From Here to Eternity
New York: Scribners, 1951. First Ediiton. Octavo. Item #027254
First printing. 861 pages. Author's First Book. When this book appeared it, like The Naked and the Dead, spoke of the reality of the soldier's life in World War II. The author was appointed corporal twice and each time was reduced to private. He served at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, during the Japanese attack on the Island of Oahu on December 7. Later at Guadacanal was wounded in action and received the Purple Heart. The novel was very explicit about sexual activity among soldiers in Hawaii. The movie censors changed Lorene from a prostitute to a hostess at a social club. Holmes gave Karen gonorrhea but in the movie it was a miscarriage that caused her to lose the baby. There are cases of men who fraternize with homosexuals but again taken out of the movie. Although the movie still is one of the best of its kind, the book has a raw power that could not be shown in the early 1950's to an America that denied sexuality. Bound in black cloth, spine lettering gilt, near fine in very good unclipped pictorial dust jacket with a few spots of rubbing to folds and light wear to spine ends and corners. A very nice copy.
Price: $195.00