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  • 15-JAN-2025 | Excerpt from “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway

15-JAN-2025 | Excerpt from “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway

Author

Dan Bogachek
January 15, 2025

Excerpt from “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway

He lay flat on the brown, pine-needled floor of the forest, his chin on his folded arms, and high overhead the wind blew in the tops of the pine trees. The mountainside sloped gently where he lay; but below it was steep and he could see the dark of the oiled road winding through the pass. There was a stream alongside the road and far down the pass he saw a mill beside the stream and the falling water of the dam, white in the summer sunlight. 🏁

Contrast and simultaneity.

The wind blowing the trees is an opportunity to paint on the reader’s canvas: they’re tall pines.

Then juxtaposition between the gentle slope and the steep pass. The road in the pass is dark, contrasted with the white water.

He could have simply said “the road was dark”, but he splits “the dark” out — which makes room for “oiled.”

We also learn that it’s daytime in the summer.

All this in just three sentences.

The sandwich creates tension: first calm where we find ourselves now, then mystery or danger where it’s steep, dark & oiled, and then on the other side, more calm.

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Crap. Your hot date is at 7. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and flip open the laptop.

Or… what if:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 9:27 — final draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

Copygloss handled it. Before you left for the date, actually.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].