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James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978)

Författare till Guard of Honor

23+ verk 918 medlemmar 19 recensioner

Om författaren

James Gould Cozzens, known for his detailed and realistic social novels, was born August 19, 1903, in Chicago. During his sophomore year at Harvard he wrote his first novel, Confusion, the success of which prompted him to leave college to write exclusively. He published a successful novella, S.S. visa mer San Pedro, in 1931. Guard of Honor (1948), an account of his life on an Air Force base, won the Pulitzer Prize. His most popular work was By Love Possessed (1957), which received the Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He wrote other novels including The Last Adam (1933), Men and Brethren (1936), The Just and the Unjust (1942) and Morning, Noon and Night (1968). In 1964 he published Children and Others, a short story collection. Cozens died August 9, 1978, in Florida. (Bowker Author Biography) visa färre

Verk av James Gould Cozzens

Guard of Honor (1948) 333 exemplar
Besatt av kärlek (1957) 193 exemplar
The Just and the Unjust (1777) 99 exemplar
Morning Noon & Night (1968) 61 exemplar
The Last Adam (1933) 40 exemplar
Children and others (1958) 39 exemplar
S. S. San Pedro (1931) 39 exemplar
Castaway (1901) 34 exemplar
Men and Brethren (1936) 22 exemplar
A Cure of Flesh (1945) 12 exemplar
Ask me tomorrow (1952) 11 exemplar
S S San Pedro and Castaway (1934) 7 exemplar
Confusion (1924) 4 exemplar

Associerade verk

More Stories to Remember, Volume II (1958) — Bidragsgivare — 94 exemplar
More Stories to Remember, Volumes I & II (1958) — Bidragsgivare — 57 exemplar
Chapter and Hearse: Suspense Stories about the World of Books (1985) — Bidragsgivare — 49 exemplar
The Book of the Sea (1954) — Bidragsgivare — 36 exemplar
Ellery Queen's Book of Mystery Stories by 25 Famous Writers (1952) — Bidragsgivare — 36 exemplar
Golden Age Bibliomysteries (2023) — Bidragsgivare — 23 exemplar
The Best Sea Stories (1986) — Bidragsgivare — 21 exemplar
World's Great Tales of the Sea (1944) — Bidragsgivare — 16 exemplar
Half-a-Hundred Stories for Men, Great Tales by American Writers (1945) — Bidragsgivare — 15 exemplar

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This is basically a Last Man novel written by someone who seems to be trying to write an allegory for the ages without engaging in the history of apocalyptic or Last Man literature. It can be frustrating and not much fun. It gets an extra star for when it's not those things.
 
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J.Flux | Aug 13, 2022 |
Even though the reviews point out the story about racism in the book, it is only one facet of the story, and one will be disappointed if that is what they expect of the novel. It is a multifaceted story with several characters weaving in and out of the storyline. The story itself centers on a weekend on which several crises occur and how the high command handles them. It is robust reading at best, and the changing point of view is not for the faint of heart. The author successfully tells the story with the various characters, either by what they were thinking or saying or by what others were thinking about them. It is difficult to read because of those above and the inherent goings-on of a military base in Florida during World War II.
"While he talked, Captain Wiley, more and more restive, perhaps saw the fighter swarm, his preferred familiars, old squadronmates of his, coming off the runways at a hundred miles an hour; in thunder, airborne. The earth fell down under them; the winds aloft gave way. Not long after, the watchful far-off foe would note some specks on the sky. Stout he might be, skilled, sure of himself; but the man was not born yet who, seeing that sight, kept at that moment spit enough to swallow.
He hadn't long to wait. On the heart's diastole, those coming fighters might look a mile off, and on the systole following, here they were."
… (mer)
 
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Pharmacdon | 8 andra recensioner | Aug 9, 2022 |
This Pulitzer winner from the late 1940s is long and dense, with tons of characters, and a time span of only three days for its 600+ pages. And it's (technically) a war book. Not a lot going for it, really, in the way of making me interested. But honestly it's not half bad - there were some long slogs, but when it was interesting, it was very nearly a treat. A Moby Dick minus the whale? Sort of. The writing is good, although not quite Melville good, so not quite good enough to keep me from getting frustrated with those slog sections. It would probably help if I were more interested in the intricacies of military admin, or, to be honest, military issues in general. Interesting (and possibly important) for its place in literary history and the history of race relations in the military. If this sort of thing interests you, chances are you'll have more patience for it than I did.… (mer)
 
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scaifea | 8 andra recensioner | May 24, 2021 |
Guard of Honor was the first that I have read by Cozzens. Like a number of his novels, apparently, the events span three days and are therefore a very detailed description of those events. In the case of Guard of Honor, the events take place on a military base in Florida during WWII. You might think that with over 600 pages covering three days that you know everything that is going on, but that is far from true. There are easily 15 characters whose actions and thoughts you are trying to follow, and there are frequent gaps of time when you are trying to discern who did what and what was said. Many of the characters are referred to by their title and last name which doesn't help in keeping track of the developments, but is true to time and place. I definitely wondered at times with all of the titles if I was getting to see beyond the titles to who the characters actually were.

The central character is Colonel Norman Ross, "Judge", was a judge for many years prior to WWII. He is the wise, experienced, elderly figure who understands much and much more than most of the characters. He is the orchestrator of outcomes, but is far from having full knowledge or full control. His challenge is how to move events in the necessary direction even though he can't explain to many of the major characters all the intricacies of what is happening. General "Bus" Beal is in charge of this military base. He is most comfortably a fighting man who has moved quickly up the ranks due the necessities of war. Would he even survive without the aid and support of the Judge? Does he recognize the value of the Judge and how ignorant to motivations and consequences he is? Or is he as clueless to the events and their implications as it appears?

It is true that in terms of actual events not much happens in this novel, however, in the minds of the men and women involved, much happens. In the process of reading this novel, I was motivated to learn a bit about Cozzens. This novel won the Pulitzer and I thought deservedly so. Cozzens' next novel, By Love Possessed, was a best seller and was being considered for a number of awards until a particular critic went against the tide of accolades and wrote a devastating review. Cozzens apparently achieved little success after that review, and based on the attention and favor he receives on GR, no longer warrants much admiration. Some other tidbits. Cozzens and his wife were recluses. The one time Cozzens agreed to a major interview, which his wife, Bernice who was a former literary agent, was adamantly against, he did himself significant harm in how he was perceived as a writer.

I don't think Cozzens is for everybody. I think his writing style would come across as dry for many and if you are not intrigued by stories where you get to learn what is going on behind the scenes and what different characters are thinking, you would likely find the plot slow moving. For me, Guard of Honor was a page-turner, easy to read and intriguing from beginning to end.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
afkendrick | 8 andra recensioner | Oct 24, 2020 |

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Statistik

Verk
23
Även av
21
Medlemmar
918
Popularitet
#27,946
Betyg
½ 3.5
Recensioner
19
ISBN
34
Språk
1

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