When selecting my summer reading books, I picked this book, The Red Badge of Courage, based on the fact that it was a war novel, and every book about a war that I have read has been exciting and easy to get into. However, this book has neither of these attributes, and I regret my decision to ever start reading this highly overrated "classic", by Stephen Crane. I realize that a lot books start out slow, and aren't too incredibly interesting within the first 20 pages. This book, however, is in an elite group when it comes to boring beginnings in novels. It talks about a young man, whose name is only given in dialogue, who has joined the army against his mother's wishes. Also, a tall soldier has brought news that the men are moving, as they've been camping for a river for quite awhile. Other than that, the rest of these first eighteen pages is about the youth thinking about whether or not he will run once he is in battle. Now, I could understand a paragraph or two, or maybe even a page, talking about the boy's thoughts on this matter. But, how someone could possibly write about this for the large majority of eighteen pages, truly baffles me. I am disgusted by this "classic novel" thus far. However, I do expect it to get better as I read further into the book. This is based on the fact that I don't think it can get any worse.
Well, my last blog ended with me predicting that the book would get better as I read on. However, Mr. Crane did not fail to match the terrible performance he supplied his readers with in the first two chapters of the book. The youth's question, of whether or not he would run in the face battle, was answered in chapter three. During the battle he is amazed by everything around him. He terrified, but looks around, and realizes that he is not the only one. Instead of running away, he sits there and observes nature and how other people are reacting to the war. However, it didn't really seem like he was doing much fighting, which one would think a soldier would be doing in the heat of a battle. In chapter four, the men are talking about the outlook of the war. At first, they thought that the war was going to be a quick easy one. However, they now believe that it is going to be longer and tougher than they had originally thought. The regiment realizes that they have underestimated their opponent's skill and heart. This it was causes them to believe that the war is going to be long and hard. This chapter ends with the men being defeated and fleeing a battle. Chapter five is about the enemy launching a surprise attack. The regiment is unconfident, because of their previous battle. However, they realize that they must try to fight and hold their opponents back. To their surprise, they end up fighting off the enemy, and they win the battle.
In this section of this terrible novel, the youth runs a way from a battle. I believe this is because the young man doesn't have any heart, and he is scared. After he has run for awhile he stops in the woods. For no apparent reason, he throws a pinecone at a squirrel. He observes that the squirrel ran away because the squirrel sensed that it was in danger. He thinks that this is a sign from nature. He relates this to why he ran from the battle. The youth continues on away from the battle. He sees a dead man while walking, and, at this point, it seems like the youth is losing his mind. He thinks that the dead man is going to start talking and chasing him. Because of his crazy thoughts, he runs from the corpse. Continuing on his journey, the youth stumbles upon a battle. He watches it for a short time, and then begins walking with a few of the men. He then meets one of his old friends, Jim Conklin. The youth is with Jim for a little bit, but, eventually, Jim goes crazy and dies. The youth then walks with another man, who keeps asking him questions about wounds, and why he ran from the battle. The youth eventualy gets annoyed and runs away. I think that the youth is a big sissy, and he should have never went to war in the first place. He doesn't have the heart to be a soldier, and he is a quitter. I would never go to war with that kid by my side.
