perdut.- Hi ha altre exemplar amb Reg. 00704

Jaume Llorens

"Whistle", the grand finale of James Jones "From Here To Eternity" trilogy, brings the WW II drama to a heartbreaking conclusion. Whistle follows the soldiers from the battle field to the VA hospital, the most vulnerable situation imaginable. The beaten down, injured veterans are confronted with limited choices - leave the service permanently wounded, maimed, disfigured, and crippled, or regain their health enough to return to their platoon, knowing the odds are against ever surviving another battle.

The injured soldiers suffer just as much from mental anguish as from the physical injuries. They live with nightly dreams that cause them to wake up screaming and panting for breath. They feel guilt - for leaving their platoon behind, for being the one to survive when many of their close associates fell to death on the battle field. They feel guilty simply for being alive. They can not communicate any of the pain - to anyone. Loved ones at home do not comprehend what they experienced. And they are too proud and stubborn to reveal their true feelings of pain to fellow soldiers. They are determined to appear strong and almost indifferent to the weakness and vulnerability they really feel. They fear if they let their guard down just once, they may totally break and never recover. Some do just that.

This is the continuing story of four injured soldiers. It begins as they wait at the Army base to learn their fate. Will they recover and be sent back to battle or will they be discharged? And if they are discharged, what kind of life awaits at home - is there anyone at all waiting for them? They were accustomed to getting the proverbial “Dear John” letters - “Sorry honey, while you’ve been gone I have started a new life with someone else,

After viewing hundreds of WW II movies over the years, and reading extensively about the war, I was still unprepared for the raw emotion of these army soldiers - uncensored, unfiltered, raw emotion.

The advice to young budding authors has always been, “write what you know about” and indeed, James Jones did just that. This trilogy, although fictional, is based on James Jones own experiences in the army during the war. But I do wonder, were the soldiers really that obsessed with sex, or was that just James Jones obsession.

It is a terribly depressing, heart-wrenching story - but worthy of the highest rating in every category: character development, style, plot, and over-all presentation.

Rated 5 Stars August 2021 ( )

"Go to the Widow Maker" is pure entertainment - written in the 1960s - no filters - no politically correct prose, and no hesitation for fear of offending a sensitive reader. In a provocative, macho guy’s narrative, James addresses the issues of love, loyalty, friendship, and the extremes guys will go to in proving their manliness. If you ever wished you were a fly on the wall in a men’s locker room, or at a bachelor’s week-end get-away, this should satisfy your curiosity.

It is one of the most entertaining novels I’ve read so far this year. The protagonist, Ron Grant, 36 year old famous American Playwright, travels to Jamaica to learn skindiving.
Shortly before embarking on his extended vacation he falls in love with a New York Socialite, which complicates Grant’’s life because he is still entangled in a long term love affair with a very possessive older married woman - a woman who’s actions lead the reader to believe she is totally insane.

Grant’s new love and his old love follow him to Jamaica, and what ensues is a chaotic, drunken adventure with the crude, obnoxious, skin-diving group of guys. The story has fantastic character development, is drenched in deep-sea diving descriptions, refreshingly blunt and artistically authentic natural flowing dialogue, provocative sexual passion, and the plot is intense to the very last page.

You might compare it to Ernest Hemingway novels, but it is even more macho, and more wild, and has a more sensational plot.

In case you are curious, the title of the book is taken from a Rudyard Kipling poem, and the “widow maker” in that poem is an old gray boat.

James Jones is most famous for his Award winning novel "From Here To Eternity", (which was book 1 of a trilogy) - a story of World War II.

Rated 5 Stars June 2021 ( )

The novel follows the crew from "From Here to Eternity" in their interaction with the hospitals where they have ended up. Though as usual, the names have been changed from the original set, a decision that Jones later found a mistake on his part, you can easily re-establish who everyone is supposed to be. There process of physical healing is well developed, and though there will be some glitches in following this story through to complete civilian life in "Some Came Running", if you are reading the "Pruitt" cycle chronologically, this is a worthy chapter. These are high quality fiction, in my estimation, and well worth the read. ( )