For Whom the Bell Tolls

The novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (in the Russian edition) is the first… (This entry appears to be Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”)
The novel is set during the Spanish Civil War. The main character, Robert Jordan, an American volunteer, must blow up a bridge, which will enable a large-scale offensive against the fascist army. From the moment he receives the order until the actual explosion, three days pass. These three days are the entire action of the novel, which opens up the scale of a whole life: loyalty to duty or cowardice, friendship and betrayal, courage or lack of nerve, true love and death—along with the past, the present, and the coming future. A tense state of waiting, a sense of anxiety, and in places even despair—then, for Robert Jordan, feelings suddenly flare up for Maria, a girl who survived the death of her parents, fascist violence, and found refuge in a band of partisans.