I will admit that the story is getting a little better, and the book is a little easier to read at this point. That being said, "getting better," in this book, does not mean that it is good. I still think that it is possibly the worst book I have ever read. It begins with the young soldier hearing the sounds of a battle. He walks upon it, and sees men running to fight. He feels down on himself because he ran from battle, and he is not fighting. He begins to want to fight, and starts out for the field of battle. At this point, I began to think that the soldier was starting to grow up, and gain some heart and pride. However, he did not end up fighting, because he was thirst, hungry, and sore. He also did not have a gun, but it would have been very easy to take a gun from a fallen soldier, or go to one of the wagons that was behind the battle. Instead of fighting he stays away from the battle and watches. He begins to think that, if his side loses, it would justify his decision to not fight, because he was able to "predict" the defeat. He begins to hope that his side loses, so that he does not feel bad about not fighting. Eventually, he feels guilty and selfish for rooting against his teammates. The youth does not think that there is anyway his side can lose. He begins to try and come up with an excuse for why he didn't fight. However, he cannot come up with a good story, so he fears that the other soldiers will be angry with him, and call him coward. The union, Henry's side, eventually retreats. While they are running away, Henry grabs a man's arm, but the man is trying to get away, and hits Henry in the head with his rifle. Henry starts bleeding, and is eventually given directions to his regiment's camp. Henry is worried that he will be scoffed at by his fellow soldiers. So, he tries to avoid them at the camp. He eventually is caught, and tells the corporal that he was separated from the unit and shot in the head. The corporal takes care of him and lets him go to sleep. Chapter fourteen returns the book back to its incredibly boring state. It is about the youth talking with the Wilson, the loud soldier, about what had happened. They almost get in a fight, but, other than that, nothing close to interesting happens.
This section of the book starts with Henry and the loud soldier talking about a manilla envelope the loud soldier gave Henry at the beginning of the story. He had asked Henry to give it to his family if he fell in battle. In this section, he asks for the envelope back. We see in this section of the book that the loud soldier is scared to die. This is surprising to me because, at the beginning of the story, the loud soldier talked like he had no fears. After this Henry seems to transform into a completely different character. At one point in the story he found himself kind of halfhearterdly rooting for the enemy while watching a battle. Now, he finds a deep hatred for the enemy in himself. The regiment moves, and waits for the enemy that they know is coming. When the enemy does attack, Henry goes into a frenzy of shooting. He moves on by himself, seeming as though he does not fear death. This is a complete turn around from his actions in battle previously. The battle eventually ends with the enemy retreating. However, even after they retreat Henry does not realize it at first, and keeps shooting. He eventually is stopped by the other soldiers, who are in awe of his performance in the battle.
The book is beginning to, once again, get vary hard to read. Every couple of minutes I have to put this terrible novel down and take a break. This section of the book starts out with Henry and Wilson looking for a river. They cannot find one, but they do find a spot where they can watch a battle that is going on. After awhile, a couple of generals travel past them talkin about a future battle. One of the generals tells the other that the only regiment they can afford to lose is the 304th regiment, Henry and Wilson's regiment. He says they can afford to lose them because they fight like a bunch of "mule drivers." Henry and Wilson are very insulted by this comment. The generals then say that the 304th regiment will probably fall in the next battle. The boys go back to camp with the news that they are going into battle the next day. However, they do not tell the other men what the generals said about the way they fight. In the battle the color bearer dies and drops the flag. Wilson picks up, and the two boys continue fighting. Eventually, Henry takes the flag from Wilson, and the 304th fights off the enemy. They are now very confident, and they feel as though they are unstoppable.
Generally, the end of a book is somewhat exciting, because this is where the climax is located. However, to the surprise of absolutely noboday, this book's climax was very boring. Essentially, the same thing that happened in the previous ten chapters, happened again. The regiment is the underdog in a battle, and they come out victorious, due to Henry and Wilson's brave fighting. However, they still do not earn any respect. When they return back to camp, they are mocked by the other soldiers for fighting so hard and coming out with an ugly win. After this all happens, Henry reflects on how the war went for him. He is at first upset about they way he acted in his first battle. However, he then realizes all the bravery he showed after that first fight. He realizes that he has now grown up and become a man. This book was one of the most boring books I have ever read. I am proud of myself for even finishing this "classic." If Stephen Crane's goal in writing this novel was to make his readers never want to read another one of his books, then he succeeded. It was a terrible book, and it should be deleted from next years summer reading list.
Didn't the passage of background information say that Antigone was a victim of Creon's hubris? Some of you are suggesting that Antigone is the tragic hero. Thoughts on that.
