Product Description

An epic of World War II, this novel reflects the exciting, tumultuous and brutal world inhabited by soldiers and the women they love. It portrays the consuming conflicts of a generation set afire by the passions and savagery of war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185568 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 820 pages

Customer Reviews

Powerful, well-written, intelligent and haunting
'From Here to Eternity' is a powerful, strongly-written, intelligent and ultimately haunting book. Private Prewitt and 1st Sergeant Warden are two of the most fully-realised, realistic characters ever constructed, and it is Jones' full psychological description of these soldiers that, in my view, carries this book. We learn about everything from their relationships, their loves and fears, their strengths and weaknesses to their basic ideologies, and they are two very interesting, very intelligent, very powerful characters. Prewitt, especially, will stick with you long after you finish this book. Read 'From Here to Eternity': it is simply the best book I have ever read and it is a story you will not forget, and a book that you will feel changed for having explored.

Also, buy Jones' 'The Thin Red Line', which details the actions and lives of a company of soldiers in combat in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two (and is therefore the natural follow on from 'From Here to Eternity'). These are two very honest, very powerful stories, showing us the lives of men and also the bitter reality of war, and what happens to normal men dragged through it. The books make a powerful combination.

A classic of American literature
I first read this novel after seeing the film of and then reading "The Thin Red Line". This is the first in a loose trilogy James Jones, who served in the US army in World War II, wrote about aspects of military life. This novel explores the theme of peace time, barracks based soldiering in Hawaii in the days immediately prior to America's entry into WWII - (TTRL deals with men in combat, whilst Whistle is about wounded soldiers adjusting to post-war life). It's all here - the tedium of daily life, the gambling, womanising, drinking and fighting, the restlessness and ambition of military life. The two main characters are Sgt Warden, the cynical old time campaigner who falls in love with an officer's wife; and the darkly rebellious, anarchic Pvt Prewitt, whose relationship with a prostitute leads to eventual tragedy. The memorable climax to the novel centres around the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and the immediate aftermath. At 700 pages, this is one of those epic, sweeping novels which can sustain its length. A classic of both American and 20th Century literature, and a must read even if you are not interested in military subject matter.

An Absolute Classic
In many ways 'From Here to Eternity' is a novel about people figuring things out: their world, their lives, their feelings, and their relationships. James Jones creates characters who live and think and suffer in the most believable (often distressingly believable) ways, and what drives the reader through this mammoth book is the desire to track the journey of these very real (real both psychologically and phsyically) people.

Although Prewitt and Warden (whose stories are too great and too nuanced to be recounted here) are the primary focus, this is a book with a big cast of characters. From the green Privates through to the Company Commander (and his wife), Jones familiarises us with an entire military society. And every aspect recieves the same precise, detailed treatment, whether the unpleasant contents of officers' garbage or the harsh environment of the stockade.

Emotionally intelligent and startlingly honest, this weighty classic rewards the reader amply. It may be big and sprawling in that very American way (at times you forget it was written by one single man), but in a novel so very much about what it is to be an American, it couldn't really be any other way.