Jones, James (author)

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'''James Jones''' (November 6, 1921 – May 9, 1977) is a midwestern [[United States|American]] author best known for the fictional portrayals of his real life accounts as a witness to the [[Pearl Harbor]] attacks and as a soldier in [[World War II]]. The first of these depictions, "From Here to Eternity" (1951) has been named one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century by the [[Modern Library]].
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'''James Jones''' (November 6, 1921 – May 9, 1977) was a midwestern [[United States|American]] author who wrote in the tradition of [[naturalism]]. His novels and short stories often celebrated human endurance. He is best known for the fictional portrayals of his real life accounts as a witness to the [[Pearl Harbor]] attacks and as a soldier in [[World War II]]. The first of these depictions, ''From Here to Eternity'' (1951), has been named one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century by the [[Modern Library]].
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At the onstart of his career in the 1950's, Jones was regarded as one of the major novelists of his generation. Today, his works are some of the best material for examining the complete soldiering experience from a spiritual and humanistic perspective.  
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Early in his career, in the 1950s, Jones was regarded as one of the major novelists of his generation. Today, his works are considered particularly valuable material for examining the experience of soldiering from a spiritual and humanistic perspective.  
  
 
== Life ==
 
== Life ==
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Born in 1921, in the small community of Robinson, [[Illinois]], James Jones was the son of Ramon Jones and [[Ada Blessing]]. Jones was a perceptive youth, showing early signs of his talent as a writer. Says Barbara Moody, a friend of Jones' from his earlier years: "He was intensely interested in people. When you talked with him, you were the only person there. He made no judgments. He treated everyone the same, whether he was talking to a small child or anyone." Endowed with a sensitive and passionate nature, Jones stood apart from most other inhabitants of the small town of Robinson. According to Moody, he tended to live "on the edge" and was not understood well by others.
  
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Born in 1921 in the small community of Robinson, [[Illinois]], James Jones was the son of a Ramon, an alcoholic dentist, and a very religious mother, Ada Blessing. Jones was a perceptive youth, showing early signs that he was something of a born writer. Says Barbara Moody, a friend of Jones' from his earlier years:
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Jones enlisted in the [[Army]] in 1939, and served in the [[U.S. 25th Infantry Division]] before and during [[World War II]]. Assigned first to [[Hawaii]], he was an eyewitness to the attacks on [[Pearl Harbor]], the only major writer to have this distinction. He studied briefly at the University of Hawaii while awaiting his regiment's war assignment. Eventually, he would enter combat at [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]], for which he earned both a [[Bronze Star]] and a [[Purple Heart]]. Due to his wounds, he spent time recovering at a Memphis military hospital before receiving an honorable discharge from the army, returning home to Illinois in 1944, as an embittered and angry man.
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"He was intensely interested in people. When you talked with him you were the only person there. He made no judgements. He treated everyone the same, whether he was talking to a small child or anyone."
 
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James, endowed with a sensitive and passionate nature, stood apart from most other inhabitants of Robinson. According to Moody, he tended to live on the edge and was not understood well by others. He enlisted in the [[Army]] in 1939 and served in the [[US 25th Infantry Division]] before and during [[World War II]], first in Hawaii, where he had the distinction of being the only individual who would become a major writer to witness the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He studied briefly at the University of Hawaii while awaiting his regiment's assignment. Eventually he would enter combat at [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] for which he earned both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for a wound he received in January, 1943. He spent time recovering at a Memphis military hospital before receiving an honorable discharge from the army, returning home to Illinois in 1944 an embittered and angry man.
 
