From Here to Eternity (novel)
| From Here to Eternity | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | James Jones |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | War novel |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Publication date | 1951 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 861 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | NA |
From Here to Eternity is the debut novel by James Jones, winner of the National Book Award for fiction in 1952. It was ranked 62 on Modern Library's list of the 100 Best Novels. It is loosely based on Jones' experiences in the pre-World War II Hawaiian Division's 27th Infantry and the unit in which he served, Company E ("The Boxing Company"). Fellow company member Hal Gould said that while the novel was based on the company, including some depictions of actual persons, the characters are fictional and both the harsh conditions and described events are inventions. The 1953 film, 1979 miniseries, and 1980 dramatic series were all adapted from the novel.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Set in the summer and autumn of 1941 at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, the story follows several members of G Company, including Captain Dana “Dynamite” Holmes and First Sergeant Milt Warden, who begins an affair with Holmes's wife Karen. At the heart of the novel lies a struggle between former bugler Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt, an infantryman from Kentucky and self-described "thirty-year man," (a career soldier) and his superiors. Because he blinded a fellow soldier while boxing, the stubborn Prewitt refuses to box for his company’s outfit and then resists the "Treatment," a daily hazing ritual in which the non-commissioned officers of his company run him into the ground.
The central characters are essentially similar in all three of Jones's World War II novels, though their names are somewhat altered. From Here to Eternity features Warden and Prewitt, who become Welsh and Witt in The Thin Red Line and Mart Winch and Bobby Prell in Whistle. Similarly, Corporal Fife in The Thin Red Line reappears as Marion Landers in Whistle, as does the cook, Maylon Stark, who becomes Storm, then Johnny "Mother" Strange.
[edit] Title
The title was inspired by a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Gentleman Rankers"
- Gentlemen-rankers out on a spree,
- Damned from here to Eternity,
- God ha' mercy on such as we,
- Baa! Yah! Bah!
[edit] Cuts
In 2009 the author's daughter, Kaylie Jones, revealed that James Jones was compelled to make a number of pre-publication cuts to the book's manuscript, removing some expletives and some gay sex passages.[1] A new edition of the book with the previously censored passages restored was published as an e-book by publisher Open Road in May 2011.[2]
[edit] Literary response
Joan Didion has written many articles and essays praising From Here to Eternity, the most famous of which is "In the Islands," from The White Album.
The novel is included in Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels.[3]
[edit] Film adaptation
In 1953, the novel was made into a film also entitled From Here to Eternity directed by Fred Zinnemann and produced by Buddy Adler.
