The Red Badge of Courage in What's the Name of That Book???

Dec 18, 2007 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-classics, read-historical-fiction, read-adult-fiction, read-civil-war

First let me say that I didn't care for Crane's writing style. There was something about his sentence structure that, at times, made me have to pause and reread for meaning. In addition, he had the disconcerting habit of suddenly personifying the battles and skirmishes.

Having said that, I do think it was an incredible portrayal of what it's like to be in the thick of a battle--what you feel, hear, see, smell. I hope I never experience such a reality! Crane also did a marvelous job of describing ...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Stacy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

As I anticipate that a number of my upcoming 10th grade students will not have loved this summer reading assignment, I understand why this novella by Stephen Crane is considered a classic.

The protagonist of the novel, commonly referred to by the omniscient narrator as "the youth", is Henry Fleming, a young man who decides to, against the wishes of his mother, enlist in the Union Army. Regardless of his desire to be a part of something bigger, Henry flees from his first battle. Overwhelmed with s As I anticipate that a number of my upcoming 10th grade students will not have loved this summer reading assignment, I understand why this novella by Stephen Crane is considered a classic.

The protagonist of the novel, commonly referred to by the omniscient narrator as "the youth", is Henry Fleming, a young man who decides to, against the wishes of his mother, enlist in the Union Army. Regardless of his desire to be a part of something bigger, Henry flees from his first battle. Overwhelmed with shame, Henry, henceforth, marches to the front line, at times with a flag in his hand, to fight Confederate soldiers. The group he is assigned to is presented as a rag tag bunch of expendable men; they are not the warriors the army seems to want, but they are the bodies in between -- the men sent to die while cutting down the size of the Confederate army.

Overflowing with lyrical prose, figurative language, and the standard struggles found in fiction (man against himself/ man against society), The Red Badge of Courage gave me the impression of being a realistic account of living and fighting on the front of the Civil War. Crane successfully maintained the poetic language while sharing the grittiness of war. For example, before Henry has his resurgence, "a certain moth like quality within him kept him in the vicinity of the battle. He had a great desire to see and to get the news." While near the front, moreover, "he caught occasional glimpses of visages that loomed pallid and ghostly, lit with a phosphorescent flow." When Henry and his cohorts accidentally ran into fresh bunch of Rebel soldiers,, the narrator tells the reader the "white clenched teeth shone from the dusky faces. Many heads surged to and fro,floating upon a pale sea of smoke." The battlefield is a hazy, tree filled valley with fires, continuous explosions, and the wailing of grown men.

Regardless of the awakening experienced by the protagonist and his willingness to die for his flag, he is very much, as he turns into a more base animal, a warning of what happens when we send people to war. Our humanity dissipates. Sadly, we are not who we once were. ...more

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Apr 26, 2010 Bryan457 rated it did not like it

Shelves: military, do-not-reread, hate-it, historical-fiction, classics

I can't believe I made it through all 152 torturous pages. ...more

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Sep 02, 2007 J. Trott rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Sure, war is chaotic, heroism is just stupidity, and no-one is recommending it- but I don't think actual battles are this boring. Unshackle those poor old prose, Mr. Crane. ...more

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