  
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Back in his hometown, Jones became a drinker and a brawler, revealing a new side of him that contrasted his more compassionate qualities. It was during this time that Jones also became a writer, turning to his experiences in Hawaii and Guadalcanal for the substance of his work. He moved out east in early 1945 to study at NYU. Here he met Maxwell Perkins of Scribner's, to whom he submitted his apprentice novel, "They Shall Inherit the Laughter," a story about soldiers returning home from World War II. The manuscript was rejected, but Perkins gave Jones a monetary advance on a story idea he had about his pre-World War II experience in Hawaii. The author then returned to Illinois where he went back to the drawing board with his second attempt at a novel. During this time Jones also, together with his mentor and lover, local intellectual and free spirit Lowney Handy, formed the Handy Writer's Colony in 1949 just 15 miles north in Marshall, Illinois. The colony was conceived as a Utopian commune where emerging writers could focus on their projects.
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Back in his hometown, Jones became a drinker and a brawler, revealing a side of his personality that contrasted with his more compassionate qualities. It was during this time that Jones also became a writer, turning to his experiences in Hawaii and Guadalcanal for the substance of his work. He moved east in early 1945, to study at [[New York University]] (NYU). Here he met [[Maxwell Perkins]] of [[Scribner's]], to whom he submitted his novel, ''They Shall Inherit the Laughter,'' a story about soldiers returning home from [[World War II]]. The manuscript was rejected, but Perkins gave Jones a monetary advance on a story idea he had about his pre-World War II experience in Hawaii. Jones then returned to Illinois to work on this novel. Together with his mentor and lover, local intellectual and free spirit [[Lowney Handy]], Jones formed the [[Handy Writer's Colony]] in 1949, in Marshall, Illinois. The colony was conceived of as a [[utopian]] commune where emerging writers could focus on their projects.
  
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That same year, Jones completed what would become his career's catalyst, the novel, "From Here to Eternity". The book was an international best seller and received high critical acclaim. Its success earned Jones, for the first time in his life, both fame and money as well as the National Book Award in 1952. Jones continued to write fiction ("Some Came Running") while still maintaining residence in Robinson, where he built himself a dream-house batchler pad for $85,000. During this time, he frequently travelled, especially to New York City, the literary mecca of the 1950s, where he quickly made friends with literary figures such as James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, William Styron, and Budd Schulberg, among others. On one occassion in New York, Styron, Jones, and Mailer were out on the town in Greenwich Village; as they paused for a stoplight, Styron threw his arms around both companions and made the famous statement: "Here we are, the three best writers of our generation, and we're all together!"
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That year, Jones completed what would become his career's catalyst, the novel ''From Here to Eternity.'' The book was an international best seller and received high critical acclaim. Its success earned Jones both fame and money, as well as the [[National Book Award]], in 1952. Jones continued to write fiction ''(Some Came Running)'' while maintaining his residence in Robinson, where he built himself a dream-house bachelor home. During this time, he frequently traveled, especially to [[New York City]], where he made friends with literary figures such as [[James Baldwin]], [[Norman Mailer]], [[William Styron]], and [[Budd Schulberg]], among others.
  
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In 1957, the author married the enigmatic Gloria Mosalino, who fellow writer Irwin Shaw described as "the candle that kept the house alight." The couple soon moved to Paris as part of the second generation of American Expatriate writers and artists, becoming central figures for the postwar European literary scene. The two lived a lifestyle typical of [[the Beat]] generation, spending most of their time in the St-Germain section of the Left Bank, an area "full of all kinds of artistic ferment—painters, writers, poets, playwrights, many of whom are Americans," he wrote a friend in 1959.
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In 1957, Jones married the enigmatic [[Gloria Mosalino]]. The couple soon moved to [[Paris]] as part of the second generation of American expatriate writers and artists, becoming central figures for the postwar European literary scene. Their lifestyle was that of the [[Beat generation]], spending most of their time in the St. Germain section of the [[Left Bank]].
  
