- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (27 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140620893
- ISBN-13: 978-0140620894
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 395,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Henry Fleming, a raw Union Army recruit in the American Civil War, is anxious to confirm his patriotism and manhood—to earn his “badge of courage.” But his dreams of heroism and invulnerability are soon shattered when he flees the Confederate enemy during his baptism of fire and then witnesses the horrible death of a friend. Plunged unwillingly into the nightmare of war, Fleming survives by sheer luck and instinct. This edition of Stephen Crane’s poignant classic is supplemented by five of his acclaimed short stories as well as selected poetry, offering the full range of this great American author’s extraordinary talent.
About the Author
Stephen Crane (1871-1900), American novelist, poet, and short-story writer, best known for his novels Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) and The Red Badge of Courage (1895) and the short stories "The Open Boat," "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," and "The Blue Hotel."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Style - 3/5
Plot - 4/5
Readability - 4/5
I'm the first to admit that some books will have quite a limited audience and this is probably one of them. However this is a fantasitic story and if you didn't know that Crane wrote it without having any knowledge or experience of battle himself you wouldn't guess it.
It is a good example of trying to atone for the sins of the past by the actions of the present.
I found it very readable and got through it,whilst still being able to enjoy it, in a day.
Plot - 4/5
Readability - 4/5
I'm the first to admit that some books will have quite a limited audience and this is probably one of them. However this is a fantasitic story and if you didn't know that Crane wrote it without having any knowledge or experience of battle himself you wouldn't guess it.
It is a good example of trying to atone for the sins of the past by the actions of the present.
I found it very readable and got through it,whilst still being able to enjoy it, in a day.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are several fascinating aspects to this example of Stephen Crane's work, in this case most apparant is that he was never in the army, fired a gun or had any direct expereience of warfare, yet this book captures the sprawling, human dynamic of early gun battles in the American Civil war with surprising insight. Through the characters we expore the meaning of the war itself, to nations and individuals.
Though the main chacter can be slightly annoying with his constant pondering on any issue related to war and his descisions when under fire, it is undoubtedly written by a man who's own character is reflected - Crane's own inexperience of all matters realted to the subject he is writing about is mirrored in the youthful soldier's inexperience and intellectual pontificating.
would thoroughly reccommend this to readers of all ages.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the famous America war story written in 1895 by Crane. The introductory notes make the point that Stephen had no first hand experience of war to write such an eloquent image of war. I understand this is often a school set-text
This is the shortish story of Henry Fleming a youthful, novice soldier in a Union regiment. The story starts with him at the front worrying about his fears - he hopes to be a hero. However on his first encounter, though he starts off enthusiastically he runs away. He ends up in a column of injured soldiers, though he is not hurt himself; we are given an insight on how people/Henry justify themselves. An incident occurs on his return to his unit which unheroically gives him a head wound. Does this undeserved `red badge on honour' fire up Henry to great fighting heroism?
What more can I say that hasn't already been said really. What a depiction of the mind of a soldier. It would be very unfair to criticise because it really is an amazing, fast paced in depth analysis of this particular imagined soldier under threat, his colleagues, the actions and fury of war.
I'm going to give the story four stars, but here's where I worry: The story is very short perhaps if it had been packaged with an intro to Henry's pre-war life and his family (he doesn't have a single thought for them) and a little on the outcome for him (perhaps where he ended up) the events depicted might have more relevance (c.f. Zola's Debarcle). The war is wonderfully portrayed with an exceptional turn of phrase but the fighting itself is not written very graphically/brutally perhaps Crane held back here. Finally I worry that, as the thoughts of Henry thinking of his war are imagined, and we all generally agree they're fantastically realised, we're just wrongly `agreeing' with Crane - perhaps a real youth at the front worries about losing his virginity, what he'll do back at home, his last conversation with his Dad, being cold or hungry or indeed nothing at all; perhaps his heroism and flag waving is less about himself but much more about the love of his friends.
Here are some quotes:
He vaguely desired to walk around and around the body and stare; the impulse of the living to try and read in dead eyes the answer to the Question.
They moved their stiffened bodies slowly, and watched in sullen mood the frantic approach of he enemy. The slaves toiling in the temple of this god began to feel rebellion at his harsh task.
The battle was like the grinding of an immense and terrible machine to him. Its complexities and powers, its grim processes, fascinated him. He must go close and see it produce corpses.
This is the shortish story of Henry Fleming a youthful, novice soldier in a Union regiment. The story starts with him at the front worrying about his fears - he hopes to be a hero. However on his first encounter, though he starts off enthusiastically he runs away. He ends up in a column of injured soldiers, though he is not hurt himself; we are given an insight on how people/Henry justify themselves. An incident occurs on his return to his unit which unheroically gives him a head wound. Does this undeserved `red badge on honour' fire up Henry to great fighting heroism?
What more can I say that hasn't already been said really. What a depiction of the mind of a soldier. It would be very unfair to criticise because it really is an amazing, fast paced in depth analysis of this particular imagined soldier under threat, his colleagues, the actions and fury of war.
I'm going to give the story four stars, but here's where I worry: The story is very short perhaps if it had been packaged with an intro to Henry's pre-war life and his family (he doesn't have a single thought for them) and a little on the outcome for him (perhaps where he ended up) the events depicted might have more relevance (c.f. Zola's Debarcle). The war is wonderfully portrayed with an exceptional turn of phrase but the fighting itself is not written very graphically/brutally perhaps Crane held back here. Finally I worry that, as the thoughts of Henry thinking of his war are imagined, and we all generally agree they're fantastically realised, we're just wrongly `agreeing' with Crane - perhaps a real youth at the front worries about losing his virginity, what he'll do back at home, his last conversation with his Dad, being cold or hungry or indeed nothing at all; perhaps his heroism and flag waving is less about himself but much more about the love of his friends.
Here are some quotes:
He vaguely desired to walk around and around the body and stare; the impulse of the living to try and read in dead eyes the answer to the Question.
They moved their stiffened bodies slowly, and watched in sullen mood the frantic approach of he enemy. The slaves toiling in the temple of this god began to feel rebellion at his harsh task.
The battle was like the grinding of an immense and terrible machine to him. Its complexities and powers, its grim processes, fascinated him. He must go close and see it produce corpses.
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