Rating: 
Summary: I can see why people like it but...
Review: This was an interesting book. I actually picked it for a school project. Although I am an avid reader, I found myself slowly getting through the book, without much enthusiasm. The battle scences were some of the best I had read, not to mention the most realistic, the movie was also great in showing these scenes. The main problem for me occured with the characters. There were to many and with the confusion of battle it was hard to follow each cahracter. This novel actually disgusted me in terms of the brutality of war. The movie was something different all together. The gruesome scences, horrific images, and homosexuality were mostly igonored in order to give a more profound message. The movie also suffered from lack of cahracer developpment. This book was good, not great for me. I have read other war novels and this personally downgrades the Americains(as if nothing else has done that before).
Rating: 
Summary: Will it Ever End!
Review: When I started the novel I felt it was the worst novel I have ever read I said will this book ever end,boring!But after reading it a while more it started getting better and much more interesting. But how can you hate this book?Possibly the best war novels ever written I mean hey we all know the best is Slaughterhouse-Five tied with Catch-22. The characters are very interesting and well written a strange sexual tension is involved with the characters all through the novel,at first it was annoying and quite disturbing but I got use to it after a while and quite enjoyed it. The book does end,but you will not be sad you will feel happy that you have read a great novel and will congraduate yourself for reading this book,though it is a boring book it is very good.
Rating:
Summary: one of the most interesting war novels ever written
Review: I started reading this book after my mother suggested I read it. It is an excellent book. The characters seem real and you really get to know a lot about them. I could not put down this book. Something kept drawing me back to it. Maybe it was because of the amount of detail and action or maybe it was because you could relate with some of the characters. This novel really made you wonder how you would act if you were in a situation like these soldiers. The movie was a major disappointment. If you did not read the book first you would probably not understand why some of the characters did what they did. This is an outstanding book. I would recommend this book to all those who were searching for the perfect war novel.
Rating:
Summary: A brutal story of Americans in Guadicanal
Review: This classic war story, of Americans in battle is a amazing novel that dips into the mind of men at war. The book is brutally honest and is a book that all should read.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book separates itself from other war novels by going inside the thinking and observations of the men who are being shot at and killed while still concerned about what their squad mates think of them, hiding their fear, their promotion to a higher rank and whether what they are doing really means anything. The depictions of army life during combat are very realistic and the characters are well drawn. When you finally close the book, you feel like you've been living with them and are shipping out to civilian life - and know that you'll miss them. You may be surprised at how much your thoughts and motives in a business crisis parallel those of these very human soldiers.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest war novel ever written.
Review: With every line you read it feels like you are getting closer and closer to really being a soldier.A complicated story of feelings and descriptions. If you liked the book you will love the movie.
Rating:
Summary: This book rules and the movie is great.
Review: You would think that a book this thick would get boring but it doesn't. However, if you do plan on reading this book then do youself a favor and see the movie first. There are some parts that get confusing like "The Dancing Elephant" and "The Giant Boiled Shrimp." Without watching the movie first I would never know what the heck they were talking about. As for the movie, you either loved it or hated it and I thought it was the best picture of the year. Also, there is something like 50 different characters in the book so you kinda have to remember the little things about the character like Witt...oh he's the one that was transfered to Cannon Company. Another thing, if you think you will expect the book to be the same as the movie then think again. They are two totally different things. The book is more violent and has more sexual situations. All in all the book is great. 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: the best war novel I've ever read
Review: The best part of the novel is that the characters are real. They all act like real men that have been in a war. Jones also does a great job of decribing the war. Even, though the ending is a little boring the novel is still great. The movie sucked though.
Rating:
Summary: stunning
Review: A brilliant account of the hell of combat. Read it. An excellent companion to "From Here to Eternity".
Rating:
Summary: The Horrors of War and the Bond of Soldiers
Review: James Jones, a veteran of Guadalcanal, wrote this novel as a commentary on the very essence of war. War is hell, it is evil, and it perverts everything it touches. Men turn to killers, boys who are lost in a world of discipline expiriment in homosexual relations, and morality becomes a hollow word. When the only certainty is death, men are reduced to their core, to their darkest reality. James Jones saw the war and wrote about it, about the thin red line that divides one side from the other. The living and the dead, the sane and the mad, peace and war. The line that humanity so precariously walks. Throughout the novel the hypocracy of leadership and the terror of combat rake away at the minds, morals, and beliefs of the men. Some find themselves cowards, other simply go mad. Men like Dale are drawn into the promise of glory and plot there rise up the ranks, while soldiers like Bell find themselves unwilling participants in the heroics and butchery of combat. James Jones' amazing novel stands apart from many others in its brutality and realism. The darkest thought and fears of men in war are shown hand in hand with a photographic view of battle.
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