Quote:
Originally Posted by Adm.Lee
Not a post-ww3 setting, but pre-ww2, still nearly apocalyptic. I never read this one before, I had a bad experience with a Hemingway short story, probably in high school. I still don't like his writing style, but 2/3 through the book and I can tolerate it.
Downside: as I said, Hemingway's way of writing bothers me, some reviewers say it's because he is modelling Spanish styles of speaking/writing. Some might have trouble getting past that the protagonist is an ally of the Communists (he seems to be a Socialist, not an actual Communist). It's also pretty long-- I am listening to it on CDs in my car, and there are 16 CDs in the box.
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Admiral -
Don't let the politics get in the way of your enjoyment.
Do recall that pre-WW2, the communists were considered the lesser of two evils compared to Fascism, then in control of Germany and Italy, and seeking to control Spain (and, at the time, gaining influence in several nations of Central Europe, but that isn't part of Spain's story). In Spain, in several quarters, the Russians were considered heroes for being willing to provide equipment and some volunteers, when the western democracies did nothing to counter German and Italian aid and troops in Spain.
Hemingway was in Spain as a correspondent; he saw and heard some of this first hand.
If you liked
For Whom the Bell Tolls (or at least this period), stop by your local library and look for novels by Alan Furst.
Alan Furst writes about spies and intelligence operatives or people who become resistance in early WW2 or the dark period leading up to WW2. To me, his books have the dark feeling of a
film noir.
Spies of Warsaw or
The Polish Officer are a good starting choices.
Spies of Warsaw follows a French military attache as he spies on Germany in 1938 (the BBC did this as a miniseries if you'd rather watch it);
The Polish Officer is about a Polish Officer who goes underground and becomes a resistance fighter starting in 1939.
Uncle Ted