James Jones: biography, features of creativity, interesting facts

In the literature of the Soviet period there is no shortage of works devoted to World War II. And this is quite natural, since many of their authors have experienced its horrors themselves and could not help sharing the feelings that they experienced. However, novels, stories and stories telling about the exploits of people who fought against fascism and the Japanese militarists were created on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Because of ideological considerations, they were almost not published in our country and therefore are unknown to a wide range of Russian readers. Among the American writers, whose works are worth seeing, is also Jones James Ramon.

early years

The future writer was born on November 6, 1921 in the small town of Robinson, Illinois, to the Ramona family and Ada Jones (nee Blessing). Childhood of the boy was during the Great Depression, the most difficult in the history of the United States, and was not particularly happy.

Hardly a young man graduated from school, the Second World War broke out. In 1939, the young man was drafted into the army and sent to serve in the 25th Infantry Division, the 27th Regiment. Soon, as part of the second battalion, company F was sent to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where Jones James, along with his comrades, was languishing in idleness in the Scofield barracks and learning all the "delights" of American bullying and tyranny of the elders.

Participation in hostilities

On the morning of December 7, Japanese planes attacked the ships anchored in Pearl Harbor, and the airfields on Oahu Island, where the military unit was stationed, in which James Jones served. He was shocked by the losses of the American army, which amounted to 2403 people killed and 1178 wounded. Then came his turn to take part in hostilities. In particular, young corporal Jones, along with his company on August 7, 1942 landed on one of the islands of Guadalcanal. There they had to repeatedly engage in a fight with the Japanese. Only in November the enemy, convinced of the futility of his attempts to regain control of a large airfield, located at Cape Lunga, evacuated his soldiers on 20 destroyers.

Return to the USA

During the famous battle of Mount Austen, which lasted from mid-December 1942 to January 23, 1943 and was conducted in impassable jungles, James Jones was wounded in the ankle and awarded the "Purple Heart" medal. He was sent for treatment in the US, and in July 1944 he was demobilized for health reasons.

Returning home, James Jones decided to continue his education and in 1945 he entered the University of New York.

Literary debut

The first major work of the writer was the novel "From Now and Forever Ages", which was published in 1951. The debut was more than successful, and in 1952, Jones James received a prestigious award - the National Book Award. I must say that although his rivals were JD Salinger with his famous work "The Catcher in the Rye" and Herman Vouk with the novel "The Rise on Kane", already noted in 1951 by the Pulitzer Prize, the authoritative jury decided to celebrate the work An unknown writer.

In the work From Now and Forever Ages, Jones described his still fresh impressions of what he had experienced on the island of Oahu during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The success of the book was understandable, since thousands of Americans who received a notice that their son, husband or brother was killed in Hawaii, could learn from their pages about how their loved ones spent the last days of their lives. In addition, many veterans were pleased that compatriots finally learn the truth about what they had to endure, without embellishment.

Features of James Jones prose

I must say that in American literature such a thing as a military or army novel appeared only in 1895, after the publication of the work of Stephen Crane's "Scarlet Badge of Valor." After a long break, new literary works dedicated to people forced to kill their own kind, following their duty, became the property of American readers during and after the First World War. Most of them were clearly anti-militaristic in nature, reflecting the views of their authors J. Dos Passos, W. Faulkner, E. Hemingway, and others.

The first work of Jones was radically different from these works. In the novel From Now and Forever Ages, he described the life of the "pineapple army", which surrenders to all conceivable and unthinkable vices in Hawaii. His protagonist, Private Robert Lee Pruitt, who before joining the service was a successful boxer, throughout the narrative professes pacifism. However, having learned about the attack on his regiment, even though wounded, the soldier seeks to return there in order to enter the fight against the enemy.

Further literary career

The second novel by Jones - "And they ran" - in a veiled form told readers about the life of the author after he returned to his native Robinson. In 1958, the screens of the United States screened this work, directed by Vincent Minnelli, and the main roles were played by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine. The picture received 4 nominations for "Oscar" and one - for "Golden Globe". However, the book itself literally was torn down by critics who found in it a lot of spelling and punctuation mistakes, since they did not understand that in this way the author wished to emphasize the provinciality of the town where events occur.

In 1962, James Jones, whose books had already been repeatedly reprinted in large editions, presented the readers with a new work entitled "The Thin Red Line". It was in some way a continuation of the picture of the author's first novel and made critics call him a writer capable of replacing Faulkner and Hemingway.

Last years

Unfortunately, the life of the writer was interrupted too early, in 1972. During the work on the book "Just Call" he already knew that he was seriously ill. Not wishing that his last work remained unfinished, he gave instructions to his friend Willy Morris, who completed the last chapters of the novel that completed the army trilogy, which also included "From Now and Forever" and "The Thin Red Line."

Personal life

Returning to Robinson after being wounded, Jones often began to drink. His aunt decided to save his nephew and introduced him to the social worker Loney Handy, who was married to the manager of a local oil refinery. She was supposed to help James deal with alcohol dependence, but soon they became lovers. The connection between Loney and Jones lasted for several years. When in 1957 the writer, after returning from New York, brought his wife Gloria with her to his native city, the former beloved made a scandal. As a result, James and his wife were forced to leave hastily. In the marriage of Jones and Gloria in 1960, Kylie's daughter was born.

Interesting Facts

• The novel "The Thin Red Line" was filmed twice. In 1964, a film with this name was shot by Andrew Marton, and in 1998 - Terrence Malik. The latter invited Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and John Travolta into his painting . His painting won the prize of the Berlin festival, but lost in 7 Oscar nominations, in which it was presented.
• The writer's daughter, Kylie, also showed herself in the literary arena. In 1990 she published the novel "Soldier's daughter never cries", telling about the life of her family.

Now you know that Jones James Ramon is a writer who most truthfully described the life of American soldiers who fought on the Pacific Front during the Second World War. His novels, like films shot on them, are included in the ratings of the most significant literary and cinematographic works of the 20th century, created in the US, so it's worth to get acquainted with them.