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Viet Journal
book
- GenresHistory
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
30 people want to read
About the author
James Jones
48 books251 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 of 1 review
January 29, 2021
Viet Journal is one of those fortuitous circumstances when the right person is at the right place at the right time. Jones is sent by the NYT Magazine to Vietnam in 1972, just as the US pullout is beginning and after the ceasefire is in place. Over 40 years later, we know how it turned out, but Jones’s book is a haunting that still resonates.
This is a different Jones as an author. He makes clear that he is not a reporter, but a novelist sent to capture the Zeitgeist of Vietnam and the US military. By his telling, journalism had become so loaded, so cooped, perhaps literature could capture what reportage could not. I’ve found Jones to write like a slightly disturbed, slightly inebriated gadfly whose presence you can’t comfortably escape. And it always feels like the wrong guy at the wrong place, wrong time. Not Viet Journal.
He begins by recounting his father’s suicide. An implicit means of suggesting that he is going to attempt some personal transparency with his palms facing up. He also makes it clear that this work is a love letter to the U. S. Army. In fact, the book is in part dedicated to it. And as with love, the joy is in the pursuit. I couldn’t help but admire the lengths to which Jones goes to witness scenes of the point of conflict, and the lives of U.S. service members, Vietnamese partners, and a cast of unexpected characters found in any long running war. His passion is placed on full display. And it allows him to capture the horror and humor of wartime Vietnam with what he witnesses as only an old soldier can.
Viet Journal is a journal, so it lacks the climax and denouement of a novel, leaving the latter half feeling flat. But, the poignant moments that occur between the chopper flights are frequent and notable. The unforgettable refrain that the soldiers keep leaving with Jones; I want to come back to this place in a few years . . . Jones seems to grasp what his interlocutors do not. This is a fantasy as much as the ceasefire.
The epilogue is a return to Hawaii and the place of the start of his war thirty years earlier. It becomes clear that it isn’t written for us, but a personal document, and something that, if we learned anything from the previous pages, is a journey we must join him on.
Viet Journal is an account of the Vietnam War unlike any other. It stands apart.
This is a different Jones as an author. He makes clear that he is not a reporter, but a novelist sent to capture the Zeitgeist of Vietnam and the US military. By his telling, journalism had become so loaded, so cooped, perhaps literature could capture what reportage could not. I’ve found Jones to write like a slightly disturbed, slightly inebriated gadfly whose presence you can’t comfortably escape. And it always feels like the wrong guy at the wrong place, wrong time. Not Viet Journal.
He begins by recounting his father’s suicide. An implicit means of suggesting that he is going to attempt some personal transparency with his palms facing up. He also makes it clear that this work is a love letter to the U. S. Army. In fact, the book is in part dedicated to it. And as with love, the joy is in the pursuit. I couldn’t help but admire the lengths to which Jones goes to witness scenes of the point of conflict, and the lives of U.S. service members, Vietnamese partners, and a cast of unexpected characters found in any long running war. His passion is placed on full display. And it allows him to capture the horror and humor of wartime Vietnam with what he witnesses as only an old soldier can.
Viet Journal is a journal, so it lacks the climax and denouement of a novel, leaving the latter half feeling flat. But, the poignant moments that occur between the chopper flights are frequent and notable. The unforgettable refrain that the soldiers keep leaving with Jones; I want to come back to this place in a few years . . . Jones seems to grasp what his interlocutors do not. This is a fantasy as much as the ceasefire.
The epilogue is a return to Hawaii and the place of the start of his war thirty years earlier. It becomes clear that it isn’t written for us, but a personal document, and something that, if we learned anything from the previous pages, is a journey we must join him on.
Viet Journal is an account of the Vietnam War unlike any other. It stands apart.
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