Men's Book Club discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
The Archives
>
The Thin Red Line
date
newest »
newest »
just picked up a copy from the library and plan to start rading this weekend
I was waiting for a library copy... just found out they've lost the only one in the county.Amazon to the rescue!
Plenty of background on this month's author at the James Jones Literary Society:http://www.jamesjonesliterarysociety....
Well, I finished the book last night and then watched the 1998 film adaptation. The novel was a big read, with solid dense prose for 500 odd pages that took me two weeks to complete. The writing felt modern especially with the use of the F-word; it hadn't really dated except for the in-depth character description and analysis.From a slow start, it built to the stage where I needed to settle down with this book and rejoin C-for-Charlie in their battles for the variously named hills. To find out how Witt, Bell, Fife, Welsh, Storm, Queen, et al where surviving. As an ensemble piece it really works, reminding me of Band of Brothers, but of course it pre-dates that.
The book is about men in war, and how they cope with debilitating fear, cowardice, chance, luck, fate, bravery, glory and death. There are some really brilliantly well drawn characters. Welsh and Witt are so so disappointing in the film...
In fact the film is disappointing all round except for Nick Nolte as Tall. It needed character actors not pretty boys. Jones gives us such great insights into all their personalities the casting director should have been taken out and shot!
I think it's worth 4.5 stars - with half a star taken off for the lack of maps - my only gripe about the book. A reader needs to kept informed and I hadn't much of an idea about Guadalcanal's topography before I read this book. Jones could see it in his mind's eye, he'd been there after all... as he tells us on the last page.
Anyone seen the 1964 film?
I never did see the 1964 film, nor the newer one. (Adds these to list of things to accomplish).In speaking of the tone and texture of the work, I think that he had these brilliant moments where he would sum up a character, a scene, or battle, in one sentence. It was a way of getting to the root of something quickly and efficiently--probably thanks to military training. Did you notice this when you read?
(Sorry I'm late to the party--I haven't been on GR for a while and my reading slowed this month--thanks, work.)
Interesting, but for a war book I felt it wasn't driven by action but by the characters. As a result it was incredibly wordy. I bet lots of people started the book but never finished it... GR?
Andy wrote: "Interesting, but for a war book I felt it wasn't driven by action but by the characters. As a result it was incredibly wordy. I bet lots of people started the book but never finished it... GR?"
Right. He was generally too wordy, except for those gems here and there which made some of the other wordiness redundant. I'll look for an example over the weekend before I return the book.
GR = GoodReads. Sorry.
Dennis wrote: "Andy wrote: "Interesting, but for a war book I felt it wasn't driven by action but by the characters. As a result it was incredibly wordy. I bet lots of people started the book but never finished i...":)
i was one that started the book but got bogged down and didn't finish it. As for the most recent movie, I like it, but them I saw "the tree of life" by the same director and he uses that same style in that movie as well. I was less than impressed.Randy
Mod
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Before then feel free to chat about your progress, the genre, similar books, the author, historical references, etc. In fact, anything that will enhance our reading experience.
No spoilers please!