Books Written By Ernest Hemingway

Bookstores fight to hang on in literary Key West

Among the dwellers of this tranquil and vibrant subtropical island have been literary luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Robert Frost, Judy Blume, Robert Stone and most recently Mark Childress.

The city hosts the annual Lorian Hemingway Short Story Contest and the world-acclaimed Key West Literary Seminar.

It has always been a haven for reading and writing.

So for many it’s sad to hear that two of the island’s four bookstores will close soon. “It’s devastating, like losing a good friend,” said Christine Dunn, a librarian at the Key West Library.

Borders Express, despite doing well in Key West, is a victim of the corporate crumble of the giant bookstore chain that could not recover from bankruptcy and is liquidating its remaining 399 stores.

Voltaire Books, voted the top independent bookstore last year by Florida Monthly magazine, was barely breaking even after five years in business. Its out-of-town owners, faced with having to renew a five-year lease, decided the outlook wasn’t much better and are calling it quits.

But the loss of the island’s only bookstores that sell primarily new books does not mean Key West is dying as a literary community.

Over the years, many bookstores have come and gone here, including one devoted solely to mysteries and one with gay themes called Flaming Maggie’s.

“We still have a world class independent bookstore,” said longtime Key West resident Carol Shaughnessy. “Key West Island Books has been an anchor beloved by the literary community.”

It opened in 1977, and has been at its present location on Fleming Street for most of the time since. The nearly 2,000 square feet — which includes a Rare Book Room — is crammed with mostly used books, some still in boxes. The walls are filled with photographs of a who’s who of Florida authors. They all held book signings at the store.

“Key West Island Books always has been my home base,” said author Tom Corcoran, who has held the initial book signing of each of his six mystery novels there, starting with Key West Island Books has a new young owner who does not think bookstores are a lost cause in the age of e-readers, Amazon and big box stores like Wal-Mart.

Scott Shaffer, along with his wife and father-in-law, purchased the bookstore from the estate of its previous owner, Marshall Smith, who died in 2009. Shaffer said his father-in-law also owns the building, which makes for friendly lease terms and better chances for the bookstore to continue to survive.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway : The Books Guide

Based on Hemingway`s own experience during the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls is the story of Robert Jordan, an American expert in demolitions and explosives who goes to Spain to combat the nationalist forces there. There are three types of characters: some are truly fictional, some are fictionalized real persons and some are actual people.

Robert is sent behind the enemy lines with the objective of destroying a bridge and he is to be helped by a group of guerillas from the nearby mountains. Once arrived in their camp, he meets and falls in love with Maria, a young Spanish woman who is now living the terror of the war.

The leader of the anti-fascist guerillas, Pablo, fears for the repercussions of them helping Robert. Meanwhile, the Robert`s sense of duty comes in opposition with the idea of living his love with Maria. The reader cannot tell till late in the novel if the bridge was successfully blown up and if this action really helped and influenced the war development.

Many soldiers die during the battle and Robert himself dies in the end. Still, before he dies, he still has hopes to kill some enemies and slow things down.

Themes and style

For Whom the Bell Tolls is more like a graphic description of the brutality of civil war. Death is the main theme of the novel – Robert knows from the beginning that blowing up the bridge will kill him, while almost all main characters face their own deaths. Still, it seems to be a strong camaraderie when facing death.

Suicide is another main theme of For Whom the Bell Tolls . Many characters prefer killing themselves instead f being captured by the enemy. Almost all themes are related to war such as the loss of innocence and the value of human life.