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Freeper Reading Club Discussion: "From Here To Eternity"
Self | Janurary 12, 2002 | PJ-Comix

Posted on 01/12/2003 2:39:55 PM PST by PJ-Comix

The Freeper Reading Club now stands at 131 members which makes it (I believe) the LARGEST Reading Club on the Internet. Actually it may be the LARGEST Reading Club anywhere.

Anyway, I hope that most of our 131 members read the current assignment, From Here To Eternity by James Jones. This is perhaps the GREATEST novel ever written. I think it qualifies for THE Great American Novel. Many of you might not know this but most of the characters in this book (and in James Jones' other novels) were based on REAL people. The minor character of Slade (the Army Air Corps soldier) was based on James Jones himself (Jones transferred from the Air Corps to the regular infantry while stationed in Hawaii.)

I'll post more about all this as the discussion continues so post away your comments about this book. Oh, and if anybody else wants to join the Freeper Reading Club, Freepmail me and I'll put you on the Ping LIst.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: jamesjones
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The NEXT Freeper Reading Club discussion will be two read at LEAST two of Raymond Chandler's stories/novels. The two stories I have assigned are Trouble Is My Business and Red Wind. This discussion will commence on February 24. Oh, and don't worry about trying to "solve" the crimes. That is quite beside the point in reading the Philip Marlowe stories. What is important is reading how Chandler uses the American idiom in the Los Angeles setting. (Fun fact: Chandler basically invented "Film Noir").
1 posted on 01/12/2003 2:39:55 PM PST by PJ-Comix
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To: PJ-Comix
I'd like to join, provided we can have a disccussion of the use of light and shadow as an existential motif in "Clifford the Big Red Dog". :)
2 posted on 01/12/2003 2:42:19 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Another disturbed youth makes good!)
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3 posted on 01/12/2003 2:42:51 PM PST by Mo1 (Join the DC Chapter at the Patriots Rally III on 1/18/03)
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To: PJ-Comix
Kewl, I just finished this last week.
4 posted on 01/12/2003 2:44:34 PM PST by tet68
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To: Bahbah; contessa machiaveli; BADJOE; Mr.Clark; Betty Jane; Orblivion; Non-Sequitur; dixie sass; ...
Let the discussions begin! (BTW, I just found out 2 of the Usernames on my Ping List no longer exists so I have to downgrade the Freeper Reading Club membership to "only" 129 members.)
5 posted on 01/12/2003 2:45:06 PM PST by PJ-Comix (Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club)
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To: PJ-Comix
If the reading club ever disects an edition of TV Guide, I'm there!
6 posted on 01/12/2003 2:46:14 PM PST by hole_n_one
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To: PJ-Comix
You can add my name to the list and bring the membership up to 130.
7 posted on 01/12/2003 3:07:51 PM PST by Carolinamom
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To: PJ-Comix
Though this was the longest book so far on our reading list, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Many of the circumstances were similar to my time in the military. For example, for a while I lived in "squadbays" with 40 Marines bunked on each side and a common bathroom in the middle. Lights would go out at 2200 on the button and I remember we used to sit on the bathroom floor playing cards well into the night as well as other games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Risk. (Yes, Marines playing RISK on the bathroom floor at night!)

One thing about the book that didn't ring true to me, being that James Jones based this on actual events, was the apparently common practice of befriending homosexuals in town to "scam them" or "string them along" for money, free drinks, etc. In the book, there were a lot of soldiers doing this and during one investigation, two entire truckloads of soldiers who were thought to be fraternizing with homosexuals were brought in for questioning and the soldiers treated the whole thing like a joke.

I can tell you that when I was in the service, nothing of the sort was tolerated. If a Marine "got a boyfriend off base" even as a ruse to rip the homosexual off, he would be quickly turned in by his fellow Marines and run right out of the Corps.

I'll have a lot more to say about this book as the thread progresses (don't want to shoot my whole wad at once).

8 posted on 01/12/2003 3:23:50 PM PST by SamAdams76
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To: PJ-Comix
From Here To Eternity by James Jones...is perhaps the GREATEST novel ever written.

Hang on P-J! The 'perhaps' should have been the word capitalized.

9 posted on 01/12/2003 3:24:15 PM PST by expatpat
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To: Carolinamom
You can add my name to the list and bring the membership up to 130.

Actually someone else just joined so you make it 131.

10 posted on 01/12/2003 3:27:36 PM PST by PJ-Comix ((Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club))
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To: SamAdams76
One thing about the book that didn't ring true to me, being that James Jones based this on actual events, was the apparently common practice of befriending homosexuals in town to "scam them" or "string them along" for money, free drinks, etc. In the book...

