For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway *****

What can anyone say about a book written in 1940 by a Nobel Laureate? I can imagine Ernest Heminway sitting in the great library in the sky, wine in one hand and a hand-rolled cigarette in the other, watching the the creation of yet another review. He'd probably quote his Protagonist Robert Jordan, "Bring it on."

Like it is for much great literature, For Whom the Bell Tolls seems strangely current after over 70 years. Here is Robert Jordan again ...

Robert Jordan, wiping out the stew bowl with bread, explained how the income tax and inheritance tax worked. "But the big estates remained ...," He said.

But surely the big proprietors and the rich will make a revolution against such taxes. ... They will revolt against the government when they see that they are threatened ...," Primitivio said.

"It is possible."

 "Then you will have to fight in your country as we fight here."

"Yes, we will have to fight."

In reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, it seems like every action film screen writer owes royalties to someone who wrote before they were born. Often the characters and the dialogue seemed cliched ... until I realized that this was written before these thing were cliches.

Certainly worth reading, rereading, just enjoying. The plots is not much, but the setting, characters, and dialogue might be 10% better than anything your read this year, ... or this decade, ... or ever.