Rating: 
Summary: The Thin Red Line, Decent But No Masterpiece.
Review: The Thin Red Line brings us back to the battles at Guadalcanal during WWII. The book follows various soldiers in Charlie Company. The book depicts war very well, getting quite graphic at times. The author focuses on the pain of those wounded, describing the gruesome wounds very thoroughly. This really gets the theme of the book across; war is hell. Besides this there are a quite a few things I didn't like about how the book was written. The author is constantly switching to different characters. This is good in a way but doesn't allow the reader to fully meet or feel for a certain character. For instance, in a week I won't be able to recall a the character's name very easily. Another thing I didn't like was the author's constant focus on battle strategy. It was over the top with strategic references, constantly filled with dialogue between officers talking about flanking, etc. This can get confusing for the average reader. I also was disappointed in the description of the setting. I would have liked to learn more about what the island looked and felt like so I could picture myself being there.
Besides this I do admire James Jones for writing this book. He shows us how horrible war is through this book. More particularly, he shows us the war in the Pacific, which isn't as focused on in the media as the war in Europe. I especially wanted to learn about Guadalcanal since my grandfather was on the frontline there. James Jones was successful in showing us Guadalcanal, but did an average job.
Rating:
Summary: great with popcorn
Review: The Thin Red Line is not a bad book, in many ways it's a great book. It's just that there is a thin line between great and OK. And Jones almost gets there but never quite hits the mark like the movie does. While the book strugles with divining what the thin red line is, the movie makes it crystal clear.
The movie which adds haunting poetic mystery to the world yet able divine a story of good and evil, love and hate, beauty and ugly, fear and bravery, etc. and that thin line between them. Add to that great acting and beautiful fliming. Someone made a better movie then the book.Is that's the ultimate praise of a movie? Maybe not, but someone did it.
Rating: 
Summary: THE Best Infantry Novel of WWII ever Written...
Review: This is the best combat novel of World War II infantry ever written. The second of an autobiographical trilogy planned by Jones (with "From Here to Eternity" being the first, and "Whistle" planned to finish the storyline) it covers the shortest span of time, and it is also the shortest. But it is probably the most intense and I think, the most gripping. Avoid Terrence Malick's cinematic version which I think missed Jones' vision by a mile. In this novel, we see "C for Charlie" company's struggle for some fictional territory on Guadalcanal in late 1942. It carries some of the most intense sequences of infantry combat ever committed to paper (one of the most harrowing is the company clerk, Bead and his run-in with a roving Japanese soldier while attempting to relieve himself is particularly effecting to make it all the more remarkable, it's based on Jones' own personal experience). I can't recommend this masterpiece highly enough. Jones has captured for all time, the sights and smells of infantry combat better than anyone before or since. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: THE Best Infantry Novel of WWII ever Written...
Review: This is the best combat novel of World War II infantry ever written. The second of an autobiographical trilogy planned by Jones (with "From Here to Eternity" being the first, and "Whistle" planned to finish the storyline) it covers the shortest span of time, and it is also the shortest. But it is probably the most intense and I think, the most gripping. Avoid Terrence Malick's cinematic version which I think missed Jones' vision by a mile. In this novel, we see "C for Charlie" company's struggle for some fictional territory on Guadalcanal in late 1942. It carries some of the most intense sequences of infantry combat ever committed to paper (one of the most harrowing is the company clerk, Bead and his run-in with a roving Japanese soldier while attempting to relieve himself is particularly effecting to make it all the more remarkable, it's based on Jones' own personal experience). I can't recommend this masterpiece highly enough. Jones has captured for all time, the sights and smells of infantry combat better than anyone before or since. Read it. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A book that describes war as it is...
Review: What struck me about this book was the lack of a "message." Jones simply tells a war story without making any judgments about it. Those looking for an anti-war or pro-war message will be disappointed. This book can be read on two levels. One can read it for its hard-hitting descriptions of combat. The fighting scenes on the various hills of Guadalcanal are somewhat tedious to read through the first time, but become clearer with a further reading. The raw impressions of the members of Charlie Company (with curses and all) are also particularly effective. On another level, Jones seeks to describe the human (as opposed to the mechanized) element of war. He describes the raw feelings of the men of Charlie Company. Some can't wait to kill the enemy. Others want to get out at any cost. Most are just resigned to their fate. Shining examples of heroism are also to be found. Jones also discusses the nature of leadership, as well as the opportunism and politics that thrives in any military organization. Jones makes sure that we never forget that an army is first and foremost an organization of people, and that it is these human relationships that shape the war. "The Thin Red Line" is one of the masterpieces of American war literature. If you like "The Thin Red Line", I also recommend Jones's earlier novel, "From Here to Eternity."
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