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To the End of the War: Unpublished Fiction
Never-before-published fiction by one of the finest war authors of the twentieth century
In 1943, a young soldier named James Jones returned from the Pacific, lightly wounded and psychologically tormented by the horrors of Guadalcanal. When he was well enough to leave the hospital, he went AWOL rather than return to service, and began work on a novel of the World War II experience. Jones’s AWOL period was brief, but he returned to the novel at war’s end, bringing him to the attention of Maxwell Perkins, the legendary editor of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe. Jones would then go on to write From Here to Eternity , the National Book Award–winning novel that catapulted him into the ranks of the literary elite. Now, for the first time, Jones’s earliest writings are presented here, as a collection of stories about man and war, a testament to the great artist he was about to become. This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Jones including rare photos from the author’s estate.
In 1943, a young soldier named James Jones returned from the Pacific, lightly wounded and psychologically tormented by the horrors of Guadalcanal. When he was well enough to leave the hospital, he went AWOL rather than return to service, and began work on a novel of the World War II experience. Jones’s AWOL period was brief, but he returned to the novel at war’s end, bringing him to the attention of Maxwell Perkins, the legendary editor of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe. Jones would then go on to write From Here to Eternity , the National Book Award–winning novel that catapulted him into the ranks of the literary elite. Now, for the first time, Jones’s earliest writings are presented here, as a collection of stories about man and war, a testament to the great artist he was about to become. This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Jones including rare photos from the author’s estate.
- GenresFictionWwii Fiction
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
36 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
James Jones
48 books249 followersJames Jones was an American novelist best known for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath. His debut novel, From Here to Eternity (1951), won the National Book Award and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. The novel, along with The Thin Red Line (1962) and Whistle (published posthumously in 1978), formed his acclaimed war trilogy, drawing from his personal experiences in the military.
Born and raised in Robinson, Illinois, Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1939 and served in the 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was wounded. His military service deeply influenced his writing, shaping his unflinching portrayals of soldiers and war.
Following his discharge, Jones pursued writing and became involved with the Handy Writers' Colony in Illinois, a project led by his former mentor and lover, Lowney Handy. His second novel, Some Came Running (1957), was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Over the years, he experimented with different literary styles but remained committed to exploring themes of war, masculinity, and the American experience.
Jones later moved to France with his wife, actress Gloria Mosolino, before settling in the United States. He also worked as a journalist covering the Vietnam War and wrote several non-fiction works, including Viet Journal (1974). His final novel, Whistle, was completed based on his notes after his death. In later years, his daughter Kaylie Jones helped revive interest in his work, including publishing an uncensored edition of From Here to Eternity.
Jones passed away from congestive heart failure in 1977, leaving behind a body of work that remains influential in American war literature.
Born and raised in Robinson, Illinois, Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1939 and served in the 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was wounded. His military service deeply influenced his writing, shaping his unflinching portrayals of soldiers and war.
Following his discharge, Jones pursued writing and became involved with the Handy Writers' Colony in Illinois, a project led by his former mentor and lover, Lowney Handy. His second novel, Some Came Running (1957), was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Over the years, he experimented with different literary styles but remained committed to exploring themes of war, masculinity, and the American experience.
Jones later moved to France with his wife, actress Gloria Mosolino, before settling in the United States. He also worked as a journalist covering the Vietnam War and wrote several non-fiction works, including Viet Journal (1974). His final novel, Whistle, was completed based on his notes after his death. In later years, his daughter Kaylie Jones helped revive interest in his work, including publishing an uncensored edition of From Here to Eternity.
Jones passed away from congestive heart failure in 1977, leaving behind a body of work that remains influential in American war literature.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 26, 2012
First of all let me say I've been a solid fan of the late James Jones for probably four decades or more, having read back in the 60s and 70s his two most famous and successful novels of WWII: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and THE THIN RED LINE. I have in my collection that trilogy's unfinished final book, WHISTLE, but still have not read it. Over the years I've also read THE PISTOL, SOME CAME RUNNING, and THE ICE CREAM HEADACHE AND OTHER STORIES.
