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'{{Short description|American writer}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | name = James Jones | image = James Ramon Jones.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = James Ramon Jones | birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|11|06}} | birth_place = [[Robinson, Illinois]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|05|09|1921|11|06}} | death_place = [[Southampton (town), New York|Southampton, New York]], U.S. | occupation = Novelist, author | nationality = American | period = 1951–1975 | genre = World War II fiction | movement = | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{awd|[[National Book Award]]|1952}} | module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes | allegiance = [[United States of America]] | branch = {{army|United States}} | serviceyears = 1939–1944<ref>{{cite web|url=http://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=284003 |title=Cpl James Ramon Jones |work=TogetherWeServed |year=2015 |access-date=2015-05-22}}</ref> | rank = [[File:US_Army_WWII_CPL.svg|25px]] [[Corporal#United States|Corporal]] | unit = {{ plainlist | * [[File:25th Infantry Division CSIB.svg|25px]] [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]] * [[File:27_INF_DUI.gif|25px]] [[27th Infantry Regiment (United States)|27th Infantry Regiment]] }} | battles = [[World War II]] | awards = [[File:Purple Heart ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Purple Heart]] }} }} '''James Ramon Jones''' (November 6, 1921 &ndash; May 9, 1977) was an American novelist known for his explorations of [[World War II]] and its aftermath. He won the 1952 [[National Book Award]] for his [[Debut novel|first published novel]], ''[[From Here to Eternity (novel)|From Here to Eternity]]'', which was adapted for the big screen immediately and made into a television series a generation later. ==Life== James Ramon Jones was born and deez nuts raised in [[Robinson, Illinois]], the son of Ramon and Ada M. (née Blessing) Jones. He enlisted in the [[United States Army]] in 1939 at the age of 17 and served in the [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]], [[27th Infantry Regiment]] before and during [[World War II]], first in [[Hawaii]] at [[Schofield Barracks]] on [[Oahu]], then in combat on [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] at the [[Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse]], where he was wounded in his ankle. He returned to the US and was discharged in July 1944.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://illinoistimes.com/mobile/articles/articleView/id:4837 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119211411/http://illinoistimes.com/mobile/articles/articleView/id:4837 |archive-date=2015-11-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also worked as a journalist covering the [[Vietnam War]]. His wartime experiences inspired some of his most famous works, the so-called war trilogy.<!-- source is this article below --> He witnessed the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], which led to his first published novel, ''[[From Here to Eternity (novel)|From Here to Eternity]]'' (1951). ''[[The Thin Red Line (novel)|The Thin Red Line]]'' (1962) reflected his combat experiences on Guadalcanal and ''[[Whistle (novel)|Whistle]]'' (posthumous, 1978) was based on his hospital stay in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], recovering from surgery on an ankle he had reinjured on the island.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.wlajournal.com/20_1-2/275-292%20Blaskiewicz.pdf |title=''James Jones on Guadalcanal'' by RJ Blaskiewicz |access-date=2011-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130215243/http://wlajournal.com/20_1-2/275-292%20Blaskiewicz.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-30 }}</ref> Jones was the father of two children including [[Kaylie Jones]], an author best known for ''[[A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (novel)|A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries]]'', a thinly veiled memoir of the Joneses' life in Paris during the 1960s. (The son Jamie Jones was adopted in France.) Kaylie Jones' novel was made into a film starring [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[Barbara Hershey]] and [[Leelee Sobieski]] in 1998. The release of this film, along with the 1998 release of a new film version of ''The Thin Red Line'', directed by [[Terrence Malick]] and produced by Robert Michael Geisler and John Roberdeau, sparked a revival of interest in James Jones' life and works. In 2011, Ms. Jones was instrumental in publishing an uncensored edition of James Jones' ''From Here to Eternity''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/04/profanity-and-more-to-be-found-in-from-here-to-eternity-uncensored-ebook.