The Thin Red Line

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 to The Naked and the Dead. Each novel tell the stories of a group of inexperienced soldiers sent as cannonfodder to fight the Japanese on a lonely Pacific island. But under the surface, the novels could not be more different. Norman Mailer's novel uses the war as a vehicle to preach a message about hypocricy and corruption at the core of American culture. The soldiers, not really human to start with, are manipulated and degraded by the military machine. The soldiers in The Thin Red Line face the same experiences as Mailer's characters. But Jones' characters are realistically human. They display independent thought (rational or not) and realistic emotions (alternately strained and dampened by the extremity and exhaustion of battle). Canny or confused, each one strives to make sense of the war and of his own responses. The theme of the book is the diversity of those responses. The last line sums it up: "One day one of their number would write a book about all this, but none of them would believe it, because none of them would remember it that way." Mailer gives us subhuman characters cast as soldiers; Jones helps us appreciate the humanity that survives even in the most degrading circumstances. Although this is a novel about characters, it does not let the reader get sentimentally attached to them. I appreciated the measure of emotional distance because otherwise the (sometimes graphic) death, destruction, and mayhem would have been painful to read.

It's difficult to write a book about soldiers at war. There are always many characters, the ranks are confusing, the description of the battles must be very accurate otherwise the reader will be lost. If it's fiction, the author must be very careful not to, unwillingly, transform his book in a re-telling of other, more commonly known battle events. James Webb managed to write a very good book about soldiers at war, "Fields of fire". Cornelius Ryan wrote a series of excellent non-fiction books about the second World War in its European Theatre. "The thin red line" is about the battle of Guadalcanal, an island of the Solomons chain and an important base in the south Pacific Ocean, between the american and the japanese troops. "The thin red line", by author and ex-combatent James Jones, was brought under the spotlights once again more recently after cult director Terrence Mallik transposed it to the big screen, for the second time, in 1998 (the first time was in 1964). The movie is visually beautiful, long, and insightful, with extraordinary development of its main characters. The book does not have visual resources, but Jones' fast prose, moving from character to character, from battle scenes to the long nights spent in the open, all this makes the reader "watch" what is happening with his or her mind, just like it was a movie. Jones knows what he is writing about. He was there, he did that. And he is intelligent. War battles are not much different, one from another (except if you are actually there, of course). So, Jones technic is to write unusually long chapters, to make the reader feel involved with the environment, with the people of C-for-Charlie Company. All the characters, with no exception, have, contrary to the chapters, unusually short names - four or five letters at most. Witt, Fife, Bell, Dale, Stein, Tall, Bosch, Bead, Gaff, just one syllabe, they are easy to remember and their sonority makes the reader instantly recognize the person associated to the name. Also, the brevity of the names reminds us of the brevity of the lives of his characters, fighting unexpected death at every moment. "The thin red line" is fiction, but barely. The last sentence of the book gives Jones away. It's fiction in the sense of characters ann their development, and building atmosphere. It is very good fiction, really a masterpiece. And it's a true account on the horrors of war. Fiction and truth, ballanced. Enjoy both parts. Grade 9.0/10

I have always liked the James Jones trilogy of the war era army--"From Here to Eternity""The Thin Red Line""Whistle""From Here to Eternity" details in unmatched accuracy what the pre-Pearl Harborprofessional army was like for the enlisted man."The Thin Red Line" carries that army and those men into combat in the Solomonswith the same honesty and intensity."Whistle" takes men wounded in combat home via hospital ship and statesiderehabilitation center.Most people have heard of "From Here to Eternity" and "The Thin Red Line" becausethey have been made into movies."Whistle," the concluding, and in many ways the most important volume of thetrilogy, is less known.Jones has always dwelt in the shadow of the more famous Norman Mailer. But Ihave always thought of Mailer as poseur who wrote what he wrote in order to beaccepted into literary society and become famous. Jones has always seemed tome the real deal. He enlisted in the army in 1939, was at Pearl Harbor whenthe Japs attacked, fought in the Solomons, receiving the Bronze Star with V forValor and the Purple Heart.With the money he made from "From Here to Eternity," Jones founded a writer'scolony and paid the hospital bills of the great and tragic poet DelmoreSchwartz, who clearly influenced Jones' writing. See especially the poem "Forthe One Who Would Take Man's Life in His Hands" from the collection "SummerKnowledge" published in 1938.As far as I know, no critic has ever noticed this, but the first stanza of thispoem in 12 lines gives the storyline of "From Here to Eternity." The secondstanza gives that of "The Thin Red Line," and the third and final stanza that of"Whistle."Jones carried out something remarkable, getting the vision for a monumentalliterary undertaking from a poem he read as an enlisted man in a garrison army,actually carrying out the vision and producing what, in my opinion, is thedefinitive American fictional narrative of the war. In short, Jones turned hislife into a poem and that poem into splendid novels.I stand in awe.

What struck me about this book was the lack of a "message." Jones simply tells a war story without making any judgments about it. Those looking for an anti-war or pro-war message will be disappointed.This book can be read on two levels. One can read it for its hard-hitting descriptions of combat. The fighting scenes on the various hills of Guadalcanal are somewhat tedious to read through the first time, but become clearer with a further reading. The raw impressions of the members of Charlie Company (with curses and all) are also particularly effective.On another level, Jones seeks to describe the human (as opposed to the mechanized) element of war. He describes the raw feelings of the men of Charlie Company. Some can't wait to kill the enemy. Others want to get out at any cost. Most are just resigned to their fate. Shining examples of heroism are also to be found. Jones also discusses the nature of leadership, as well as the opportunism and politics that thrives in any military organization. Jones makes sure that we never forget that an army is first and foremost an organization of people, and that it is these human relationships that shape the war."The Thin Red Line" is one of the masterpieces of American war literature. If you like "The Thin Red Line", I also recommend Jones's earlier novel, "From Here to Eternity."

I thought both this book and the movie were excellent but the two are so unique in their own way, you almost can't compare them. Both address the difficulties of facing and accepting death brought on by war. The book does this in a realistic, almost 'in your face' way with its detailed depictions of soldiers' experiences, both on the front line and off, and as it delves into each character's evolving thoughts and emotions. James Jones really brings you onto the battle field and into the soldiers' minds. The movie on the other hand takes a poetic, almost ethereal approach, leaving you to wonder and reflect upon death and war. While it doesn't take you deep into all of the character's minds, the movie does offer powerful imagery and eloquent narratives to illustrate its message...as well as excellent performances by the actors themselves. I highly recommend reading this book and seeing the movie, but don't expect them to take you down the same road. And if you're expecting another "Saving Private Ryan", then you should see "Saving Private Ryan". "The Thin Red Line" is on a whole other level.