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zenithharpink 's review for:
The Thin Red Line
by James Jones
3.5 stars. Although this book took me several months to complete, ultimately I did enjoy it. The opening of this book really got me though-I couldn't stand the characters, wasn't grounded or attached to anything, and as a result I really lagged in getting through it.
These books, and this one especially, are very well written. When I'm reading the descriptive passages, I'm simply lost in the language. This book lost points for me in 2 main areas:
1) There are absolutely no characters to root for, care about, or in any way enjoy. As a reader, primarily of fiction, this is especially important to me and served as the main reason that I couldn't get into this book initially. It never got better, but the language helped me along.
2) The technical language around the military are war-making in WWII was completely beyond my vocabulary. I opted to skim over these passages, rather than committing to full research (both via a dictionary and encyclopedia)-if I had done the latter this book would have taken me years to read.
While this book is technically second in a trilogy (the first being From Here to Eternity), there really isn't much of a connection between the two books-except for the period in time/focus on WWII. Reading the first book is definitely not a pre-requisite for taking on the second. I will continue the series, because once I start something I always finish, but I have mixed feelings about the next book. I recommend this to those interested in WWII historical fiction (with a strong emphasis on history), as well those that appreciate beautiful prose. This may be tough for readers like me that enjoy having a character to get behind and root for.
These books, and this one especially, are very well written. When I'm reading the descriptive passages, I'm simply lost in the language. This book lost points for me in 2 main areas:
1) There are absolutely no characters to root for, care about, or in any way enjoy. As a reader, primarily of fiction, this is especially important to me and served as the main reason that I couldn't get into this book initially. It never got better, but the language helped me along.
2) The technical language around the military are war-making in WWII was completely beyond my vocabulary. I opted to skim over these passages, rather than committing to full research (both via a dictionary and encyclopedia)-if I had done the latter this book would have taken me years to read.
While this book is technically second in a trilogy (the first being From Here to Eternity), there really isn't much of a connection between the two books-except for the period in time/focus on WWII. Reading the first book is definitely not a pre-requisite for taking on the second. I will continue the series, because once I start something I always finish, but I have mixed feelings about the next book. I recommend this to those interested in WWII historical fiction (with a strong emphasis on history), as well those that appreciate beautiful prose. This may be tough for readers like me that enjoy having a character to get behind and root for.