The Pistol (Phoenix Fiction) [Paperback]

James Jones (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226391868 | ISBN-13: 978-0226391861 | Publication Date: May 1, 2003 | Edition: 1

As bombs begin to fall on Pearl Harbor, nineteen-year-old PFC Richard Mask is wearing a pistol, a .45 caliber automatic that makes him feel connected to the army of the Wild West and Custer's Cavalry. In the chaos of his first days and weeks of the war, as Mask and his company move from Schofield Barracks to the beaches of Oahu, then to a remote mountain pass, a struggle over the pistol dominates this novella's action, providing the pathos and savagery of the story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Superbly written."

(New York Times )

“Few novelists write as effectively about the American army as James Jones.”

(Newsweek )

 

“A little jewel, tautly constructed, economical, but withal vivid in incident, attention-compelling in the narrative, and psychologically convincing. . . . This is a compelling picture of man’s fear of the unknown, and the measures he will take to protect himself against it.''

(Taliaferro Boatwright New York Herald Tribune )

From the Inside Flap

As bombs begin to fall on Pearl Harbor, nineteen-year-old PFC Richard Mask is wearing a pistol, a .45 caliber automatic that makes him feel connected to the army of the Wild West and Custer's Cavalry. In the chaos of his first days and weeks of the war, as Mask and his company move from Schofield Barracks to the beaches of Oahu, then to a remote mountain pass, a struggle over the pistol dominates this novella's action, providing the pathos and savagery of the story.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226391868
• ISBN-13: 978-0226391861
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,551,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Addendum To "From Here To Eternity", July 23, 2006

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

Please Note: the title of this book is THE PISTOL


This short novel as JJ called it, or novella as others labeled it, begins on December 7, 1941, and continues into the short future until Hawaii realizes that the Japanese are not going to return and invade. The book did have an option also to reach the movie screen.

The book was written in New York sometime after From Here To Eternity and Some Came Running, with Some Came Running yet on the bestseller charts. Soon after completion he moved to Europe while at that time beginning work on The Thin Red Line. The entire writing took only 5 weeks for JJ to complete, and he was later to say in his letters that the writing had been enjoyable.

The issues at hand of both the pistol and other dramatic events are mainly autobiographical coming from events JJ participated in. As true with all fiction, many other items of plot come from the writer's direction and imagination. The theme of security and protection coupled with salvation are all interlocked in this short writing, with the touchstone being the pistol. JJ said in his letters that though he had showed the work to many people, the book always seemed to mean different things to each reader.

The Pistol, as with many other of JJ's writings, has generally been viewed a critical failure, but a popular success. Since his death in 1977 though, certain critics and biographers of insight have taken second looks at his works realizing this writer was one of our better ones. With no work of the 20th century portraying WWII as JJ experienced it any better than the trilogy he left us: From Here To Eternity, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle. In all of these books James Jones' soldier's eye and voice speak from hard experience. It was a war in which he participated and one he knew well.

For me this book is a wonderful addendum to From Here To Eternity, for it extends and adds to that work. For a couple night's reading no better work on Hawaii early in the war exists.

Semper Fi.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great James Jones gateway..., March 5, 2010

By 

Jerad W. Alexander - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pistol (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

The Pistol is a quick, economical work which would be a great book to use as a "prologue" into the Army world painted by author James Jones with his trilogy:

From Here to Eternity

The Thin Red Line

Whistle (Delta World War II Library)

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the story being written by the main character of Some Came Running, September 23, 2011

By 

MW "MW" (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pistol (Kindle Edition)

James Jones wrote Some Came Running (apparently out of print today and today most remembered as a film with Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin) about his time after WW2 struggling to become a writer and to come to terms with his home town and a difficult affair. It is a huge book.

The story which the James Jones persona in the novel(Sinatra in the film)is writing, is easily identifiable as The Pistol.

I have read it many years ago and enjoyed it.