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Jim and Gloria, deeply in love, had two children in Paris. Jones continued to write books, his next piece 1962's "The Thin Red Line", which served as the second part of his World War II trilogy following "From Here to Eternity." Compelled by an attractive multi-book contract offer from the American publishing house, Dell, Jones left Scribner's at the end of 1964, producing for his new publisher, "Go to the Widow-maker" (1967) and "The Ice-cream Headache and Other Stories" (1968). During this time Jones also served as a European talent scout for Dell and spent considerable time critiquing and encouraging young writers. Work on the final volume of his military trilogy was interrupted twice to produce "The Merry Month of May" (1971) and "A Touch of Danger" (1973).  
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The couple had two children in Paris, and Jones continued to write books. His next novel was 1962's ''The Thin Red Line,'' which served as the second part of his World War II trilogy following ''From Here to Eternity.'' Compelled by an attractive multi-book contract offer from the American publishing house [[Dell]], Jones left [[Scribner]]'s at the end of 1964, producing for his new publisher, ''Go to the Widow-maker'' (1967) and ''The Ice-cream Headache and Other Stories'' (1968). During this time Jones also served as a European talent scout for Dell and spent considerable time critiquing and encouraging young writers. Work on the final volume of his military trilogy was interrupted twice to produce ''The Merry Month of May'' (1971) and ''A Touch of Danger'' (1973).  
  
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Following a visit to [[Vietnam]] in early 1973, Jones published an account of his trip called ''Viet Journal'' and began to think seriously of a return to the U.S. In 1974, he accepted a one-year teaching position at [[Florida International University]] in [[Miami]] and wrote the text for the illustrated history, ''WWII'' (1975). At the end of his FIU tenure, Jones moved to Sagaponack, [[Long Island]], and began again to work on the third in his World War II series, ''Whistle'' (1978). Struggling with worsening health, he worked through 1976 and early 1977 to complete the novel but died on May 9, 1977, from heart failure, before he could finish the project. Following his death, his friend [[Willie Morris]] added an outline of the unfinished final chapters of the novel, which was then published the following year.
  
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==World War II trilogy==
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Jones' ''magnum opus,'' the three novels which comprised his [[trilogy]] examining the evolutionary process of the soldier in [[World War II]], began in 1951, with the publication of his masterwork, ''From Here to Eternity''. The book depicts army life in pre-war [[Hawaii]], drawn from the author's firsthand accounts of his time stationed just before and after Japan's sneak attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] in 1941. It was later adapted into a blockbuster movie, which earned eight [[Academy Award]]s in 1953. 
  
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Following a reportorial trip to Viet Nam in early 1973 Jones published Viet Journal and began to think seriously of a return to the United States. In 1974 he accepted a one-year teaching position at Florida International University in Miami, and wrote the text for the illustrated history WWII. At the end of his FIU tenure, James Jones moved to Sagaponack, Long Island, and began again to work on Whistle, the culmination of the story begun with From Here to Eternity. Struggling with increasing health problems, Jones worked in 1976 and early 1977 to complete Whistle. Following his death on May 9, 1977, his friend Willie Morris added an outline of the unfinished final chapters of the novel, which was published in 1978.
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The second in the series was ''The Thin Red Line'' (1964), which describes the intense jungle combat that took place on [[Guadalcanal]]. This book, also, was later adapted into a major Hollywood film, first in 1964, and a second time in 1998, by director [[Terrence Malik]].
  
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==World War II Trilogy==
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The final piece of Jones' trilogy, ''Whistle'' (1978), deals with a group of wounded soldiers coming home to an Army hospital in America's deep South. This, too, was based on of Jones' own experiences as a wounded soldier in a military hospital in [[Memphis]], [[Tennessee]]. 
  
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The acclaimed World War II author James Jones set down a trilogy examining the evolutionary process an individual undergoes to become a soldier when he wrote From Here To Eternity, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle. This process he experienced first-hand and influenced his writing for the rest of his life. In his book WWII he defined what this evolutionary process culminates in for a soldier:  
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The evolutionary process that Jones experienced first-hand as a young man forced to grow up fast as a soldier, was the prime inspiration for the bulk of Jones' works. In his book ''WWII,'' Jones gave the following summary of the soldier's culminating insight into his role as a war-fighter:  
  
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I think that when all the nationalistic or ideological and patriotic slogans are put aside, all the straining to convince a soldier that he is dying for something, it is the individual soldier's final full acceptance of the fact that his name is already written down in the rolls of the already dead. (54)
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<blockquote>I think that when all the nationalistic or ideological and patriotic slogans are put aside, all the straining to convince a soldier that he is dying for something, it is the individual soldier's final full acceptance of the fact that his name is already written down in the rolls of the already dead.</blockquote>
  