That said, I was excited to learn that a previously unpublished "first novel" was finally being made available. Originally titled THEY SHALL INHERIT THE LAUGHTER, the book has been edited and published as what are purportedly the best fragments of the original manuscript with an introduction, connecting comments and explanations by its editor, George Hendrick, who has re-titled this version TO THE END OF THE WAR, from a toast often raised by combat veterans of WWII.
What emerges is an obviously autobiographical piece of fiction which expresses, perhaps more than anything else, a savage anger at an American "establishment" which created and condoned a caste system that impersonally uses and then casually casts off the members of its lowest class. This anger and a firm statement condemning this system is portrayed mainly in a military setting.
Johnny Carter is the angry and bitter hero of TO THE END OF THE WAR. A war-wounded combat veteran of the Pacific Theater, Carter has spent months recuperating in hospitals, and is then reassigned to a stateside unit where he runs afoul of various authority figures for his flouting of regulations. He goes AWOL, then returns to the army where he is reduced in rank and humiliated in front of the raw recruits by being made a permanent latrine orderly, before he is finally transferred and gets his stripes back as a company clerk.
While he is AWOL in his pastorally named hometown of Edymion, Illinois, he observes the hypocrisy and indifference to the war of the civilian populace, including his own family members. He indulges himself with drunken binges and whores, all the while trying to write out his frustrations in rawly expressed free verse poetry.
The thing is, Johnny Carter is, I think, the germ of the idea that finally emerged as Robert E. Lee Prewitt, the fully realized hero of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. There are probably bits of Angelo Maggio in him too. But Jones never quite manages to pull all the characters and loose ends of this seminal story together in an effective manner, although there are flashes of absolute brilliance here and there, mostly in the brutally honest dialogue between the disenfranchised and embittered soldiers of his company. There is one particular passage, in the chapter/fragment called "Army Politics and Anti-Semitism" which seems to characterize what was probably the reason why this "book" was never published -
"The things that had happened to him since he left Endymion seemed inextricably wound together. The people of Endymion, the pinch-faced Infantry captain, latrine orderly, Weidmann and his persecution, the new job as clerk, Al Garnnon and Isaac Rabinowitz. They all went together, each a panel in the same door, and for that door there was a hidden key, a special significance in all these facts that he could not quite grasp, even knowing it was there. If he could find that key and unlock that door, he would learn some general conclusion that fit them all and explained them and what he was seeking to learn."
Like his angry hero, James Jones had not yet found the key that would clearly express all that he had been through. He would find it successfully just a few short years later in the writing of his masterpiece, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
There are numerous examples here of awkward prose, tortured syntax and self-conscious expressions of Jones's emerging views, using half-formed ideas just learned from his ongoing education through reading. Style and ideas have not yet properly coalesced in this, his first fictional effort, and Maxwell Perkins was right in refusing to publish it. But Perkins was equally right in perceiving something promising in this, Jones's earliest writing - enough to give him an advance on something else Jones was working on. That 'something else' became FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
I'm grateful I got to read this book, even if it does not measure up to Jones's later work. It was like reading the "warm-up" to greater things - which is exactly what it was. Scholars of American Literature and fans of James Jones's work should appreciate this finally published book for what it is. Reading it has whetted my appetite for more Jones. Maybe it's time I finally finished reading his last work, WHISTLE.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER
That said, I was excited to learn that a previously unpublished "first novel" was finally being made available. Originally titled THEY SHALL INHERIT THE LAUGHTER, the book has been edited and published as what are purportedly the best fragments of the original manuscript with an introduction, connecting comments and explanations by its editor, George Hendrick, who has re-titled this version TO THE END OF THE WAR, from a toast often raised by combat veterans of WWII.
