For whom the bell tolls post III

Second major day into the book and it is starting to develop with some of the questions being answered and others lingering on. You can feel the tension mounting and fears about the war and the chances of success of the bridge blowing mission mounting in the small group of Republican fighters.

In terms of characters the old man Anselmo has faded into the background but Pablo's wife Pilar and the girl Maria have become stronger. Also some of the other members, who spent most of their time guarding the camp: Fernando, Augustin and the gypsy are getting fleshed out a little bit more.

Bullet points between pages 59 - 148

*It doesn't take long for things to develop between Robert and Maria

*Some of the group expected Robert to kill Pablo but he lets the chance go

*fascists send over bombers and fighters which scares everyone

*Rumours of republican forces blowing up the bridge are circulating the town

*Jordan links up with the other rebel group led by El Sordo

You are starting to get the feeling with the display of bombers and fighter planes, the heavy fascist troop movements and the mental state of the republican forces that the mission will end in disaster. Let's see what happens in the next chunk of reading tomorrow...