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The Red Badge of Courage -Pgs. 1-18
When selecting my summer reading books, I picked this book, The Red Badge of Courage, based on the fact that it was a war novel, and every book about a war that I have read has been exciting and easy to get into. However, this book has neither of these attributes, and I regret my decision to ever start reading this highly overrated "classic", by Stephen Crane.
I realize that a lot books start out slow, and aren't too incredibly interesting within the first 20 pages. This book, however, is in an elite group when it comes to boring beginnings in novels. It talks about a young man, whose name is only given in dialogue, who has joined the army against his mother's wishes. Also, a tall soldier has brought news that the men are moving, as they've been camping for a river for quite awhile. Other than that, the rest of these first eighteen pages is about the youth thinking about whether or not he will run once he is in battle.
Now, I could understand a paragraph or two, or maybe even a page, talking about the boy's thoughts on this matter. But, how someone could possibly write about this for the large majority of eighteen pages, truly baffles me. I am disgusted by this "classic novel" thus far. However, I do expect it to get better as I read further into the book. This is based on the fact that I don't think it can get any worse.
-Matthew
The Red Badge of Courage - Pgs. 19-37
Well, my last blog ended with me predicting that the book would get better as I read on. However, Mr. Crane did not fail to match the terrible performance he supplied his readers with in the first two chapters of the book.
The youth's question, of whether or not he would run in the face battle, was answered in chapter three. During the battle he is amazed by everything around him. He terrified, but looks around, and realizes that he is not the only one. Instead of running away, he sits there and observes nature and how other people are reacting to the war. However, it didn't really seem like he was doing much fighting, which one would think a soldier would be doing in the heat of a battle.
In chapter four, the men are talking about the outlook of the war. At first, they thought that the war was going to be a quick easy one. However, they now believe that it is going to be longer and tougher than they had originally thought. The regiment realizes that they have underestimated their opponent's skill and heart. This it was causes them to believe that the war is going to be long and hard. This chapter ends with the men being defeated and fleeing a battle.
Chapter five is about the enemy launching a surprise attack. The regiment is unconfident, because of their previous battle. However, they realize that they must try to fight and hold their opponents back. To their surprise, they end up fighting off the enemy, and they win the battle.
The Red Badge of Courage - Ch. 5-10
In this section of this terrible novel, the youth runs a way from a battle. I believe this is because the young man doesn't have any heart, and he is scared.
After he has run for awhile he stops in the woods. For no apparent reason, he throws a pinecone at a squirrel. He observes that the squirrel ran away because the squirrel sensed that it was in danger. He thinks that this is a sign from nature. He relates this to why he ran from the battle.
The youth continues on away from the battle. He sees a dead man while walking, and, at this point, it seems like the youth is losing his mind. He thinks that the dead man is going to start talking and chasing him. Because of his crazy thoughts, he runs from the corpse.
Continuing on his journey, the youth stumbles upon a battle. He watches it for a short time, and then begins walking with a few of the men. He then meets one of his old friends, Jim Conklin. The youth is with Jim for a little bit, but, eventually, Jim goes crazy and dies.
The youth then walks with another man, who keeps asking him questions about wounds, and why he ran from the battle. The youth eventualy gets annoyed and runs away.
I think that the youth is a big sissy, and he should have never went to war in the first place. He doesn't have the heart to be a soldier, and he is a quitter. I would never go to war with that kid by my side.
The Red Badge of Courage - Ch. 11-14
I will admit that the story is getting a little better, and the book is a little easier to read at this point. That being said, "getting better," in this book, does not mean that it is good. I still think that it is possibly the worst book I have ever read.
It begins with the young soldier hearing the sounds of a battle. He walks upon it, and sees men running to fight. He feels down on himself because he ran from battle, and he is not fighting. He begins to want to fight, and starts out for the field of battle. At this point, I began to think that the soldier was starting to grow up, and gain some heart and pride. However, he did not end up fighting, because he was thirst, hungry, and sore. He also did not have a gun, but it would have been very easy to take a gun from a fallen soldier, or go to one of the wagons that was behind the battle.
