Book suggested by Kim, meeting hosted by KimKim chose this book because she wanted to read a classic novel and learned that this book is John McCain's favorite. Since she is a fan of Mr. McCain, this was a logical choice for her. She has emailed him and is hoping for a response (he didn't show up at our book club meeting though!).
In her research of Ernest Hemingway, Kim found that his life was as tragic as many of his writings. He wrote books that mirrored many of his own life experiences. Hemingway ended his life by committing suicide as did his father, siblings, and granddaughter. Yet, when Robert Jordan's, the book's main character, father committed suicide, Robert viewed him as weak. It makes us wonder if he may have seen his own life as a failure.
We discussed what makes a book a classic. We concluded that it must be based on the author's body of work. Kelly shared her research that the book must be able to stand the test of time, have historical value and accuracy and have believable characters (documentary-like). Few seem anxious to read another book deemed a classic for awhile.
We had a general discussion of the book. Most did not like reading a war story although it was probably accurate in its depiction of the horrors of war and humanized war for us. Since there was so much description, we were easily able to picture the cave, land, people and bridge. We felt Maria was a tragic figure. The book was tedious to read, repetitious in its phrasing, and ended in a predictable way. A study guide or Cliff's Notes would have been helpful and a few in the group used them. Carol W. used the audio version; she even found the movie to be boring!
A few liked the book, but generally the scores were very low.
Here are a few links to learn more about Hemingway:
Hemingway Adventure from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/hemingwayadventure/
Timeless Hemingway: http://www.timelesshemingway.com/
From Nobel Prize: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html
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