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The trilogy chronicles the complete soldiering experience of military life, the brutality of combat and the impact this may have on those that survive. It is this process that Jones came to call "the evolution of a soldier." The author firmly believes that it was an absolute miracle this country evolved such superb soldiers in such a short amount of time during World War II. Militarism was, and is, an anathema to the values this country is committed to and put us at a decided disadvantage when facing the powers of Germany, Japan and Italy. Jones writes of pre-war America in WWII.  
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Jones firmly believed that it was an absolute miracle that America was able to create a generation of victorious soldiers in such a short amount of time, especially since these same soldiers, unlike those of the the Axis nations, had grown up believing that war was the greatest wrong.
  
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While most nations were spending young fortunes for wars, and indeed often engaging in them in one form or another, we were teaching our young that war was immoral, and evil, and that, in fact, it was so costly in both treasure and spirit that mankind simply could no longer afford it. All conditions devoutly to be wished, but hardly a realistic description of the 1930s. (30)
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==Legacy==
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Though regarded in his time by some to be one of the generation's greatest voices, Jones' name for the most part has dropped out of the public's attention. This is due in part to the fact that he was greatly ignored by the writing academy at large during his career.  
  
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In order to re-create this evolutionary process, Jones has us examine a fictionalized view of his personal wartime trilogy. In From Here To Eternity we see Army life in pre-war Hawaii; The Thin Red Line exposed us to intense jungle combat on Guadalcanal; and in Whistle the wounded come home to an Army hospital in the deep South. Each novel will present these experiences as they relate to Jones's evolution concept.  
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He is, however, remembered in certain literary circles as a genius of his time, and credited by many veterans today for having contributed much to the world's appreciation of the World War II generation. Furthermore, the Academy award-winning film adapted from his novel ''From Here to Eternity'' remains a well-known classic today.
  
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But his trilogy asks us to remember that the process was not as antisceptic as the history books present things. Real people, just like the ones we know and meet everyday, were crippled, maimed and died horribly, sometimes alone, sometimes for no other reason than they were told to "get up and move that way" and they did; they were sons, they were brothers, they were fathers, they were soldiers.  
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There was also a revival of interest in Jones when his novel, ''The Thin Red Line'', was adapted into a major film directed by Terrence Malick, released in 1998. In that same year, ''A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries'' was also released as a major film. The movie was an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Kaylie Jones, James and Gloria's first child, which depicted Kaylie's experiences as James' daughter.
  
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His wartime experiences inspired some of his most famous works. He witnessed the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], which led to his first published novel, ''[[From Here to Eternity (novel)|From Here to Eternity]]''. ''[[The Thin Red Line (1962 novel)|The Thin Red Line]]'' reflected his combat experiences on Guadalcanal. His last novel, ''[[Whistle (novel)|Whistle]]'', was based on his hospital stay in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], recovering from his wounds. Jones would not live long enough to see the completion of his last novel, however Jones did leave behind copious notes for Willie Morris to complete the final section of ''Whistle'' upon his death.  
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The James Jones Literary Society, founded in 1992, claims hundreds of members from the U.S. and [[Puerto Rico]]. The Society offers information and news of the author and his artistic contributions, as well as an $2,000 fellowship conferred annually to an unpublished writer.
  
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==Works==
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*''From Here to Eternity'' (1951). Adapted into a film in 1953.
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*''Some Came Running''. Adapted into a film in 1958.
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*''The Pistol'' (1959).
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*''The Thin Red Line'' (1962).  Adapted into a film in both 1964 and 1998.
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*''Go to the Widow-Maker'' (1967).
 +
*''The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories'' (1968).
 +
*''The Merry Month of May'' (1971).
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*''A Touch of Danger'' (1973)
 +
*''Viet Journal'' (1975)
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*''WW II,'' Grosset & Dunlap, (1975).
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*''Whistle'' (1978). Completed by [[Willie Morris]].
  
