false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171247310m/92417.jpg 92417 15 <i>"When compared to the fact that he might very well be dead by this time tomorrow, whether he was courageous or not today was pointless, empty. When compared to the fact that he might be dead tomorrow, everything was pointless. Life was pointless. Whether he looked at a tree or not was pointless. It just didn't make any difference. It was pointless to the tree, it was pointless to every man in his outfit, pointless to everybody in the whole world. Who cared? It was not pointless only to him; and when he was dead, when he ceased to exist, it would be pointless to him too. More important: Not only would it <b>be</b> pointless, it would <b>have been</b> pointless, all along."</i><p> Such is the ultimate significance of war in <I>The Thin Red Line</I> (1962), James Jones's fictional account of the battle between American and Japanese troops on the island of Guadalcanal. The narrative shifts effortlessly among multiple viewpoints within C-for-Charlie Company, from commanding officer Capt. James Stein, his psychotic first sergeant Eddie Welsh, and the young privates they send into battle. The descriptions of combat conditions--and the mental states it induces--are unflinchingly realistic, including the dialog (in which a certain word Norman Mailer rendered as "fug" 15 years earlier in <I>The Naked and the Dead</I> appears properly spelled on numerous occasions). This is more than a classic of combat fiction; it is one of the most significant explorations of male identity in American literature, establishing Jones as a novelist of the caliber of Herman Melville and Stephen Crane. 994495 1962 The Thin Red Line total:372|5:101|4:177|3:74|2:19|1:1| 372 1474 608 35 5 0 false false Thu Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Jul 26 18:19:49 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 18:21:51 -0700 2009
James Jones draws the title of this book from the "thin red line between the sane and the mad." But the subtitle gives a clearer sense of the theme - "every man fights his own war."

On the surface, The Thin Red Line is strikingly similar...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 05:39:10 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 05:47:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 23 04:20:07 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 04:23:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Sep 22 06:57:02 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 07:00:59 -0700 2009
It's been a long time since I read this (1999?), but I seem to recall James Jones sometimes gets a bit smug with his nihilism, which is a deadly combination for me. Doom can be romantic, sexy, funn...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sat Oct 31 16:42:19 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 16:43:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 14 08:17:09 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 12:02:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Sat Jul 28 16:39:14 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 16:54:54 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Mar 12 11:54:32 -0700 2007 Thu Mar 22 09:48:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1980 Fri Oct 09 14:34:28 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 14:35:24 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jun 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 03 20:52:35 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 20:53:23 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Dec 26 23:36:20 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 23:36:48 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Sep 18 09:48:02 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 03 16:24:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 22 10:25:50 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 10:26:26 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Mar 20 20:03:38 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 20:05:02 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Mar 06 15:41:49 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 15:44:16 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Nov 21 15:24:24 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 11:07:06 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 21 18:35:02 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 14:17:33 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 11 13:46:01 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 11 13:50:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 19 09:44:06 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 28 07:56:53 -0700 2009 The Thin Red Line and From Here to Eternity. Both great books. more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 25 10:59:42 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 25 18:33:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=92417