《从这里到永恒》:美国战争文学的一朵奇葩

From Here to Eternity: A Unique Novel in American War Literature

詹姆斯·琼斯是美国第二次世界大战后出现的重要战争小说家之一。《从这里到永恒》是作者的处女作,“二战三部曲”中的第一部,被公认为是作者最优秀的作品。小说叙述了战前驻在夏威夷岛上一支美军部队的军营生活,日本偷袭珍珠港不久故事便结束,是一部不多见的有关和平时期美军士兵生活的写实小说。通过主人公普鲁伊特的“演变”过程,小说揭示了美军这个庞大机器内在的矛盾和冲突、士兵的忧虑、烦恼和恐惧,以及他们的反抗、挣扎和悲剧。

James Jones was one of the major war novelists in post-war American literature. His From Here to Eternity, the first book of“a trilogy on World War II and soldiering”is regarded as one of the best war novels in American literature. It is a unique eyewitness account of the peacetime, pre-WWII American Army on the brink of being thrust into the war, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The novel reveals the contradictions and conflicts inherent in the powerful army system through the“evolution”of the protagonist Robert Prewitt. Jones depicts him to be a man, as a symbol for mankind struggling with a natural and superior force bent on destroying him.