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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
A visceral rejection of those who so righteously sacrifice people for the sake of ideas. This book is anti-war at its heart, and not something to read on a weak stomach. Joe Bonham will fix you with his eyeless stare from behind his glass box and won't let you go.
"If the thing they were fighting for was important enough to die for then it was also important enough for them to be thinking about it in the last minutes of their lives. ..... So did all those kids die thinking of democracy and freedom and liberty and honor and the safety of the home and the stars and stripes forever?"
“You're goddamn right they didn't. They died crying in their minds like little babies. ..... They knew that life was everything and they died with screams and sobs.”
"If the thing they were fighting for was important enough to die for then it was also important enough for them to be thinking about it in the last minutes of their lives. ..... So did all those kids die thinking of democracy and freedom and liberty and honor and the safety of the home and the stars and stripes forever?"
“You're goddamn right they didn't. They died crying in their minds like little babies. ..... They knew that life was everything and they died with screams and sobs.”
Interesting curiosity I read last year, Johnny Got His Gun is a bleak look at war's effect on humanity and an occasionally beautiful accounting of fleeting moments in life. The protagonist Joe, blown to smitherings during WWI. He's in a hospital bed with no arms, no legs, and no face. He's basically a thinking torso with no way of communicating to the few people he encounters (nurses, the occasional doctor). The story of his life unfolds in his memory, and (in truly disturbing passages) gradually loses his mind.
Where "Johnny" is at its best is in the telling of Joe's childhood - a camping trip with his father is especially poignant. Trumbo's rendering of intensely personal feelings, unresolved regrets that never truly leave us, are powerfully felt by the reader, even though the America described is now a century old.
Where "Johnny" falters is in its most heated diatribe against war. While one can't argue that Trumbo's criticism of the evil of war is incorrect, he abandons his deft hand as a storyteller when we get to the book's central screed in the third act. The emotion of the speech is so raw, so strident, that even I who basically agree with everything said still had to recoil. It's the emotional equivalent of a relative at a funeral shrieking and throwing themselves into the coffin at a wake - you get it but it's ugly and sad to witness. I felt that in trying to do justice to the horror of war, Trumbo created something worse than the reality. Again, I can't say he's wrong. But if who we are is how react to the worst life has to offer, Trumbo is as bitter a storyteller as I can imagine. Still, it's his perspective, and it's composed beautifully.
Trumbo eventually got wrapped up in the McCarthy trials, due to his alleged (and likely actual) communist sympathies. This book is an obvious precursor to views that would become more mainstream in the 60's and 70's (and today).
Where "Johnny" is at its best is in the telling of Joe's childhood - a camping trip with his father is especially poignant. Trumbo's rendering of intensely personal feelings, unresolved regrets that never truly leave us, are powerfully felt by the reader, even though the America described is now a century old.
Where "Johnny" falters is in its most heated diatribe against war. While one can't argue that Trumbo's criticism of the evil of war is incorrect, he abandons his deft hand as a storyteller when we get to the book's central screed in the third act. The emotion of the speech is so raw, so strident, that even I who basically agree with everything said still had to recoil. It's the emotional equivalent of a relative at a funeral shrieking and throwing themselves into the coffin at a wake - you get it but it's ugly and sad to witness. I felt that in trying to do justice to the horror of war, Trumbo created something worse than the reality. Again, I can't say he's wrong. But if who we are is how react to the worst life has to offer, Trumbo is as bitter a storyteller as I can imagine. Still, it's his perspective, and it's composed beautifully.
Trumbo eventually got wrapped up in the McCarthy trials, due to his alleged (and likely actual) communist sympathies. This book is an obvious precursor to views that would become more mainstream in the 60's and 70's (and today).
Probably one of the most depressing books I’ve read in my entire life... I feel drained
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think the very premise of the novel is more spine-chilling then the execution; hearing about a guy whose lost virtually all his bodily functions and is incapable of screaming for help is terrifying thought, but I found it to be less affective the more I read.
Still really liked it though!
Did not like the Metallica song though >:(
Still really liked it though!
Did not like the Metallica song though >:(
This book is an astounding masterpiece. I have been through the emotional wringer, listening to the audiobook version. If you haven't already done so, please, please read it. It is indescribably human. One of the best books I have ever experienced, and it really is an experience that you go through with Joe. You want to reach out and touch him, to tell him you understand. But of course he's unreachable, heartbreakingly unreachable.