The Thin Red Line (1962 novel)
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The Thin Red Line is author James Jones' fictional account of the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, which he experienced firsthand in the US 25th Infantry Division. The novel has been adapted for motion pictures twice, first in 1964 and then in Terrence Malick's1998 adaptation.
Like Jones' other World War II novels, the story focuses on a number of characters and their differing reactions to combat; the central characters are actually the same in all three books but their names have been changed. While none of the characters are particularly attractive or warm, Jones effectively conveys the alienation and horror that characterized the Pacific theatre of war for the American rifleman.
Instead of a conventional military adventure story, the author depicts a more realistic depiction of battle where ordinary people experience a mix of murder, fear, homosexuality, dread, helplessness, frustration, meanness, terror, and emptiness. The novel depicts, but is careful not to judge, acts most readers would consider repellant, such as disinterring a Japanese corpse for fun, summarily executing Japanese prisoners or extracting gold teeth from corpses. These atrocities are shown as natural reactions to the soldiers' environment.
The most sympathetic characters in the book are deeply cynical, and the characters who seem to possess those traits that would normally be equated with soldierly virtue are shown to be brutal and inhumane.
The Thin Red Line is a raw and engaging war novel and is believed by many to be superior to the author's much more widely known novel, From Here to Eternity.
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