Instead of fighting he stays away from the battle and watches. He begins to think that, if his side loses, it would justify his decision to not fight, because he was able to "predict" the defeat.
He begins to hope that his side loses, so that he does not feel bad about not fighting. Eventually, he feels guilty and selfish for rooting against his teammates.
The youth does not think that there is anyway his side can lose. He begins to try and come up with an excuse for why he didn't fight. However, he cannot come up with a good story, so he fears that the other soldiers will be angry with him, and call him coward.
The union, Henry's side, eventually retreats. While they are running away, Henry grabs a man's arm, but the man is trying to get away, and hits Henry in the head with his rifle. Henry starts bleeding, and is eventually given directions to his regiment's camp.
Henry is worried that he will be scoffed at by his fellow soldiers. So, he tries to avoid them at the camp. He eventually is caught, and tells the corporal that he was separated from the unit and shot in the head. The corporal takes care of him and lets him go to sleep.
Chapter fourteen returns the book back to its incredibly boring state. It is about the youth talking with the Wilson, the loud soldier, about what had happened. They almost get in a fight, but, other than that, nothing close to interesting happens.
The Red Badge of Courage - Ch. 15-17
This section of the book starts with Henry and the loud soldier talking about a manilla envelope the loud soldier gave Henry at the beginning of the story. He had asked Henry to give it to his family if he fell in battle. In this section, he asks for the envelope back. We see in this section of the book that the loud soldier is scared to die. This is surprising to me because, at the beginning of the story, the loud soldier talked like he had no fears.
After this Henry seems to transform into a completely different character. At one point in the story he found himself kind of halfhearterdly rooting for the enemy while watching a battle. Now, he finds a deep hatred for the enemy in himself.
The regiment moves, and waits for the enemy that they know is coming. When the enemy does attack, Henry goes into a frenzy of shooting. He moves on by himself, seeming as though he does not fear death. This is a complete turn around from his actions in battle previously.
The battle eventually ends with the enemy retreating. However, even after they retreat Henry does not realize it at first, and keeps shooting. He eventually is stopped by the other soldiers, who are in awe of his performance in the battle.
The Red Badge of Courage - Ch. 18-20
The book is beginning to, once again, get vary hard to read. Every couple of minutes I have to put this terrible novel down and take a break.
This section of the book starts out with Henry and Wilson looking for a river. They cannot find one, but they do find a spot where they can watch a battle that is going on. After awhile, a couple of generals travel past them talkin about a future battle. One of the generals tells the other that the only regiment they can afford to lose is the 304th regiment, Henry and Wilson's regiment. He says they can afford to lose them because they fight like a bunch of "mule drivers." Henry and Wilson are very insulted by this comment. The generals then say that the 304th regiment will probably fall in the next battle.
The boys go back to camp with the news that they are going into battle the next day. However, they do not tell the other men what the generals said about the way they fight.
In the battle the color bearer dies and drops the flag. Wilson picks up, and the two boys continue fighting. Eventually, Henry takes the flag from Wilson, and the 304th fights off the enemy. They are now very confident, and they feel as though they are unstoppable.
The Red Badge of Courage - Ch. 21-24
Generally, the end of a book is somewhat exciting, because this is where the climax is located. However, to the surprise of absolutely noboday, this book's climax was very boring. Essentially, the same thing that happened in the previous ten chapters, happened again.
The regiment is the underdog in a battle, and they come out victorious, due to Henry and Wilson's brave fighting. However, they still do not earn any respect. When they return back to camp, they are mocked by the other soldiers for fighting so hard and coming out with an ugly win.
After this all happens, Henry reflects on how the war went for him. He is at first upset about they way he acted in his first battle. However, he then realizes all the bravery he showed after that first fight. He realizes that he has now grown up and become a man.
This book was one of the most boring books I have ever read. I am proud of myself for even finishing this "classic." If Stephen Crane's goal in writing this novel was to make his readers never want to read another one of his books, then he succeeded. It was a terrible book, and it should be deleted from next years summer reading list.
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