Rating: 
Summary: Mark Twain still speaks to us!
Review: During the Phillipine-American war, Mark Twain got RAW on the horrible practice of going to war in the name of God. Had he been alive, the armchair war hawks of the current Afghanistan conflict would have run him out of town for this! Tell you what, watch the evening news, read this morning's paper, and then read this story. The fact that this story was written nearly a century ago makes it all the more eerie and sad that human nature has changed so little.
Rating: 
Summary: Crafted so well...........
Review: First of all, this is Twain! Based on his wit and his crafty writing, there's no way I could give this less than three stars. However, I believe his argument and conclusion are dependant upon premises which may or may not be true.The lynchpin for his argument is this statement -- "If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it." Is this true? If God does not have unlimited power then this is certainly true. Or, if God is not wise enough to solve this 'dilemma' then the conclusion is still true. Or, if God is not good enough to care then Twain's argument certainly holds together. Twain takes the statement above and applies it to war. He claims, if a person prays for the safety of their troops then they are inherently asking death and destruction to be poured out onto the other troops -- causing their families to grieve and mourn and suffer. Therefore, it is a ruthless and evil prayer. The question Twain is attempting to answer is -- Can God protect all troops at once? Can God cause some to shake in fear and surrender, and others to be victorious? The answer to Twain's question seems to be dependant on how big, good, and wise God is. Without question Twain's objections hold true for a demigod - a junior god. However, if God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omni-benevolent, then Twain's argument must crumble. Let's pray that He is and that it does. Until we know for certain, let's keep praying for safety -- and ultimately, world peace.
Rating:
Summary: If only, Lord, if only...
Review: I have probably purchased over fifty copies of this book over the years; I can't seem to keep one for very long. I share it with people I care about, people who are open to other's perspectives, and people who tend to express opinions that they haven't really thought about.
Every time I read it (and I have usually read every copy I purchased more than once), it moves me. More than any other work I have ever enjoyed, this book has dazzled me with the brilliance, the astute erudition, the passion and the restraint of its author, Mark Twain.
As a retired Marine, as a parent, and as one who holds a degree in English, I heartily recommend a thoughtful reading of this work. Then I encourage you to do as I have done: share it.
Rating:
Summary: Good, quick read
Review: It doesn't take long to read -- maybe 20-30 minutes. Be sure the read the excerpt from Twain's biography in the first pages. It really puts it in perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Short and sweet
Review: Not only is this book super short and super easy to read, it is simulataneously thought-provoking. I am a fan of Mark Twain, and this book was a good one. It gives the "other side" view of war. Very eye-opening. You really should spend 5 minutes reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Father's Huck Finn
Review: The "protest" writings of Mark Twain gained renewed interest during the anti-Viet Nam War Movement and the most prominant of these writings is "The War Prayer." From 1962 to 1973, it appeared in no fewer that 4 separate collections of his stories, including "A Pen Warmed Up in Hell'" and "The Damned Human Race." In 1970, Harper&Row published "The War Prayer" on its own , in hard cover, with haunting illustrations by John Groth. The story clocks in at slightly more than 1,200 words. It is Twain at his most economic. And most vehement. The story begins as an unnamed country prepares for war, its citizens awash with patriotic rapture. Parades, mass meetings and rousing speeches have almost everybody pumped and primed for a bloody good time. On the eve of battle, a service is held and the pastor invokes God's blessings on their cause and their armies. A stranger arrives "bearing a message from Almighty God." The Lord has heard their prayer, the messenger informs them, and is willing to grant it. But only after they have heard the unspoken portions of their prayer. The secret prayer, hidden in their hearts. Twain then unleashes a blunt tutorial on the ravages of war. "(H)elp us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreads with our shells,...Lay waste their humble homes,..wring the hearts of their offending widows...their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land." Not exactly win-one-for-the-Gipper stuff. Just a handy reminder in the age of surgical strikes. In the Post Cold War Era, and 84 years after its initial publication, "The War Prayer" remains a devastating attack on any call to arms and the concept of just and winnable warfare.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Father's Huck Finn
Review: The "protest" writings of Mark Twain gained renewed interest during the anti-Viet Nam War Movement and the most prominant of these writings is "The War Prayer." From 1962 to 1973, it appeared in no fewer that 4 separate collections of his stories, including "A Pen Warmed Up in Hell'" and "The Damned Human Race." In 1970, Harper&Row published "The War Prayer" on its own , in hard cover, with haunting illustrations by John Groth. The story clocks in at slightly more than 1,200 words. It is Twain at his most economic. And most vehement. The story begins as an unnamed country prepares for war, its citizens awash with patriotic rapture. Parades, mass meetings and rousing speeches have almost everybody pumped and primed for a bloody good time. On the eve of battle, a service is held and the pastor invokes God's blessings on their cause and their armies. A stranger arrives "bearing a message from Almighty God." The Lord has heard their prayer, the messenger informs them, and is willing to grant it. But only after they have heard the unspoken portions of their prayer. The secret prayer, hidden in their hearts. Twain then unleashes a blunt tutorial on the ravages of war. "(H)elp us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreads with our shells,...Lay waste their humble homes,..wring the hearts of their offending widows...their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land." Not exactly win-one-for-the-Gipper stuff. Just a handy reminder in the age of surgical strikes. In the Post Cold War Era, and 84 years after its initial publication, "The War Prayer" remains a devastating attack on any call to arms and the concept of just and winnable warfare.
Rating:
Summary: A book you'll love or hate
Review: The War Prayer is Mark Twain's premier anti-war poem. Doves will love it; hawks will not - it is not a piece that will change anyone's mind on the ethics of war. It does, however, provide a moving illustration of how our prayers for our welfare are also prayers for the destruction of others. It recognizes that it is human nature to refuse to recognize the destructive side. It reminds one of the gap between recognized ideals and our actual conduct. The drawings by John Groth add to the text but do not overcome the impression of a printing that was thrown together carelessly and quickly to meet political goals in our current crisis. Quality of production aside, it is worth while to see this side of Mark Twain's writing regardless of your views on war.
Rating:
Summary: A book you'll love or hate
Review: The War Prayer is Mark Twain's premier anti-war poem. Doves will love it; hawks will not - it is not a piece that will change anyone's mind on the ethics of war. It does, however, provide a moving illustration of how our prayers for our welfare are also prayers for the destruction of others. It recognizes that it is human nature to refuse to recognize the destructive side. It reminds one of the gap between recognized ideals and our actual conduct. The drawings by John Groth add to the text but do not overcome the impression of a printing that was thrown together carelessly and quickly to meet political goals in our current crisis. Quality of production aside, it is worth while to see this side of Mark Twain's writing regardless of your views on war.
Rating:
Summary: Short and sweet
Review: This isn't your typical Twain piece. It's still well crafted, like your typical Twain, and it makes its social commentary, like your typical Twain, but it does so without the biting satire that you find in most of Twain's work. It's a phenomenal piece of literature. It is his protest, his anti-war piece (written around 1905 in response to the Philippine-American War), and it is relevant still today--perhaps more so in today's world. The line drawings by John Groth add a sense of movement and urgency that works in counterpoint to Twain's words. This is an important piece of literature. And I'll leave with Twain's words on "The War Prayer": 'I have told the whole truth...and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead.'
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