James+Norman+Hall


 * James Norman Hall was a great American novelist born April 22, 1887, in Colfax,Iowa. He is best known for his Mutiny of the Bounty Trilogy. He mainly focused on war memoirs in his writing. Hall graduated from high school in 1910, but while trying to acquire his master's degree from Harvard he got caught up i ​ n World War I. Hall was on vacation in the United Kingdom when World War I began. Hall posed as a Canadian and joined the British Army. He was later discharged when his American origins were discovered. In 1918, Hall joined the Lafayette Escadrille, which was a a group of French fighter pilots. Hall, alongside the English co-writer of his famous trilogy, Charles Nordhoff, was one of the first American pilots to fight for Europe during World War I. After WWI, James and Charles would often write at James's Island in Tahiti where they actually wrote Mutiny of the Bounty. James Norman Hall's son, Conrad Hall, was born in Tahiti, but he was a renound American Cinematographer who recieved 3 Academy Awards in his life. He received his Academy Awards for: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, American Beauty, and then his son Conrad accepted his final Academy award for Road to Perdition as he had passed away prior to the award ceremony.Conrad Hall,son of Conrad Hall, is currently a Cinematagrapher who has worked on such films as Fight Club and Seven. Their Tahitian Island still belongs to their family.

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 * **"The members of my glee club came from all four classes. and owing to their own association I found here an epitome of Band of Brothers I had so often dreamed of....glee was my heaven on earth at the time."(42)**

As a boy in college Hall was not very religious;he was not a member of his college's YMCA, and he didn't attend any bible classes, but when he was in glee he had no problem expressing religious joy through song. At the time glee was all Hall really had so it greatly affected his life and friendships at the time. || ||
 * **"During those early weeks in Boston I was, in fact, a little homesick...I would imagine that I was under the linden tree on my hill."(97)

In 1910, Hall began his time at Harvard and was feeling quite nervous about it. While trying to get his masters from Harvard, Hall ended up Joining the French army and not returning to Harvard. He did however spend 4 years at Harvard which were obviously quite influential when it came to his mastery of writing. ** || ||
 * **"I was torn between the conviction that we must and should enter the war on the side of England and France, and my other conviction, almost equally strong, that we must and should stay out of it."(163)**

When the war broke out, Hall was unsure of the merit of the war and whether or not he should even take part. Hall obviously overcame this dilemma and fought for England and France for many years until being captured and retiring to Tahiti. Despite how devoted Hall may have seemed to England and France during the first World War, he had his initial doubts he had to overcome. || ||
 * **"We became the 103rd Pursuit Squadron, U.S.A.S. the first American Squadron on active duty, still attached to Groupe de Combat 13. The only difference was that we were now commissioned officers and in American Uniform."(200)**

Prior to this point in Halls life, he had fought for the French, but he first had to lie about his heratage, then he was allowed to fly for the French, but as a french pilot, despite being an American. With Hall finally able to reprisent his country, it was a very influential moment in his life.Though Hall never resented flying for Lafayette Escadrille, I'm sure Hall would have enjoyed some recognition in his pursuits. || ||
 * **"What a glorious sensation it was, after six months in a prison camp, to be traveling by route of the air again!" (225)**

Hall was wounded and capture May 7, 1918 and he was released in November. Upon arriving back Hall discovered that his squadron had been moved into Germany and Hall decided not to join them. However Hall did want to take one last flight over his old route of the Swiss border, and as luck would have it he was assigned temporary duty there. Hall arrived in a hangar of Spad planes and was given the choice of hundreds of brand new planes. He chose a 180 horsepower Spad that had never been flown. As Hall went up he saw terrible devastation and villages in ruins. Though Hall did not care for the sight, this new assignment was how Hall met Charles Nordoff, a man whom he would write the most successful set of books of the early 20th century with. ||

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 * **"The result was that Nordhoff took the book home to read and the next day he was back, and he was in what I can only call a "dither" of excitement. "Hall, what a story! What a story!" he said. as he walked up and down my verandas."**

This quote sums up the moment when two of the greatest writers of all time wrote the greatest novel, followed by the greatest trilogy, of their time. This was the moment that Hall knew that he and Nordhoff would write it together, one of the greatest maritime tales of all time. This is when Nordhoff found out about the mutiny on the bounty, and Hall found a person to write it with. Needless to say, the quote shows one of the most important moment in Hall's life. ||

|| James Norman Hall, My Island Home, Mutual Pub Co,2001 Forbes. New York:Nov 13, 1989. Vol. 144, Iss. 11; pg. 23, 1 pgs Peter Benchley New York Times Magazine; May 2, 2004; Platinum Periodicals pg. 98 http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/charlesto wn/postcards/harvard_school_1910.jpg http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/ B0017JF4GI/ref=dp_image_0ie=UTF8&n=133140011&s=digital-text http://www.jamesnormanhallhome.pf/jamesnorman.jpg http://www.ziyue.com/box/oscar/ConradHallB.jpg http://ia.media-imdb.com/images http://www.jamesnormanhallhome.pf/jnhhousefront.jpg http://www.flyandrive.com/images/spad.JPG/M/MV5BNTg5 MzEwNTQyM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTY wMDY2NjA0._V1._SX276_SY400_.jpg http://www.cinematographers.nl/FotosDoPh/hallcw.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ea/MutinyOnTheBounty.jpg ||
 * In conclusion, through this assignment, I have discovered very much about The great author, James Norman Hall. I discovered that not only was he the author of the famous Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy, but he also attended Harvard, was one of the first Americans to fight in the first World War, and that he lived out the last 30 years of his life in Tahiti. I know both James Norman Hall's grandson and Great-Grandson, and it was quite interesting learning about their Grandfather's/Great-Grandfather's life. || Work Cited: