A Beautiful Journey

It all started with a pen. A Monte Blanc Fountain pen to be exact. This exact pen, made in honor of Ingrid Bergman. This pen sent me to wikipediea to see who this lovely dame Ingrid is. From there I learned that Ernest Hemingway desired most that she play the part of Maria in the movie For Whom the Bell Tolls. If my fellow book bloggers will recall I posted a question about who is Ernest and why is he significant. You were all very helpful. I then asked each of you which of his books I should read. Ken replied don't go near The Old Man and the Sea, Kelsen said The Sun Also Rises was great but didn't recommend it. However, it was Luke that pulled through with a reasonable response, said he simply, "Read For Whom the Bell Tolls, it's great." So I bought it and began reading it clear back in May. I LOVED this book!!! And I have our blog to thank for it. You all explained Ernest's style of writing to me and gave specific examples of how he used short declarative sentances which though short convey a ton of back story. I kept calling to mind Kelsen's example, "Baby shoes for sale, never been used". Knowing this I got so much more out of the book then I otherwise would have. It took me forever to read it but that was because I went over the lines very closely to make sure I got everything and then imagined the back story of the characters. Plus the imagery is so beautiful, book me a trip for Spain. But I still don't understand how he does it. How he creates such a beautiful picture because he doesn't blurt it out, it's underlying. After finishing the book I watched part of the movie Windtakers. I only watched part because it made the scenes I had just read in the book too vivid and painful. Finally I loved how he presented views of Spain and it's people from the view of a loving outsider and citizens view of other citizens. A long journey yes but very worth it!!