Truth from a classic book
[image error]Hemingway in Spain 1937
Book Review repost: For Whom the Bell Tolls.
06/07/2020. What’s happening in the world at this time is complex. It is a culmination of momentums that have been progressing for centuries. At it’s root, is the ongoing struggle between that psychopathic portion of humanity that is driven to rule the rest (see Ishmael by Daniel Quinn). Behind that struggle, is something more metaphysical that Thomas Merton called, the Unspeakable. These are heavy subjects and beyond the scope of what I intend with this journal entry. Maybe later.
For now, I’ll just say that this time strikes me as being akin to the early twentieth century when Fascism was spreading across the world, especially in Europe. That Fascism was spearheaded in nations by dictatorial personalities: Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito, and Franco. Extreme nationalism (subordinating the individual to the state) and militarism were also outstanding features. These traits, however, did not define Fascism then, and they still don’t. They are symptoms that can be present outside of a totalitarian regime. Fascism was (and is) a merging of government and corporations. Indeed, it is the domination of government by corporations (where corporations are engines for generating great wealth and their owners are oligarchs).
Mussolini is said to have said:
Fascism should rightly be called corporatism as it is a merger of state and corporate power.
In the twentieth century, the struggle against Fascism was carried out at a grass roots (or socialistic) level. This came to a head with the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1936). This war is often referred to in classic films. Usually, the protagonist is noted as having fought in that war and left disillusioned by it (re: Casablanca). What the war was about, is seldom mentioned in any depth.
I didn’t know much about the Spanish Civil War (only that it happened) until I read Hemingway’s classic: For Whom the Bell Tolls. I was impressed with the book and it prompted me to read up on the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway certainly understood what that war was about (as a journalist at the time, he reported on it). He also understood the corporate underpinnings of Fascism and I found that an outstanding feature of his book.
Back in 2014, I posted a review of For Whom the Bell Tolls on Goodreads. In it, I talk about my revelations about Fascism and the Spanish Civil War that I gleaned from the book. Reading about, and experiencing, current events, I find new relevancy in Hemingway’s work. And so I posted the review on my own website (Arbordin Park Press Ray-Views: For Whom the Bell Tolls ). I hope you can find some insight from it and also be prompted to read the book.
A classic movie was made of For Whom the Bell Tolls starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. I haven’t seen it, though I would like to see how it compares to the book. The greater compare, though, is between the book and current events.
06/07/2020. What’s happening in the world at this time is complex. It is a culmination of momentums that have been progressing for centuries. At it’s root, is the ongoing struggle between that psychopathic portion of humanity that is driven to rule the rest (see Ishmael by Daniel Quinn). Behind that struggle, is something more metaphysical that Thomas Merton called, the Unspeakable. These are heavy subjects and beyond the scope of what I intend with this journal entry. Maybe later.
For now, I’ll just say that this time strikes me as being akin to the early twentieth century when Fascism was spreading across the world, especially in Europe. That Fascism was spearheaded in nations by dictatorial personalities: Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito, and Franco. Extreme nationalism (subordinating the individual to the state) and militarism were also outstanding features. These traits, however, did not define Fascism then, and they still don’t. They are symptoms that can be present outside of a totalitarian regime. Fascism was (and is) a merging of government and corporations. Indeed, it is the domination of government by corporations (where corporations are engines for generating great wealth and their owners are oligarchs).
Mussolini is said to have said:
Fascism should rightly be called corporatism as it is a merger of state and corporate power.
In the twentieth century, the struggle against Fascism was carried out at a grass roots (or socialistic) level. This came to a head with the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1936). This war is often referred to in classic films. Usually, the protagonist is noted as having fought in that war and left disillusioned by it (re: Casablanca). What the war was about, is seldom mentioned in any depth.
I didn’t know much about the Spanish Civil War (only that it happened) until I read Hemingway’s classic: For Whom the Bell Tolls. I was impressed with the book and it prompted me to read up on the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway certainly understood what that war was about (as a journalist at the time, he reported on it). He also understood the corporate underpinnings of Fascism and I found that an outstanding feature of his book.
Back in 2014, I posted a review of For Whom the Bell Tolls on Goodreads. In it, I talk about my revelations about Fascism and the Spanish Civil War that I gleaned from the book. Reading about, and experiencing, current events, I find new relevancy in Hemingway’s work. And so I posted the review on my own website (Arbordin Park Press Ray-Views: For Whom the Bell Tolls ). I hope you can find some insight from it and also be prompted to read the book.
A classic movie was made of For Whom the Bell Tolls starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. I haven’t seen it, though I would like to see how it compares to the book. The greater compare, though, is between the book and current events.
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