From Here to Eternity (James Jones, 1951)

Another book that I never would have planned to read. But actually was looking forward to it after The Thin Red Line.

I also wouldn't have thought of the author (James Jones) - as anything special. But the book is just excellent. Not much at all about WWII - instead, Jones writes about the army in Hawaii in the last years building up to 1941.

I have zero direct experience with the Army, especially as it existed in the 1940s. But I'm convinced Jones had a gift for supplying the reader with snippets of understanding how some of this must have felt.

This is why I read.

For example, he writes poignantly about the loneliness and rootlessness of so many soldiers; this perhaps was even stronger in the years following the Depression. Strong scenes of a man (Pruitt) carrying his few things in a couple bags, moving into the bunk area, set up a couple things on the locker - and you've completely moved with all your stuff. And lonely among a room full of soldiers.

I think he also "gets it" in the way he writes about the unique camaraderie that develops in spite of (or probably because of) the shared Army experiences, miserable though so many may be. I liked the part where the soldiers fell into a shared work routine when "digging in" in one of the more serious field exercises as WWII neared. I think Jones liked big chunks of Army life.

He also "gets it" when it comes to writing about music. Pruitt - who is just a great character - is a talented bugler. Something that would seem mundane to me, but Jones insists that those who listen to the buglers multiple times a day can tell the difference. Pruitt leaves the bugle corps for Pruitt-ish reasons, but gets the chance to play Taps one night at the base. What a great scene, as Jones describes what's running through Pruitt and his listeners almost note by note. I really liked where Jones had a soldier step out of a bar during the middle of the song and say to a friend - as if winning a bet - that he knew it was Pruitt. It somewhat reminded me of Proust's efforts to describe music in words - the writers know it's ultimately impossible but make a great run at it.

Pruitt was a strong character; he realized he loved the army despite everything, and recognized he was destined to be a 30-year man. He was a good athlete (boxer); sharpshooter; musical (trumpet); tough, smart, uneducated. But he had developed a code of behavior from growing up in poverty in Kentucky coal mines and years on the lam in the Depression. His code was at cross-purposes with a long Army career. The second major character was Warden, and much of the story revolves around their interconnected story lines.

In fact there were lots of well-developed characters (which is a benefit of a really long book). You can look back at the list of folks - the Malloy, Karen Holmes, Maggio, Andy, Stark, Warden, Bloom, Galovitch, Holmes, Alma, Pete Karalson, and on and on - you felt that you knew them all. There were many scenes where they are talking through their thought processes, very interesting. Also many scenes where they focus on Army diversions such as wine & women.

A terribly sad scene was finding the Re-enlistment Blues on the seat of the car; coupled with Warden checking out Pruitt's belongings and just sitting there for an hour. In fact, the book consistently leaves me feeling something like wistful, though I don't exactly know why.

I've never seen the movie and there's no way it could cover this territory. It's well-reviewed, and hopefully it's good on its own terms.

I also had no idea this book was on The Modern Library's list of top 100 20th century novels (#62).