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Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun

List Price: $7.50
Your Price: $6.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Life-Altering Book
Review: This book will change your view of life. It makes you think, and forces you to sit alone and really get into the emotions of the main character. It's a book I wish everyone would read. Your views on war will surely change. You won't want to put it down for a reason you won't quite be able to put your finger on. Some of Dalton Trumbo's words will make stop to think, and your mind will end up in Johnny's situation for a few minutes. Not only does it explain view on war which are very strong and many will tend to agree with having read this book. If you can take it, you WILL like it. READ THIS BOOK.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: horrible
Review: I hated this book. It was disturbing reading about things like these, cause it never crossed my mind that war could affect people like this. sure I knew people die and get wounded and stuff, but reading about how it actually happens was too much. I read it once for my English class, and I am never picking it up again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The only book to ever truly affect my view on life.
Review: This is my favorite book. No doubt. From the basic question of quality of life versus the morality of allowing death to the question of the role war plays on the common man. You will never feel fear of death when you realize some of the alternatives. A fantastic journey into the human spirit and mind this should be read by every person in America. "S.O.S. K-I-L-L M-E". Note:The movie which was actually directed by the author is not what it could have been so be weary.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greatest books I have ever read
Review: its obvious that this is an anti-war novel. Still I think that the book goes much deeper than that. This book is about the importance of living life for its own sake. As the shattered man depicted in this story looks back on his own life, the reader realizes how precious each moment of every day is, however mundane it may be.

Its a shame that I never was exposed to this in school and it took a Metallica song to make me aware of it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Touching!
Review: This book was very moving for me. I first heard about it from the song Metallica made about it and from there, I got interested in knowing how this man lived and thought while he was just laying there. I couldn't put it down, I just wanted to keep reading, finding out what happens next. Now that I'm finished with this book, I can't stop thinking about it. It was very touching for me. As you read about this man, you really sympathize with him and you wonder if his family will ever know what became of him or what happens in the future. This book really makes you think about how bad war is and also how thankful you are for what you have--including your own arms, legs, face, etc. I didn't care for the ending--he ended it too shortly and keeps you hanging, wondering what might happen. But all in all, I liked the book, it was moving.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Never has a book changed me so much
Review: Be warned, you will not be the same person after reading this book. While Trumbo's writing style is unique and can take awhile to get used to, his story will pull at your heart like no book I've ever read before. This tragic story has a premise wholly orginal and has not be copied since due to it's macabre nature. The only other's who have ever come near it are the maker's of the film and Metallica who wrote the song "One" as a tribute. Every page turned will convince you that the plight of this cursed man could not possibly get any worse, yet the pages of suffering keep coming. Upon finally closing the book, you'll look at the world in a different way. This book will open your mind to thoughts that most people never dare to think, and you'll love the author for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What can you say about this book?
Review: This book should be a must-read for every man, woman, and child in the United States. It raises dire questions about many of the values that we hold dear-- and their importance in the face of the tragedies and sorrows that must occasionally be waged in their name....

What happens to the title character in this book is entirely inhuman. Trumbo's accounting of it fills the entire book with verismilitude and although he is selling a platform, it never seems polemical. This book is friggin' brilliant....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Point of Selflessness
Review: In a situation that is horrible, we have a man who wants to be used as a symbol of the horrors of war. We read about his life, about his father dying, about his girlfriend and her father, both understanding that he may not come back from the war, and she gives herself to him. There is a beauty in the cold reality of the what this book is about. And finally in the end we see a true man who wants humanity to understand how precious life is.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gripping story of WWI soldier
Review: I consider myself to have a strong stomach, but this book even put my stomach to the test. Imagine being scared out of your wits as a young man in war in the first place, and then step on a landmine. When you wake up, you are just mostly stubs. No arms, legs, eyes, ears, mouth, nose - nothing. No connection to the outside world, and no way to escape. Just left in your own quiet world of inner torment. Joe Bonham deals with this in the book, and he will take you on a journey through is dreadful experiences in the war.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Living Death
Review: Johnny Got His Gun is a powerful book written by Dalton Trumbo. It preaches the horrors of war and the casualties of it. Joe Bonham is a victim of the war and ends up as a freak stump lying in a hospital senseless. When he awakes he finds that he is completely metamorphosized into a human block of flesh. He cannot hear, cannot smell, cannot taste, cannot see, cannot move his arms and legs becuase he has none. He is a living dead man. The only thing that makes him different from dead men is that he can still think. Yet this is what tortures him. Imagine his situation. Lying in a bed for the rest of your life and doing absolutely nothing. He finds out over time that he must try to do something to remain part of the living so he decides to try to keep time. But each time he tries to count the seconds, mininutes, hours, and days, he slips into and out of sleep. He can't decipher when he is concsious and when he's asleep. The only time he is sure he is awake is when the nurse checks up on him. But over time he realizes he can tell time, tell temperature, and tell vibrations. And then one day, an idea pops inside his head. He can communicate through vibrations. So he tries tapping his head against his pillow whenever he is conscious. Tap, tap, tap. All day long. This freaks out his normal nurse. And she doesn't know how to cope with this behavior. I know I would be freaked out also if I saw a stump tapping whats left of what seems to be a head on a pillow all day long. His hopes are met one day when a new nurse recognizes that he is trying to communicate. So a General comes in and by useing Morse Code, taps out, "What do you want?" What kind of question is that? Joe wants to get mad, but decides against it. Instead he wants to be an educational exhibit for reasons against war. He taps that to the General, yet the General refuses his only wish. And that crushes Joe's hope. At the end, he blames the makers and planners of war. There's nothing noble about dying. Once you're dead, you're dead. This book was a unique book in that I've never read anything like it. There is little plot, just a bunch of scenes of Joe's previous life. It denounces war, and during War World II, it was banned. Such a book makes the reader think of war and if it is really worth it. I know I'd rather stay home and keep all my limbs than getting blown up in some place far from home. And what's the purpose? I'm not defending my home from savages or anything. I gave this book four stars becuase it was unique and very thought provoking. I recommend this book to anyone who is about to enter a military service and to the planners and makers of war. If they read this, maybe they will have second thoughts about getting blown up.


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