the haunting, descriptive narrative as he works through how the politics of war have changed all his characters, reducing them to little more than animals living in caves, sometimes predators and sometimes prey.

Hemingway was sympathetic in real life to the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War (against the Fascists), but he does not completely spare them in his portrayal of the levels of brutality to which men stoop in a war pitting citizens of a single country against each other. Hemingway also spares little sympathy on the ignorance and stupidity of some in command of the Republican Army, nor the callousness of those on the elite periphery, as preparations are made for the novel's pivotal moment.

The narrative in the audio version is by Campbell Scott. He is a very soft spoken performer who took some getting used to. I imagined this novel would be read in a more forceful way, more like I imagined Hemingway himself might have read it, but Mr. Scott's voice is very measured and while heroic, virile male characters like the republican guerrilla fighters, characters like Pablo and El Sordo, may have been slightly underplayed, his careful narration allowed him to give depth to female characters, especially Pilar.

I have listened to many audiobooks and one of the most annoying things can be male narrators trying to do female characters and completely blowing it. A failure on this level can take you right out of the story and completely ruin the experience of listening to the book.

Mr. Scott avoids this and is able to voice the female characters without it sounding like a parody. This is incredibly important with this book because the female characters are prominent and very strong. Another problem some narrators encounter is accents; again, a failure here ruins the book. Mr. Scott never overplays any of the characters, giving each one of them credible distinctions without ever descending in stereotype.

When I had finished listening to the book I realized that Mr. Scott, by achieving this balance with supporting characters, had given nearly perfect voice to the measured, methodical and logical voice of American Robert Jordon, the main character. Since much of the book is introspective reflection and dialogue by Jordon, Mr. Scott's narrative style was, for me, the perfect fit.

All in all, I highly recommend both this book and this audio version. If you are not a reader or don't see yourself ever being able to attack this long book, try the audio version. You will be carried away to the treacherous gray, stony mountains north of Madrid by an author who knew not only how to live but also how to die.

This is an audio book. I have just received it not yet listened to it.

I checked out the audio cd book from the library for along car ride. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Campbell Scott is excellent in the reading. If I were reading it, i would likely be tempted to speed through much of it because it was overly descriptive and full of conversation. But even so, I definitely give it 5 stars. When I arrived at my designation, I ate and hung out by my car so I could continue listening, but just not sitting in the driver's seat, because I had enough of that.

Great book but I didn't like the reader. My favorite Hemingway book.

I had to stop this twice so I wouldn't get choked up. Campbell Scott's reading brings this classic to life.

this was such a gripping performance by the reader, but so strangley even keel and unemotional that the writing was center stage. fabulous book

Rave about Hemingway: it's been done.
Complete envy of the power of his dialogue to characterize: wallowing in it (as a writer)

I'm here to rave about the audiobook reader Campbell Scott. If he does not speak fluent Spanish, he sure fooled me; in the delivery and staccato pacing of dialogue, the pronunciation of names, the perfect accent for each character, and the timing and understanding in general. The flat affect of the voice of Robert Jordan was perfect as well. It is obviously written in English but you feel you are hearing, thinking, feeling Spanish, and the formality and structure of the language, and even the "obscenity-ied" out cursing sound believable and natural.

Other times when a reader attempts accents it comes off as contrived and ends up being farcical, but Campbell Scott does a brilliant job for the voices of each of the characters, from the lightness of Maria to the childlike Joaquin to the solidness of Pilar and the heavy paced tones of Pablo.

A treat to listen to. I will look for other audiobooks Campbell Scott has done the reading for!