Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Johnny Got His Gun
Book Review: Fascinating, flawed masterpiece
Summary: 3 Stars
In reading this novel about a severely disabled war veteran, I began to ask myself how plausible it would have been for Joe Bonham to actually survive his injuries in that time before helicopters and much modern medicine. Granted, Trumbo claimed that he based his story on an actual case - but I still wonder. Given the horrific amount of blood loss, the shock, perhaps even the fact that he would have looked less like an injured soldier and more like a loose collection of dead parts - I have my doubts. Could it happen in today's world? I really think there's a better chance of war creating a Joe Bonham in our technologically advanced era. We could not only make him, we could sustain him indefinitely. Whether or not a blast that could basically rip off the front half of your skull could leave your brain perfectly intact is another question entirely.
The first 1/3 to 1/2 of the novel works best, as Trumbo takes us through Joe's clouded mind as he gradually realises the extent of his injuries. After that, memory gets lost in delirium, and then the story begins to pick up again. As goofy as it sounds, the scene in which the nurse finally communicates with Joe is like a scene out of "The Miracle Worker." However, the joy of the moment is short-lived. Trumbo has an agenda, after all.
Having been around my share of horrifically sick people, I don't buy the response that Trumbo wrote for Joe. After fighting to the surface, fighting to communicate, all Joe has are a series of bizarre demands and anti-war tirades. When asked who he is, he tells them nothing. None of this rang true, unless we're meant to understand that Joe is completely off his rocker at this point. No, more common questions would have been, "Where am I? What year is it? How is my family?" Questions that would help a person like Joe orient himself after being lost for so long. None of that happens, of course. After being told his demands can't be met, Joe instantly gives up and sinks inside of himself, continuing to rage. Even if the end was inevitable (chances were slim that we'd get a "happy" ending), I can't believe that such a tremendous survivor would just give up so quickly after finally achieving some success.
Book Review: First the review, then the polemic...
Summary: 5 Stars
The review: this is a great book. Undoubtedly five star-worthy. If I were a left-wing English professor (that may be a pleonasm), I'd assign it to all my captive undergraduates. Trumbo has created a page-turning, emotionally affecting novel that permeates the reader, and indues him with horror and empathy toward the fate of the protagonist.
Artistically, the book is triumphant. The narrative progresses in a fluid, readable, stream-of-consciousness that reflects exactly what I imagine a disembodied intellect would experience in such circumstances. Joe Bonham becomes a real human being, not a contrived figment of some agenda-driven leftist's imagination. (Even if that was indeed the political intent...the sheer talent of Trumbo surmounts what could have devolved into a grotesque morality-play.)
I cannot for the life of me comprehend why this book is not on the MLA 100, especially when that list is populated by such duds as On the Road, and Wide Sargasso Sea. (To mention only two.)
The polemic: Trumbo had an agenda, no question. Even though Joe Bonham becomes his own character, incipient-Communist Trumbo at times ventriloquizes too ardently.
He (Trumbo) rails against jingoism, patriotism, nationalism, sloganeering, etc., and declares that "little guys" should simply refuse to fight in all wars. He questions why men should fight for abstractions such as "liberty" or "democracy," which, Trumbo asserts, are meaningless platitudes. (I wonder what George Orwell, who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War for precisely such a reason, and took a bullet to the throat, would have said in response.)
I agree that war is evil...and, to quote Orwell, sometimes it is the lesser evil. Joe Bonham was drafted, and coerced into fighting people he had no quarrel with. I agree that being forced to go to war is wrong...yet I think that descendants of American slaves are glad that the rolls were called in the North, the ranks filled with conscripts, and the Confederacy defeated.
I also think that a lot of people--including Trumbo himself--are glad that men were sent unwillingly to war in order to defeat Hitler.
Yes, some wars--perhaps most--are ludicrous and insane, demonstrating how far the human species is from achieving civilization. But not all. Trumbo does not allow for this distinction; his pacifism is absolute and resolute, and he uses an astoundingly specious argument on page 151 in order to advance his blanket position. Better to live a slave than die fighting for "freedom," according to him.
(Ironically, Trumbo experienced a profound tergiversation during WWII, when he helped suppress his own book, and refused to lobby for a negotiated peace with the Axis Powers. Of course, Vietnam helped him arrive back at his original moorings.)
However, even though the book doesn't make its political case, the artistic level of the presentation and the always-relevant subject matter ensure that it will remain read for the foreseeable future...at least until human beings decide to resolve conflicts without killing each other.
Book Review: For everyone that has NOT read this book....
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read all of the reviews for this book, the good and the bad, so I figured I would but my thoughts in. I read this book in 7th grade, I am now 30 and still remember reading it. Granted I don't remember much about the book but I do remember I loved it. For a story to stay with you for 20+ years says something about it. I have also been in the military for the last 12 years. Don't read this book as anti-military or anti anything, read it for pleasure and enjoy. Whatever you believe you can read this book and enjoy it. Hell I was in 7th grade and loved it, war or the military were far from my mind. Read it and make your own conclusion.Book Review: Heartwrenching, one book you will never forget.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book at a young age and bought it a couple years ago again. But when I thought about how it made me feel, I could not bring myself to even begin it again. Well I did read it again, a few months ago, and I still think about it. I cannot contribute anything new that other reviewers have not covered. Don't expect a happy ending. Remember that it is set at the end of the first WW but, even still, that you could be Joe.Book Review: Horrifying; Never Have Read a More Hopeless Book
Summary: 5 Stars
A book has never instilled such a hopeless atmosphere in me. This is a book that is full of raw emotion that I couldn't get enough of. A book that has so much feeling runs the risk of being a melodrama work as it falls into hackneyed plot-holes. This book is able to circumnavigate this problem by creating original narrative by using the conditions present in the book. The book invites the reader to try and figure out what is happening, and when the truth is discovered, horror will be ringing in their mind.
This isn't a book that caused the traditional feelings of sadness or depression; it was deeper than that. It was as if I had been able to absorb a continuous, subliminal feeling of frustration and hopelessness. Every page there after carried that tone until I became consistently angrier.
These feelings permeate this book as it shows the scope of Johnny's life. This fuels the anti-war messages of the book. Johnny Got His Gun uses these emotions and translates it almost directly to his theme. Not to mention that this book has a good story with gripping narrative. Add this to his empowered emotions and this becomes one of the most engrossing, thought-provoking reads of my life.