For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

You could spend a lot of time arguing over which Hemingway book to include in your top 25. The usual suspects include, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Old Man and the Sea. All very good candidates. I choose For Whom the Bell Tolls, because I was in Spain and got to see many of the settings as I read the book. It always makes a book special if you have some familiarity with the subject.

The story is based on Hemingway's own experience in the Spanish civil war, just prior to WW II. We follow Robert Jordan as he is assigned to blow up a bridge. He meets up with partisan soldiers and falls in love with a young Spanish woman, who opens his eyes to the horror of war. Franco's fascist forces win the war, but Jordan does his part to make it as hard as possible.

After reading the story, it was interesting to talk to different generations of Spaniards about the effects of Franco's rule. In 1987, many of the older people talked about how Spain was safer under Franco and how it was better without all the immigrants. Most middle-aged people were glad to see him go and said that the increase in crime was the cost of freedom. Most college aged and younger people, had grown up without Franco, who's rule ended in 1975 and spoke harshly of his regime.