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef0147e3c3d2a2970b |title=Profanity and more to be found in uncensored 'From Here to Eternity' e-book |work=LA Times |date=2011-04-05 |access-date=2011-08-27}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/books/james-joness-from-here-to-eternity-is-uncensored.html |title= Author's Heirs Uncensor a Classic War Novel |last1=Bosman |first1= Julie|date=April 4, 2011|work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2011-08-28}}</ref> Jones assisted in the 1950 formation of the [[Handy Writers' Colony]] in [[Marshall, Illinois]], by his then-lover Lowney Handy and her husband Harry Handy. It was funded partly by Harry and, after the financial success of ''From Here To Eternity'', partly by Jones. Originally conceived as a Utopian commune where budding artists could focus exclusively on their writing projects, the colony dissolved after only a few years, because James Jones relocated to France following his marriage to Gloria Mosolino after a fight with Lowney, leaving the colony back in a financially compromised situation in 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.marshall.k12.il.us/data/webcontent/449/file/realname/files/writers.pdf |title=The Handy Writers' Colony, p. 2 |access-date=2014-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175914/http://www.marshall.k12.il.us/data/webcontent/449/file/realname/files/writers.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Jones died in [[Southampton (town), New York|Southampton, New York]], of [[congestive heart failure]] and is buried in Poxabogue-Evergreen Cemetery, [[Bridgehampton, New York]]. His papers are now held at the [[Harry Ransom Center]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. His widow, Gloria, died on June 9, 2006.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/15/arts/15jones.html Gloria Jones, 78, Hostess to the Literati, Dies], New York Times</ref> Many of James Jones's books are still available in digital format including excerpts from ''They Shall Inherit the Laughter'', published as ''To the End of the War''.<ref name="nytimes1"/> ==Work== Jones called his first novel ''They Shall Inherit the Laughter''. It was a thinly disguised autobiographical novel of his experiences in Robinson immediately after World War II. After several rejections—with various complaints and claims about the work being too shrill and lacking perspective—he abandoned it and began writing ''From Here to Eternity''. [[Charles Scribner's Sons]] published ''Eternity'' in 1951, and it won the annual U.S. [[National Book Award for Fiction]].<ref name=nba1952> [https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1952 "National Book Awards – 1952"]. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved 2012-03-12. <br>(With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)</ref><ref> Accepting a [[National Book Foundation]] Medal in 1993, [[Gore Vidal]] recounted (read by Harry Evans in his absence): :"I did attend one of the first National Book Award Ceremonies 40 years ago. That was also my last experience of book prize giving... The winner in fiction, was my old friend James Jones, ''From Here To Eternity''. His victory was somewhat marred by [[Jean Stafford]], one of the [five] judges, unlike our present distinguished company, who moved slowly, if unsurely, about the room, stopping before each notable to announce in a loud voice, "The decision was not unanimous." [http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_gvidal.html "National Book Awards Acceptance Speeches: Gore Vidal ..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308132655/http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaacceptspeech_gvidal.html |date=2012-03-08 }}. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-12. </ref> The [[Modern Library]] Board later named it one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century.<ref name=modern>Modern Library. [http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html "100 Best Novels"]. Random House. Retrieved 2012-03-31.</ref> His second published novel, ''[[Some Came Running]]'' (1957), had its roots in the abandoned first effort. In contrast to ''Eternity'', it was savaged by critics. They were especially harsh about the frequently misspelled words and punctuation errors; they didn't recognize that such elements were a conscious style choice by Jones to evoke the provinciality of the novel's characters and setting. Jones apparently played around with this style in several short stories written at about the same time as ''Some Came Running'' (later collected in ''The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories''), only to abandon it by the time he finished ''The Thin Red Line'' in 1962, in favor of the blunt but more grammatically sound style most associated with him today.