The Thin Red Line (The World War II Trilogy)
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The novel portrays battle realistically, including several particularly gruesome acts depicted as natural responses to the soldiers' environment, such as the disinterring of a Japanese corpse for fun, the summary execution of Japanese prisoners, and the extraction of their corpses' gold teeth. The novel explores the idea that modern war is an extremely personal and lonely experience in which each soldier suffers the emotional horrors of war by himself.
The title comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem " Tommy ", from the collection Barrack-Room Ballads , in which Kipling describes foot soldiers as "the thin red line of 'eroes".
Kirkus Reviews praised the novel in , commenting that the novel's "well-drawn battle narrative provides take-off points for dozens of character studies, and the author describes emotional responses to battle, fear, death, homosexuality, along with detached, ironic comments on army organization and the workings of fate, luck and circumstance". Reviewers, critics and scholars have lauded it for its realism.
The Thin Red Line (novel) - Wikipedia
Some, myself included, would place the novel in the domain of literary naturalism because the destinies of Jones's soldiers are determined by chance and by social, economic, psychological, and political forces beyond their control and, sometimes, even beyond their recognition". British historian and military writer John Keegan nominated The Thin Red Line as, in his opinion, one of only two novels portraying Second World War combat that could be favorably compared to the best of the literature to arise from the First World War the other was Flesh Wounds by British writer David Holbrook.
The novel has been adapted for cinema twice, first by Andrew Marton in , then by Terrence Malick in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Thin Red Line First edition. The New York Times: Archived from the original on The Face of Battle. Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War.
The World War II Trilogy
All three books are bleak, bordering on nihilistic at times. But they remain a unique insight into the minds of soldiers struggling to find meaning in their lives and This trilogy takes a lot to get through. But they remain a unique insight into the minds of soldiers struggling to find meaning in their lives and deaths. One of the passages from "The Thin Red Line" sums it up: When compared to the fact that he might be dead tomorrow, everything was pointless. His characters are stubborn, proud, and often incapable of choosing--or perhaps even experiencing--happiness.
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And taken as a whole, this trilogy does probably best represent the unseen toll that war exacts. There are no heroes in this milieu; there are only the dead and those who survive.
May 22, Jon Boles rated it it was amazing Shelves: FHTE is easily the best and most time consuming of the bunch, a whopper of a novel that took three weeks to truly plow through. It is a novel replete with Army men flawed and noble and the women who love them, all seeking to maintain some semblance of honor or ideal in the face of oppression or injustice within the barracks or the stockade or even out on drunken reveille, all of this taking place within the peacetime of Hawaii. Easily in my top ten novels ever read.
This one is in essence a tale of broken men losing themselves in drink, women and eventually madness, none of whom can ever leave the Army or the war behind and go back to what they were.
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Combined, the three books open ones eyes to what the experience of an American infantryman was like in WWII from the lead up to Pearl Harbor to the aftermath of battle. These characters feel lived in and loved for all their flaws, their lack of happiness or stubbornness which causes them to forsake better choices. While each story stands alone, the trilogy thematically connects throughout, and one fully experiences a real rarity in literature: May 02, Cyril rated it liked it.
The World War II Trilogy by James Jones - ebook. his own experiences in the US Army, author James Jones's World War II Trilogy stands The Thin Red Line. Editorial Reviews. Review. “Jones was a powerful naturalistic chronicler of certain essential realities of warfare and of the responses of men at war.” —The New.
Read just From Here to Eternity. The other books are supposed to be sequels, even though the main characters have different names, and at least one of them has already died. Eternity is a really long book that I could not give the attention it warranted.
Some of the plot is sensational, but the down-in-the-gutter exploits of some of the enlisted does ring true. Because the focus is on the seamier side Read just From Here to Eternity. Because the focus is on the seamier side of military life, I found all the characters unsympathetic.
It is fascinating to see the military becoming more professional in the background. Ryan W Taylor rated it really liked it Aug 29, Beth rated it it was amazing Dec 13, James rated it it was amazing Apr 20, Bob Sauerbrey rated it really liked it Mar 14, Linda J Piette rated it it was amazing Nov 14, John Struckmann rated it it was amazing Nov 18, John rated it it was amazing Nov 24, Richard Coleman rated it it was amazing Nov 07, Powers rated it it was amazing Aug 08, Chris Elder rated it it was amazing Dec 29, Y rated it liked it Mar 05, Craig rated it it was ok Jan 12, Jansen rated it it was amazing Jul 26, Andrew Flatley rated it really liked it Nov 24, Erin rated it did not like it Nov 26, Nick Corlett rated it it was amazing Jan 31, Tom P rated it it was amazing Dec 19, Phillip J rated it it was amazing Sep 26, Clark Maddux rated it liked it May 20, Amy rated it really liked it Oct 17,