What emerges is an obviously autobiographical piece of fiction which expresses, perhaps more than anything else, a savage anger at an American "establishment" which created and condoned a caste system that impersonally uses and then casually casts off the members of its lowest class. This anger and a firm statement condemning this system is portrayed mainly in a military setting.
Johnny Carter is the angry and bitter hero of TO THE END OF THE WAR. A war-wounded combat veteran of the Pacific Theater, Carter has spent months recuperating in hospitals, and is then reassigned to a stateside unit where he runs afoul of various authority figures for his flouting of regulations. He goes AWOL, then returns to the army where he is reduced in rank and humiliated in front of the raw recruits by being made a permanent latrine orderly, before he is finally transferred and gets his stripes back as a company clerk.
While he is AWOL in his pastorally named hometown of Edymion, Illinois, he observes the hypocrisy and indifference to the war of the civilian populace, including his own family members. He indulges himself with drunken binges and whores, all the while trying to write out his frustrations in rawly expressed free verse poetry.
The thing is, Johnny Carter is, I think, the germ of the idea that finally emerged as Robert E. Lee Prewitt, the fully realized hero of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. There are probably bits of Angelo Maggio in him too. But Jones never quite manages to pull all the characters and loose ends of this seminal story together in an effective manner, although there are flashes of absolute brilliance here and there, mostly in the brutally honest dialogue between the disenfranchised and embittered soldiers of his company. There is one particular passage, in the chapter/fragment called "Army Politics and Anti-Semitism" which seems to characterize what was probably the reason why this "book" was never published -
"The things that had happened to him since he left Endymion seemed inextricably wound together. The people of Endymion, the pinch-faced Infantry captain, latrine orderly, Weidmann and his persecution, the new job as clerk, Al Garnnon and Isaac Rabinowitz. They all went together, each a panel in the same door, and for that door there was a hidden key, a special significance in all these facts that he could not quite grasp, even knowing it was there. If he could find that key and unlock that door, he would learn some general conclusion that fit them all and explained them and what he was seeking to learn."
Like his angry hero, James Jones had not yet found the key that would clearly express all that he had been through. He would find it successfully just a few short years later in the writing of his masterpiece, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
There are numerous examples here of awkward prose, tortured syntax and self-conscious expressions of Jones's emerging views, using half-formed ideas just learned from his ongoing education through reading. Style and ideas have not yet properly coalesced in this, his first fictional effort, and Maxwell Perkins was right in refusing to publish it. But Perkins was equally right in perceiving something promising in this, Jones's earliest writing - enough to give him an advance on something else Jones was working on. That 'something else' became FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
I'm grateful I got to read this book, even if it does not measure up to Jones's later work. It was like reading the "warm-up" to greater things - which is exactly what it was. Scholars of American Literature and fans of James Jones's work should appreciate this finally published book for what it is. Reading it has whetted my appetite for more Jones. Maybe it's time I finally finished reading his last work, WHISTLE.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER
June 10, 2025
I think James Jones was much better in the sprawling novel form, but these unpublished works -- largely a series of interconnected stories revolving around a soldier named Johnny Carter -- do offer us a veritable sample of Jones's gifts as a writer. The dialogue and the descriptive sentences are frequently tight. There's also a "pre-edited" manuscript featured at the back of the book that provides we Jones stans with a glimpse into how he put these stories together.
November 28, 2011
To the End of the War (Unpublished Fiction) by James Jones is a collection of unpublished fiction broken into short stories from the author of From Here to Eternity, which was made into a movie, and The Thin Red Line. The stories in this collection were extracted from Jones’ first unfinished and unpublished novel, They Shall Inherit the Laughter, with the help of his daughter Kaylie and editor George Hendrick, who offers an introduction chock full of Jones’ early struggles to publish his writing.
This collection of previously unpublished writing is a series of interconnected stories in which Johnny Carter leaves the hospital after being wounded, goes AWOL, and moves back to his hometown in Illinois. Carter finds that much of the frustration and aggravation he felt toward the military is shared by his comrades in arms. Jones’ collection is more than stories; it is commentary on the machines behind war interspersed with poetry. Carter’s life is very similar to that of Jones’ real life, including going over the hill as AWOL was called.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/11/t...
This collection of previously unpublished writing is a series of interconnected stories in which Johnny Carter leaves the hospital after being wounded, goes AWOL, and moves back to his hometown in Illinois. Carter finds that much of the frustration and aggravation he felt toward the military is shared by his comrades in arms. Jones’ collection is more than stories; it is commentary on the machines behind war interspersed with poetry. Carter’s life is very similar to that of Jones’ real life, including going over the hill as AWOL was called.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/11/t...
January 11, 2012
James Jones is easily one of the most recognized and influential authors of the post-World War II era, and for good reason. His masterpieces of fiction From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line are raw and visceral, poignant explorations of war and its dehumanizing effect upon the men that fight it. If you've never heard of Jones, you owe yourself at least a quick glance at his wikipedia entry, because his life and writing career are quite interesting. While there you might see that his first book was something called They Shall Inherit the Laughter, a thinly veiled autobiographical work chronologing Jones' experience after having returned home from the war in the Pacific to recover from wound suffered in the battle of Guadal Canal. They Shall Inherit the Laughter never saw publication, even though Jones had several discussions with influential publishers and editors and revised his novel several times. Eventually he put Laughter aside in favor of what would be eventually become the National Book Award winning novel (and huge freakin' tome) From Here To Eternity.
Well, thanks to the estate of James Jones and the enterprising folks at Open Road Integrated Media, They Shall Inherit the Laughter has finally been released for consumption of the reading public, albeit with some... modifications. See, there was a reason the original novel wasn't published back in Jones' day. It just wasn't that good. Oh, there were spots of brilliance there, as key individuals in Jones' circle seemed to realize; it just wasn't as focused or structured as a published novel needs to be. The current publication has been titled To the End of the War and has been chopped up into smaller short stories in order to salvage the better parts of the manuscript.
As in his later works, Jones' writing in To the End of the War is intensely critical of the military, war-time society, and the propaganda machine at large in a time when it was very unpopular to do so. He also lays bare the psychological wounds of returning combat veterans, one of the first soldier/authors to do so in such vivid and uncompromising detail. As the book's forward states, Jones' best asset is his dialogue. He effortlessly captures character and motivation and emotion in just a few words, though, at times he does have a tendency of turning character speeches into orations to themselves. It's not very bothersome, though. The genius behind the words more than makes up for it.
What doesn't make up for it? Well, the overall structure, for one. As I said before, the original novel has been broken up into separate short stories, all following Jones' main character Johnny, but none of them offering anything in terms of a complete story. They're more vignettes than anything, and while we get a glimpse of very interesting characters, there's very little plot to string them all together. As such, I have a feeling that readers unfamiliar with Jones and his body of work will feel lost in the reading of it. You can also tell that Jones' voice and style were pretty immature at this point. He was mostly a self-taught author (no mean feat by itself), and it seems as though he was trying to figure out how to rail against the establishment and not sound like a whiny little punk--which he does, at times. But what author doesn't when he's just starting out?
Now, this is a fairly minor gripe, and I know the copy of the book I received was probably an uncorrected proof, but there were some major formatting issues that made reading the novel harder than it needed to be. For instance, there were no page breaks. Anywhere. And there was nothing to signify where a story ended and the editor's lead-in to the next story began. It looked as if all the text had been pumped through a text editor, stripping it of all formatting, and then dumped into the document I received. Reading it was more difficult than it needed to be. I sincerely hope that the formatting got a good hard look prior to final publication.
