Justin's Notes
Dec. 19, 2025
Finally, my first Hemingway.
This story follows Robert Jordan, a young American who joins a guerilla unit in the Spanish Civil War on a mission to detonate a bomb on a bridge to stop opposing forces. While in the mountains of Spain, Jordan falls in love with a young Spanish woman, causing some inner conflict between his duty to complete his mission and the life he dreams of with Maria after the war.
I very much respect this book, but I don't think it was for me. At a bird's-eye view, I thought the story was a compelling story of war and love. The relational turmoil and difficulties between wartime groups mixed with the hopes and dreams soldiers are seeking through war were displayed well. I thought Hemingway wrote some great characters and effectively described the pain and suffering war brings. For me, the pacing was just not there. It felt very slow to me and really did not have the kind of action I have experienced in the few other war novels I have read. My assumption is it stems from it being an older novel. The writing just didn't suck me in, and I had a hard time being excited to read the story. I absolutely do not regret reading this book. I am glad I read it, and I did enjoy the story; I just didn't realy enjoy actually reading it.
Ultimately, I would really only recommend this to people who enjoy older, classical writing or people that truly love any and all war stories. While I respect this story and did enjoy it, it just didn't grip me and ended up not really being for me. I do absolutely intend to read more Hemingway, but at the end of the day, this particular book is not one of my favorites.