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==References==
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* Carter, Stephen R.''James Jones: An American Literary Orientalist Master''. University of Illinois Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0252023712
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* Helterman, Jeffrey and Richard Layman. ''American Novelists Since World War II''. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1978. ISBN 9780810309142
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* Hendrick, George, Helen Howe, and Don Sackrider. ''James Jones and the Handy Writers' Colony''. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2001. ISBN 9780809323654 
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* Morris, Willie. ''James Jones: A Friendship''. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. ISBN 9780385144322
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The posthumous publication of ''Whistle'' in 1978 saw the completion of Jones' war trilogy (the first parts being ''From Here to Eternity'' and ''The Thin Red Line''), of which he wrote: "It will say just about everything I have ever had to say, or will ever have to say, on the [[human condition]] of war and what it means to us, as against what we claim it means to us."
 
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Jones is the father of author [[Kaylie Jones]], best known for writing ''[[A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries]]'', a thinly veiled memoir of the Joneses living in Paris during the 1960s.  Ms. Jones' novel was made into a film starring [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[Barbara Hershey]] and [[Leelee Sobieski]] in 1998. The release of this film, which coincided with the release of a new film version of ''The Thin Red Line'', directed by [[Terrence Malick]], sparked a revival in James Jones' life and his works.
 
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In his book James Jones, James R. Giles brings this fact to light within the first few pages; Giles writes,
 
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For almost thirty years, James Jones was the friend, and frequently the benefactor, of American writers at home and abroad. Despite his clear importance in the writing community, the academy still largely ignores him. PMLA biographies from 1951 to 1976 list only ten articles about his work in scholarly journals and essay collections, three of which are in publications outside the United States. It often seems that, when academicians remember Jones, it is as the spokesman for an anachronistic male supremacy or as a writer of flawed naturalistic prose. (5)
 
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Still, 34 years have passed since Some Came Running was published, and amends are being made. Two years ago an eclectic blend of community members and renowned scholars started The James Jones Society, which claims at least 145 members from 20 states and Puerto Rico. Jones's boyhood home is being restored as a tourist attraction, and a $2000 fellowship will be conferred annually to an unpublished writer.
 
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He wrote. From Here to Eternity topped the bestseller list in 1951. Other books followed, some great (like The Thin Red Line) and some not well received (such as Some Came Running), and
 
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Jones died in Long Island in 1977. He had become one of the most significant writers of his time.
 
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== Bibliography ==
 
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*''[[From Here to Eternity (novel)|From Here to Eternity]]'', (1951) (made into a [[From Here to Eternity|film]] in 1953)
 
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*''[[Some Came Running]]'', (1957) (made into a film in 1958)
 
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*''[[The Pistol]]'', (1959)
 
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*''[[The Thin Red Line (1962 novel)|The Thin Red Line]]'', (1962) (made into a film in both [[The Thin Red Line (1964 film)|1964]] and [[The Thin Red Line (1998 film)|1998]])
 
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*''[[Go to the Widow-Maker]]'', (1967)
 
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*''[[The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories]]'', (1968)
 
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*''[[The Merry Month of May]]'', (1971)
 
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*''[[A Touch of Danger]]'', (1973)
 
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*''WW II'', (1975)
 
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*''[[Whistle (novel)|Whistle]]'', (1978) (completed by [[Willie Morris]])
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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* [http://rking.vinu.edu/j.htm The James Jones Literary Society]
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All links retrieved March 18, 2018.
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* [http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/beinecke.JONES.con.html James Jones Papers]. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
 
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*[http://wiredforbooks.org/jamesjones/ 1975 Audio Interview with James Jones - RealAudio]
 
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*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7581199 James Jones on Find-A-Grave]
 
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*[http://www.theparisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/4779 Read Jones's interview with The Paris Review]
 
  
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{{US-novelist-1920s-stub}}
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*[http://www.theparisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/4779 Jones' interview with The Paris Review]. ''www.theparisreview.org''.
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*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7581199 James Jones at Find-A-Grave]. ''www.findagrave.com''.
  
