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mellowbry 's review for:
Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
UPDATED**
So. It's been 5 years now (jesus) since I first read "Johnny Got His Gun." To this day, its audiobook is one of the best audio performances I've ever listened to. The actor's ability to invoke such youthful optimism yet spiteful and tragic sentiments is phenomenal; his reading of the scenes when Joe slowly realizes his physical state will always haunt me for years to come. Please, for the love of God, experience "Johnny Got His Gun" through its audiobook.
While listening to the audiobook, I was reminded of Joe as his own character, beyond the politics Trumbo expresses through/as him. Like the bakery he used to work at and the pie "incident," his girlfriend he left behind and other roundabouts with women, including one whom his best friend slept with, and of course, the hallucinations of Jesus Christ from Tucson and Trumbo's reframing of the story of Jesus's birth. What I now realize all these years and an English degree later is how Trumbo uses these seemingly pointless scenes to demonstrate how Americans invoke military ideals like honor, loyalty, dignity, liberty, duty, etc. in their everyday lives. Why does a violent organization claim to embody these ideals when you, as an American citizen, heck, as a human being, already do?
I think the term "The Great American Novel" is overrated and saturated by white narratives; however, if I were to give one book that... honor, it would be "Johnny Got His Gun," no question asked.
So. It's been 5 years now (jesus) since I first read "Johnny Got His Gun." To this day, its audiobook is one of the best audio performances I've ever listened to. The actor's ability to invoke such youthful optimism yet spiteful and tragic sentiments is phenomenal; his reading of the scenes when Joe slowly realizes his physical state will always haunt me for years to come. Please, for the love of God, experience "Johnny Got His Gun" through its audiobook.
While listening to the audiobook, I was reminded of Joe as his own character, beyond the politics Trumbo expresses through/as him. Like the bakery he used to work at and the pie "incident," his girlfriend he left behind and other roundabouts with women, including one whom his best friend slept with, and of course, the hallucinations of Jesus Christ from Tucson and Trumbo's reframing of the story of Jesus's birth. What I now realize all these years and an English degree later is how Trumbo uses these seemingly pointless scenes to demonstrate how Americans invoke military ideals like honor, loyalty, dignity, liberty, duty, etc. in their everyday lives. Why does a violent organization claim to embody these ideals when you, as an American citizen, heck, as a human being, already do?
I think the term "The Great American Novel" is overrated and saturated by white narratives; however, if I were to give one book that... honor, it would be "Johnny Got His Gun," no question asked.