But as I said before, there are seeds of brilliance in this book. Jones' insight into the military, the war, and human weakness are wonderful. Especially profound is the way he portrays man's base desire to hold dominion over other men and how that need infiltrates the military beauraucracy. I also appreciated his juxtoposition of combat veterans trying to adjust to life back home against green troops itching for their first taste of "action." He illuminates many of these realities of military service in stark detail, and while there is value in that alone, interesting thoughts do not always a good book make. The fact of the matter is that without a cohesive plot these stories cannot stand on their own. The original ideas presented here germinated until they became the classics From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line, but at this point in Jones' literary career they were immature and incomplete. Most readers would be better served tackling the aforementioned titles first. While interesting and, at times, profound, To the End of the War is a footnote to the greatness of the rest of his bibliography. I only suggest it for those readers who know Jones' later work, love it, and want deeper insight into where it came from.
http://readabookonce.blogspot.com/201...
Well, thanks to the estate of James Jones and the enterprising folks at Open Road Integrated Media, They Shall Inherit the Laughter has finally been released for consumption of the reading public, albeit with some... modifications. See, there was a reason the original novel wasn't published back in Jones' day. It just wasn't that good. Oh, there were spots of brilliance there, as key individuals in Jones' circle seemed to realize; it just wasn't as focused or structured as a published novel needs to be. The current publication has been titled To the End of the War and has been chopped up into smaller short stories in order to salvage the better parts of the manuscript.
As in his later works, Jones' writing in To the End of the War is intensely critical of the military, war-time society, and the propaganda machine at large in a time when it was very unpopular to do so. He also lays bare the psychological wounds of returning combat veterans, one of the first soldier/authors to do so in such vivid and uncompromising detail. As the book's forward states, Jones' best asset is his dialogue. He effortlessly captures character and motivation and emotion in just a few words, though, at times he does have a tendency of turning character speeches into orations to themselves. It's not very bothersome, though. The genius behind the words more than makes up for it.
What doesn't make up for it? Well, the overall structure, for one. As I said before, the original novel has been broken up into separate short stories, all following Jones' main character Johnny, but none of them offering anything in terms of a complete story. They're more vignettes than anything, and while we get a glimpse of very interesting characters, there's very little plot to string them all together. As such, I have a feeling that readers unfamiliar with Jones and his body of work will feel lost in the reading of it. You can also tell that Jones' voice and style were pretty immature at this point. He was mostly a self-taught author (no mean feat by itself), and it seems as though he was trying to figure out how to rail against the establishment and not sound like a whiny little punk--which he does, at times. But what author doesn't when he's just starting out?
Now, this is a fairly minor gripe, and I know the copy of the book I received was probably an uncorrected proof, but there were some major formatting issues that made reading the novel harder than it needed to be. For instance, there were no page breaks. Anywhere. And there was nothing to signify where a story ended and the editor's lead-in to the next story began. It looked as if all the text had been pumped through a text editor, stripping it of all formatting, and then dumped into the document I received. Reading it was more difficult than it needed to be. I sincerely hope that the formatting got a good hard look prior to final publication.
But as I said before, there are seeds of brilliance in this book. Jones' insight into the military, the war, and human weakness are wonderful. Especially profound is the way he portrays man's base desire to hold dominion over other men and how that need infiltrates the military beauraucracy. I also appreciated his juxtoposition of combat veterans trying to adjust to life back home against green troops itching for their first taste of "action." He illuminates many of these realities of military service in stark detail, and while there is value in that alone, interesting thoughts do not always a good book make. The fact of the matter is that without a cohesive plot these stories cannot stand on their own. The original ideas presented here germinated until they became the classics From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line, but at this point in Jones' literary career they were immature and incomplete. Most readers would be better served tackling the aforementioned titles first. While interesting and, at times, profound, To the End of the War is a footnote to the greatness of the rest of his bibliography. I only suggest it for those readers who know Jones' later work, love it, and want deeper insight into where it came from.
http://readabookonce.blogspot.com/201...
October 7, 2020
Not my favorite James Jones.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews