Literary Birthday – 6 November – James Jones

James Jones was born 6 November 1921, and died 9 May 1977.

10 Quotes

1. I write to reach eternity.
2. That was one of the virtues of being a pessimist: nothing was ever as bad as you thought it would be.
3. I believe it is good for an American writer to get outside his country — outside his continent — and see it from a vantage point outside its pervading emotional climate.
4. This place [the army] is hell. They herd you around like cattle; they order you around like dogs; they work you like horses; and they feed you like hogs.
5. I don’t think people like to read about themselves or about others as they really are. It would be too horrifying.
6. You have to really work at it to write. I guess there has to be talent first; but even with talent you still have to work at it.
7. I think that a classic style in writing tends to remove the reader one level from the immediacy of the experience. For any normal reader, I think a colloquial style makes him feel more as though he is within the action, instead of just reading about it.
8. Old soldiers never die, they write novels.
9. The quality which makes man want to write and be read is essentially a desire for self-exposure and masochism.
10. Having a little talent as a writer is like having a little talent as a brain surgeon.

James Jones was an American author. He won the 1952 National Book Award for his first published novel, From Here to Eternity, which was adapted for film and made into television series a generation later. His other novels include The Thin Red Line and Whistle.

Source for Image

Author’s website

“https://jamesjonesliterarysociety.org/who-is-james-jones/”

by Amanda Patterson

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