The Pistol - Softcover

Jones, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440170680 ISBN 13: 9780440170686

Publisher: DELL PUBL CO, 1900

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

James Jones (1921-1977) was a nineteen-year-old private, first class, in Company F, 27th Infantry, stationed in Hawaii when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was wounded in Guadalcanal in 1943 and received the bronze star and the Purple Heart. He won the National Book Award in 1951 for From Here to Eternity and is famous for his war novels, Some Came Running, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle.

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)

Edition details

• Publisher: DELL PUBL CO
• Publication date: 1900
• ISBN 10: 0440170680
• ISBN 13: 9780440170686
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English