It may be surprising that I was not inspired to read James Jones' epic novel, From Here To Eternity (1951) because of the film version starring Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Cliff, but rather by an essay, "Islands," from Joan Didion's collection The White Album. That being said it was a review by Pauline Kael in her book I Lost It At The Movies, that prompted me to search out the film version. This novel is epic in that Jones inhabits many different worlds within the 850 pages of his novel. For example, on one level this novel is a love letter to a pre war Hawaii remembered by Jones. And it from this perspective that Didion is most drawn to the novel. I have to admit to having only been in Oahu twice but I could identify with that angle somewhat as well. It is, in my mind, the quintessential Hawaiian novel.
The book must have caused a sensation in its day (even though the first edition was somewhat self censored) due to the rough language, violence and the frank portrayal of the drinking, whoring, and consorting with known homosexuals that the soldiers engaged in and depicted in explicit detail. It is raw and brutal and true to life. On another level, it is almost an army procedural about life in the infantry, on leave, in the stockade, and at war. It delves deep into the convictions of the soldiers who often engage in quasi-philosophical musing about different aspects of life when faced with difficult decisions or exasperating results from the system that they cannot control. It gives a clear picture of the kind of men who were enlisted in the army pre-draft time and the troubles most saw. However, the two heroes of the story are Milt Warden the First Sargent and leader extraordinaire and the stubborn, anti-authoritarian Harland County private Robert E. Lee Prewitt. It is their lives and loves with the wife of the his commanding officer Karen Holmes for Warden and the prostitute with a hear of gold, Loren, for Prewitt. And their lives are bond to the that of the army, the officers, their fellow soldiers, and the inexplicable system that keeps the machine running. If there's any downside, it's that some stretches of the novel are not as captivating as the action packed sections.
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