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[[Category:history and biography]]
 
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[[Category:art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 
 
{{Credit|131999179}}
 
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[[Category:History]]
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[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]

Latest revision as of 20:44, 18 March 2018

James Jones (November 6, 1921 – May 9, 1977) was a midwestern American author who wrote in the tradition of naturalism. His novels and short stories often celebrated human endurance. He is best known for the fictional portrayals of his real life accounts as a witness to the Pearl Harbor attacks and as a soldier in World War II. The first of these depictions, From Here to Eternity (1951), has been named one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century by the Modern Library.

Early in his career, in the 1950s, Jones was regarded as one of the major novelists of his generation. Today, his works are considered particularly valuable material for examining the experience of soldiering from a spiritual and humanistic perspective.

Life

Born in 1921, in the small community of Robinson, Illinois, James Jones was the son of Ramon Jones and Ada Blessing. Jones was a perceptive youth, showing early signs of his talent as a writer. Says Barbara Moody, a friend of Jones' from his earlier years: "He was intensely interested in people. When you talked with him, you were the only person there. He made no judgments. He treated everyone the same, whether he was talking to a small child or anyone." Endowed with a sensitive and passionate nature, Jones stood apart from most other inhabitants of the small town of Robinson. According to Moody, he tended to live "on the edge" and was not understood well by others.

Jones enlisted in the Army in 1939, and served in the U.S. 25th Infantry Division before and during World War II. Assigned first to Hawaii, he was an eyewitness to the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the only major writer to have this distinction. He studied briefly at the University of Hawaii while awaiting his regiment's war assignment. Eventually, he would enter combat at Guadalcanal, for which he earned both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Due to his wounds, he spent time recovering at a Memphis military hospital before receiving an honorable discharge from the army, returning home to Illinois in 1944, as an embittered and angry man.

Back in his hometown, Jones became a drinker and a brawler, revealing a side of his personality that contrasted with his more compassionate qualities. It was during this time that Jones also became a writer, turning to his experiences in Hawaii and Guadalcanal for the substance of his work. He moved east in early 1945, to study at New York University (NYU). Here he met Maxwell Perkins of Scribner's, to whom he submitted his novel, They Shall Inherit the Laughter, a story about soldiers returning home from World War II. The manuscript was rejected, but Perkins gave Jones a monetary advance on a story idea he had about his pre-World War II experience in Hawaii. Jones then returned to Illinois to work on this novel. Together with his mentor and lover, local intellectual and free spirit Lowney Handy, Jones formed the Handy Writer's Colony in 1949, in Marshall, Illinois. The colony was conceived of as a utopian commune where emerging writers could focus on their projects.

That year, Jones completed what would become his career's catalyst, the novel From Here to Eternity. The book was an international best seller and received high critical acclaim. Its success earned Jones both fame and money, as well as the National Book Award, in 1952. Jones continued to write fiction (Some Came Running) while maintaining his residence in Robinson, where he built himself a dream-house bachelor home. During this time, he frequently traveled, especially to New York City, where he made friends with literary figures such as James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, William Styron, and Budd Schulberg, among others.

In 1957, Jones married the enigmatic Gloria Mosalino. The couple soon moved to Paris as part of the second generation of American expatriate writers and artists, becoming central figures for the postwar European literary scene. Their lifestyle was that of the Beat generation, spending most of their time in the St. Germain section of the Left Bank.

The couple had two children in Paris, and Jones continued to write books. His next novel was 1962's The Thin Red Line, which served as the second part of his World War II trilogy following From Here to Eternity. Compelled by an attractive multi-book contract offer from the American publishing house Dell, Jones left Scribner's at the end of 1964, producing for his new publisher, Go to the Widow-maker (1967) and The Ice-cream Headache and Other Stories (1968). During this time Jones also served as a European talent scout for Dell and spent considerable time critiquing and encouraging young writers. Work on the final volume of his military trilogy was interrupted twice to produce The Merry Month of May (1971) and A Touch of Danger (1973).

Following a visit to Vietnam in early 1973, Jones published an account of his trip called Viet Journal and began to think seriously of a return to the U.S. In 1974, he accepted a one-year teaching position at Florida International University in Miami and wrote the text for the illustrated history, WWII (1975). At the end of his FIU tenure, Jones moved to Sagaponack, Long Island, and began again to work on the third in his World War II series, Whistle (1978). Struggling with worsening health, he worked through 1976 and early 1977 to complete the novel but died on May 9, 1977, from heart failure, before he could finish the project. Following his death, his friend Willie Morris added an outline of the unfinished final chapters of the novel, which was then published the following year.

World War II trilogy

Jones' magnum opus, the three novels which comprised his trilogy examining the evolutionary process of the soldier in World War II, began in 1951, with the publication of his masterwork, From Here to Eternity. The book depicts army life in pre-war Hawaii, drawn from the author's firsthand accounts of his time stationed just before and after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. It was later adapted into a blockbuster movie, which earned eight Academy Awards in 1953.

The second in the series was The Thin Red Line (1964), which describes the intense jungle combat that took place on Guadalcanal. This book, also, was later adapted into a major Hollywood film, first in 1964, and a second time in 1998, by director Terrence Malik.

The final piece of Jones' trilogy, Whistle (1978), deals with a group of wounded soldiers coming home to an Army hospital in America's deep South. This, too, was based on of Jones' own experiences as a wounded soldier in a military hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

The evolutionary process that Jones experienced first-hand as a young man forced to grow up fast as a soldier, was the prime inspiration for the bulk of Jones' works. In his book WWII, Jones gave the following summary of the soldier's culminating insight into his role as a war-fighter:

I think that when all the nationalistic or ideological and patriotic slogans are put aside, all the straining to convince a soldier that he is dying for something, it is the individual soldier's final full acceptance of the fact that his name is already written down in the rolls of the already dead.

Jones firmly believed that it was an absolute miracle that America was able to create a generation of victorious soldiers in such a short amount of time, especially since these same soldiers, unlike those of the the Axis nations, had grown up believing that war was the greatest wrong.

Legacy

Though regarded in his time by some to be one of the generation's greatest voices, Jones' name for the most part has dropped out of the public's attention. This is due in part to the fact that he was greatly ignored by the writing academy at large during his career.

He is, however, remembered in certain literary circles as a genius of his time, and credited by many veterans today for having contributed much to the world's appreciation of the World War II generation. Furthermore, the Academy award-winning film adapted from his novel From Here to Eternity remains a well-known classic today.

There was also a revival of interest in Jones when his novel, The Thin Red Line, was adapted into a major film directed by Terrence Malick, released in 1998. In that same year, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries was also released as a major film. The movie was an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Kaylie Jones, James and Gloria's first child, which depicted Kaylie's experiences as James' daughter.

The James Jones Literary Society, founded in 1992, claims hundreds of members from the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The Society offers information and news of the author and his artistic contributions, as well as an $2,000 fellowship conferred annually to an unpublished writer.

Works

  • From Here to Eternity (1951). Adapted into a film in 1953.
  • Some Came Running. Adapted into a film in 1958.
  • The Pistol (1959).
  • The Thin Red Line (1962). Adapted into a film in both 1964 and 1998.
  • Go to the Widow-Maker (1967).
  • The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories (1968).
  • The Merry Month of May (1971).
  • A Touch of Danger (1973)
  • Viet Journal (1975)
  • WW II, Grosset & Dunlap, (1975).
  • Whistle (1978). Completed by Willie Morris.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Carter, Stephen R.James Jones: An American Literary Orientalist Master. University of Illinois Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0252023712
  • Helterman, Jeffrey and Richard Layman. American Novelists Since World War II. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1978. ISBN 9780810309142
  • Hendrick, George, Helen Howe, and Don Sackrider. James Jones and the Handy Writers' Colony. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2001. ISBN 9780809323654
  • Morris, Willie. James Jones: A Friendship. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. ISBN 9780385144322

External links

All links retrieved March 18, 2018.

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