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Tony J.|title=James Jones: The Limits of Eternity|date=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lanham MD|isbn=978-1442272408|pages=231–33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ti6rDAAAQBAJ|access-date=28 February 2017}}</ref> ''Some Came Running'' was immediately adapted as a film starring [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Dean Martin]], and [[Shirley MacLaine]], which was critically acclaimed and nominated for five [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]. His novella ''The Pistol'' (1959) was drawn from his military experience, not unlike ''From Here to Eternity'' and ''The Thin Red Line''. Jones did not live long enough to finish his last novel, ''Whistle''; he knew he was dying of congestive heart failure while writing it. However, he left behind copious notes for [[Willie Morris]] to complete the final section after his death, and ''Whistle'' was published a year later, in 1978. That completed Jones' war trilogy (the first parts being ''From Here to Eternity'' and ''The Thin Red Line''), of which he wrote: "It will say just about everything I have ever had to say, or will ever have to say, on the [[human condition]] of war and what it means to us, as against what we claim it means to us."<ref>Frank Trippett [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919437,00.html Books: G.I. Wounded] Time, Mar. 13, 1978</ref> ==Bibliography== ===''From Here to Eternity'' trilogy=== #''[[From Here to Eternity (novel)|From Here to Eternity]]'' (1951) - ''The Restored Edition''. Open Road Media, 2011. {{ISBN|0-385-33364-1}} (e-book) #''[[The Thin Red Line (novel)|The Thin Red Line]]'' (1962) #''[[Whistle (novel)|Whistle]]'' (1978) (completed by [[Willie Morris]]) ===Other novels=== *''[[Some Came Running]]'' (1957) *''The Pistol'' (1959) *''Go to the Widow-Maker'' (1967) *''[[The Merry Month of May (novel)|The Merry Month of May]]'' (1971) *''A Touch of Danger'' (1973) ===Collections=== *''The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories'' (1968) *''To the End of the War'' (2011)<ref name="nytimes1"/> ===Non-fiction=== *''Viet Journal'' (1974) *''WW II'' (1975) ==Adaptations== ''From Here to Eternity'' was [[film adaptation|adapted as a film]] [[From Here to Eternity|of the same name]] in 1953; as a television [[From Here to Eternity (miniseries)|miniseries of the same name]] in 1979; as a [[From Here to Eternity (TV series)|TV series of the same name]] in 1980. A [[From Here to Eternity the Musical|musical]] adaption of the book opened in [[London]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20093612 | title=Tim Rice musical set for West End | publisher=[[BBC News]] | work=bbc.co.uk | date=26 October 2012 | access-date=25 June 2013}}</ref> ''Some Came Running'' was adapted as a [[Some Came Running (1958 film)|1958 film of the same name]]. ''The Thin Red Line'' was adapted as [[The Thin Red Line (1964 film)|1964]] and [[The Thin Red Line (1998 film)|1998 films of the same name]]. (Elements of ''The Pistol'' were included in the 1964 film adaptation of ''The Thin Red Line.'') ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{wikiquote}} *[http://www.jamesjonesliterarysociety.org The James Jones Literary Society] *[http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.jones James Jones Papers]. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. *[http://research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080/hrcxtf/view?docId=ead/00208p1.xml&query=james%20jones&query-join=and/ James Jones' Collection] at the [http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/ Harry Ransom Center] at [[The University of Texas at Austin]] *[http://library.uis.edu/archives/collections/handy/index.html Handy Writers' Colony Collection]. Archives/Special Collections, Brookens Library, University of Illinois at Springfield. *{{Find a Grave|7581199}} *[http://www.theparisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/4779 Read Jones's interview with The Paris Review] *{{IMDb name|0428296}} {{NBA for Fiction 1950–1974}} {{From Here to Eternity}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, James}} [[Category:1921 births]] [[Category:1977 deaths]] [[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:National Book Award winners]] [[Category:People from Robinson, Illinois]] [[Category:Military personnel from Illinois]] [[Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers]] [[Category:Novelists from Illinois]] [[Category:American male novelists]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]]'