A review by bekkabergamot
The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction by Stephen Crane

4.0

Surprise, surprise... I disagree with what the masses have told me about this book. Although, I don't actually know too many of my peers who have read this (it seems the schools near me skipped this classic), the adults I've known have always told me that this was very "DRY" book, hence making it not high on my priority list. I've read Stephen Crane's poetry for many years now and never understood how someone could write such beautiful, bittersweet poetry but boring, dry historical novels. Well, the answer is that his book was not boring or dry. "The Red Badge of Courage" is a short novel, perhaps a novella, brimming with poetic prose and haunting effigies of men at war. It follows the main character of Henry Fleming as the youth experiences the many shifting psychological developments of one at war. It was shocking for me that Stephen Crane published this book when he was 24 years old and especially that he had no experience of war, the military, or anything which could substantiate the very powerful depiction of war and human psychology which this book delivers. Although, I admit to finding many war stories a bit dry at times (because battle movements and war stories are not of interest to me) I feel compelled to share that I found the writing beautiful and devastating. I think overall, this is a war story I would recommend to others; and I will add that it is more than a war story, it is also a coming of age story as well (for both the protagonist and the country).