Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Johnny Got His Gun
Book Review: Incredible
Summary: 5 Stars
With all cliche's aside. The most important book I have ever read. It has changed my life. After reading this novel I am not the person I used to be. It will change you tooBook Review: Johnny Got His Gun: A Review Through the Eyes of a Literary Circle
Summary: 5 Stars
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo is a dark tale about a man
at war. At first glance, this book can be deceiving because of the
run-on sentences that make up the entire novel. There are no commas
and adjusting to the new grammar is somewhat frustrating. We follow
Johnny through the story, watching him learn to live with no arms,
legs, and face. He is also stripped of his sight, smell and ability to
hear. Although the story is good, it is hard to follow most of the
time because Johnny is constantly slipping between dreaming,
reminiscing and being awake. The memories don't seem to have much
significance to the story in anyway, maybe only just to let the reader
know more about Johnny's life. The two parts of the book represent the
times in his mind and the times in the real world. He can only feel
with the remaining parts of his body. He feels the heat from the sun
and the vibrations from people walking in and out of his room. His
only form of communication is Morse code, but Johnny has to bang his
head on his pillow because that is his only form of movement. Johnny
constantly does this for years until one person understands him at the
end of the book.
Joe: Joe is the protagonist of the story and the narrator. He
refers himself as "he" in the book. Joe was in World War I and got his
body parts destroyed by a bomb shell at the battlefield. He realizes
that his arms were taken off in the first part of the book but does
not fully wake up. The first part of the book is based on his lifetime
before the war. He often thinks about what his life would have been
like without joining the war. During the second part of the book, he
is awake and realizes that he has lost a lot of his important body
parts. He has also lost a lot of his senses and learns to communicate
in only one way that he knows how to. Joe can be represented as an
animal stuck in a cage because he has nowhere to go.
Morse code Nurse: This nurse was Johnny's newest nurse, and
after discovering him and seeing how hard it was for him to live, she
figured out how to communicate with him. Because Johnny couldn't see,
the only thing that he knew about her is that she had soft, warm,
moist hands and that the vibrations of her footsteps were lighter than
those of his previous nurse. She is a significant character because
the climax of the story is when she discovers that he understands
Morse code and that the tapping that she does with his head is the
code. The nurse tries to do things for him so that he can be more
comfortable in his surroundings when all he wants is for her to
understand that he is trying to talk to her in Morse code.
Although the story line in this story could seem somewhat dark
and depressing, the main theme was really about human connection and
living you're life so that you are happy. In following the main
character through his life by means of flash backs, we start to
develop a feel for what kind of person he really was. We watched him
go from his home town to Los Angeles and how he eventually went to
war. In each flashback, we witness some sort of lesson about life, be
it how you act towards your friends, being kind to the person who gave
you a job, or the remembrance of a loved one. Although this book had a
sad premise- that of a crippled young man- its deeper themes are that
of love, life, loss and happiness.
Although this book offered many new ponderings, it did show
weakness in the desolate feel it sometimes produced of the reader. I'm
sure that this was an intentional process of the author, however, this
book's premise is already dark and takes adjusting to. With the lack
of human contact that Joe encounters for upwards of five years, it
would have been nice to hear of a happy event that took place in his
life. This point brings me to one of the many strengths of the book.
Many people consider the flashbacks to be random and misplaced
throughout the story, however it is my opinion that the flashbacks
provide some sort of solemn comic relief. They provide a break from
the seemingly endless battle for consciousness and mastery of time
which Joe is constantly struggling for. The flashbacks provide a
flash into a happier time for the protagonist and deliver the audience
into the happiness of his former life.
As far as the technical execution of the book goes, its lack of
convensional grammar, aides the story in its quest to provide an
environment which draws the reader in, allowing a bonding with the
decrepit narrator.
After reading this book in a literature group, the final
reaction found our group torn into two thought groups: the first was
that this book was not really good. Overall, it was hard to understand
because of the insignificant memories and flashbacks that were
randomly placed throughout the novel and the annoying and hard to
understand run-on sentences. It was also almost painful to
have to hear the descriptions of how horrible Joe's life was. Although
it was really sad, it was written well in the way that you could
really feel the pain and frustration that he was going through. This
book would be a lot more enjoyable if there were commas and the random
flashbacks were not included.
The other opinion was that this book was well written, using the
improper grammar as a way to welcome you into a deaf, dumb, blind,
mute amputee's thoughts. The run on sentences helped you acquaint
yourself with the character and develop a relationship with the story.
The flashbacks were an understated portrait of his former life, giving
you even more of a connection to his character. Whether you were from
a big city or small town, you could find some means of connection with
Joe. Overall, I consider this to be a well-written story with an
original premise worth reading. Although its theme is somewhat
melancholy, its over all themes and quality draw you in and keep this
book a classic page-turner.
Book Review: Just as relevant now!
Summary: 4 Stars
Whether you are for or against wars, this book has it's place in the way we should view them. It's as relevant now with the war going on as it was when it was written. I wonder if any member of Congress has ever read it, Democrat or Republican? If not they should, matter of fact it should be required reading for any individual or group with the power to send our soldiers to war. This may be just one guys opinion but he presents some powerful arguments. Just read it and form you're own opinion, even if you hate it, there is no way you could honestly deny some of it's brutal honesty.Book Review: The Greatest Book About the Realities of War
Summary: 5 Stars
I consider this to be the greatest war or anti-war novel ever. As old men continue to send young men (and women) off to war, often thousands of miles from the homeland, it behoves the rest of us to expose the painful truth. Trumbo did that.Book Review: The Winds Of War
Summary: 5 Stars
The subject of war has had all sorts of novelistic treatments, the most successful usually trending lightly on the war action itself and delving into the personal choices and consequences of the characters as their central aim. In that odd sense the most compelling novelistic treatments are either pro-war (for some seemingly rational reason like defending one's country or coming to the aid of a smaller, weaker country, etc.) or neutral to the more physical and psychological dimensions of the situation. A flat out, anti-war (or, to use a more vague term, pacifistic) treatment is usually not successful either because it has a "preaching to the choir" quality or strikes some false chord. That is not the case with Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun".
Although this novel was written under the sign of the Hitler-Stalin Pact in the late 1930s , reflected in Communist International and American Communist Party political line as one of intense opposition to Western war preparations it brings more home truths than merely another piece of `communsitic' propaganda and it would be incorrect even for staunch anti-Stalinists to dismiss it out of hand. Joe, the main character here, maimed beyond belief and repair, is every mother's son, every American mother's son. His interior monologue, as he remembers his past, his lost youth, his desires and the useless way he was used in the last days of World War I is almost unique in the way the story unfolds. It certainly is not for the faint-hearted, or the weak-minded. As steps are now being taken to up the ante in Afghanistan, another one of those wars to `defend' democracy this thing should be required reading for every mother, and every mother's son who seeks to put him or herself in harm's way.