Maybe it was the time and place. Remember, back then a soldier's pay was really horrible so it isn't unreasonable for the soldiers to scam the homos for money. In the book, they tried to get money from them WITHOUT going all the way. Since this part of the book was highly detailed, I am sure that Jones himself was pulling just such a scam while in the military. Also Jones almost ALWAYS based events in his novels to things he has seen or participated in. I did a thorough research of his Go To The Widowmaker and the closeness of the facts to the events in the books was astonishing. Almost a perfect match.

Oh, and from reading this book and others by Jones, I am sure he was an alcoholic. However, since this did not seem to affect his writing (although it did cause an early death), I don't hold this against him.

p.s. A starting point for research on whether there were big homo investigations in Hawaii circa 1941 is to check out the FBI's Freedom of Information files.

11 posted on 01/12/2003 3:36:27 PM PST by PJ-Comix ((Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club))
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To: expatpat
Hang on P-J! The 'perhaps' should have been the word capitalized.

So what's your nominee?

12 posted on 01/12/2003 3:37:21 PM PST by PJ-Comix ((Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club))
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To: PJ-Comix
Add me for 132?
13 posted on 01/12/2003 3:58:08 PM PST by CindyDawg ( .)
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To: PJ-Comix
I haven't finished FHTE. This is the best of the assigned books. A real eye opener in the soljiers response to women. Not something I have thought much about and sorely disappointed to find out.

His writing grabs you. So many styles and approaches are used. Fascinating!
14 posted on 01/12/2003 4:08:24 PM PST by WHATNEXT?
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To: CindyDawg
OK. BTW, a few months ago Katie Couric on the Today Show had on a few members of a Reading Club in Miami that had fewer than 20 members total. Plus their book selections were strictly touchy-feely Yuppie crap. We have several times that number and we cover GREAT literature.

15 posted on 01/12/2003 4:10:47 PM PST by PJ-Comix ((Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club))
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To: WHATNEXT?
A real eye opener in the soljiers response to women.

Not really. Limit access to women by a large group of soldiers and you expect them to behave like Boy Scouts? This part of the book was neither surprising nor disappointing. Just realistic.

As far as his writing style: This book actually began as a series of stories by Jones about pre-War army life in Hawaii. Also, fortunately, Jones kept extensive notes while in the Army. Since the character of Slade is based on Jones, you might notice that Slade also carried around a notepad and pencil although this was not a common practice in the army.

16 posted on 01/12/2003 4:15:41 PM PST by PJ-Comix ((Moderator of the LARGEST Internet Reading Club))
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To: PJ-Comix
Mine? Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn", for US novels.

Then there are a number of British and French novels, plus Italian Eco's "Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendelum". But everyone has their own opinion.

17 posted on 01/12/2003 4:22:53 PM PST by expatpat
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To: PJ-Comix
As I expressed - I was disappointed to discover the EXTENT of the attitude toward women. It may be reality but none the less discouraging.

Interesting that he would make Slade an over enthusiastic and naive sounding soljier, when he is doing a self portrait.
18 posted on 01/12/2003 4:26:35 PM PST by WHATNEXT?
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To: PJ-Comix
My father joined the AAF in '39 and spent the next 32 years in uniform.He refused a 'field commisssion in New Guinea in '43 because he felt that his place was in the NCO ranks.

He would get aggitated if one talked of Sgt Warden as a hero; he felt that it was B/S to publically elevate any 1st SGT who 'allegedly' had an affair with an officer's wife [much less his commander].

19 posted on 01/12/2003 4:38:49 PM PST by Chapita
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To: PJ-Comix
There seems to be a large percentage of author/alcoholics. Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and Jack London come to mind and there were many others. Maybe the part of the brain that disposes one to alcoholism also enhances creativity? Or is it just that the loneliness of spending hour after hour, day after day, writing in solitude, drives many people to the bottle? Just speculating here.

Jack Malloy is my favorite character in the book. He is his own man and extremely intelligent but in the military environment, he just doesn't fit in. Ironically, many of the characters in the book who were perceived by the officers as "screw-ups" would have made the best soldiers in wartime. This is something that SSgt Warden seemed to realize. His relationship with Prewitt is interesting. One one hand, Warden respected Prewitt as a potentially great soldier but on the other hand, hated him for who he was and happily went along with Captain Holmes efforts to break him.

During my time in Marine boot camp, I served briefly on guard duty for the brig (they called it "Correctional Platoon"). The conditions there are much as described in the book. Those men go through hell. I remember how they had to wake up and completely disassemble their "racks" (bunk beds) and stack the rails up against the wall. At the end of the workday (usually digging ditches or doing other scut work), they would have to reassemble them. Sometimes the Sgt. on duty would take a handful of bolts and throw them across the room after they left for the day, adding to the confusion that evening when the poor guys had to put their racks back together again.

20 posted on 01/12/2003 4:39:16 PM PST by SamAdams76
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