For Whom the Bell Tolls pt.2

Alright, like I said I'd write some more on what is quickly becoming one of my top five favorite novels of all time. Seriously, Hemingway makes the characters move in such a way that is mere
reality. You feel as if you are an observer of an alternate reality.

I say this only because I just read something that made me emotionally bankrupt for about ten minutes. Robert Jordan wakes up in the morning and spies an enemy on horseback trotting towards him. Hemingway illustrates an air of suspense that ends with Robert shooting and killing the rider. Big whoop, right? Well, the way that Hemingway illustrates Robert's regret in "murdering" the young man is illustrated when he reads the letters from the boy's family and his fiance.

It becomes this inner dialog between Robert's subconscious on whether it is right to kill another man in battle or should he even be doing this. The internal battle demonstrates Hemingway's mastery over the existential narrative and the ability to paint a true picture of human emotion. Wow, this book keeps throwing me feelings that I try to distance myself from when I read...