Rating: 
Summary: I admit I haven't finished this, but I have something to say
Review: I have read several reviews by some kids in 8th grade, 9th grade, etc. they say it's too boring and slow-paced. What I find ironic is that I'm in 7th grade, yet I find it a fascinating (fictional) account of a (fictional) soldier in America's War (That's what I call the Civil War). I believe the students are people who aren't really paying attention to the book but rather just trying to look as if it doesn't have violence in the first chapter or first two pages, it's bad. It's interesting so far, even though I haven't finished. I believe the kids need to actually PAY ATTENTION, look at the language and at the extremely vivid explanations of the war by someone who never enlisted or was in a fight.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING
Review: The book is totally boring I got thru the first 4 pages an stopped I have to do a book report for school so can someone do it for me??
Rating: 
Summary: masterful use of the English language
Review: To all critics of this novel who rate it as boring and slow-paced, I say: First get away from the Nintendo, then put down your John Grisham made-for-TV novel, and learn to appreciate the wonderful masterpiece created by a true "wordsmith," Stephen Crane. Apart from the plot of this book, the vivid descriptions alone deserve recognition. By the end of the book, anyone with a trace of imagination will have constructed their own interpretation of what Crane depicts in his insightful war novel. I will stray from continuing on with a pretentuous review, but from a purely aesthetic side, this book offers a breath of fresh air from the trendy, fast-paced thrillers made for the common dunce in the late twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: Crane's classic study of the effects of war on a young man.
Review: When I was in high school several years ago, this was one of the books required in one of my English classes. And, upon going through the many reviews below, I find that it is still a required book for today's students. But, several appear to find Crane's novel "boring," "difficult to read," and nothing that they can "relate to." I heard many of the same things in the early 1960s. But, then I found myself in an environment not too dissimilar of the main character of the novel. It suddenly became relevent and real. Crane's depiction of war and the thoughts of young men at war, both willing and unwilling, will always be relevant. This novel is the psychological study of a young soldier and his first encounters with the brutality seen in battle (many critics have regarded this book as the first modern war novel). The unnamed battle in the novel is probably Chancellorsville (1863). The young infantryman, Henry Fielding, faces his first battle wanting to prove himself a hero. However, when the battle is actually thrust upon him, he is overcome by fear and he runs. He joins the wounded but he has not won their "red badge of courage." He sees his friend Jim Conklin killed and he becomes enraged, particularly at the injustice of war. (I remember noting the significance of the initials J. C. for the soldier's friend; but, I later discovered that this observation was not original. The novel is filled with imagery. For example, even the horsemen of the apocalypse make an appearance.) This is a great novel and I hope it remains on reading lists for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: The Red Badge of Courage stands alone when it comes to war fiction. Stephen Crane's definitive novel of men in conflict endures to this day because the author understood human nature and gave us realistic characters. A promising new novel of men and war, The Triumph and the Glory echoes much of Crane's theme, I read it last week and highly recommend it as well.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a good book.
Review: This is the best book i evere read
Rating:
Summary: An American Masterpiece
Review: The Red Badge of Courage is truly an American masterpiece. In many ways the reader can find parallels with Fleming ( Crane's protagonist) and with Oliver Stone's charector Taylor from his movie Platoon. Indeed they both share similar gung-ho views about war, only to discover the chaos and horror of battle. It is one of the best books dealing with the phycology of the infantryman that I have ever read, and flows smoothly with vivid dipictions of combat. An excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: BORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORING
Review: This book is so incredibly boring. I don't know why anyone would want to read a book like this. My teacher made us read it. If you would like to read a good book, I would suggest something by Carol Matas, Gary Paulsun, Phillip Pullman, or J.R.R. Tolkein (which my teacher prounounces INcorrectely, and that just makes me MAD!) Oh, and by the way, if I could have given this book NO stars, I would.
Rating:
Summary: Oddly good
Review: After writing this book in great haste, Crane considered it a failed experiment. Actually, it was an American classic. Why? This was one of the first books ever written that depicted war as it really might be: horrifying, terrifying, and a thankless, strange experience for any boy on the brink of manhood. The descriptions employed are wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A Boy Grows Up
Review: This classic tale of a young man's coming-of-age during the American Civil War is a worthwhile read not only for the themes captured in its story but also for the place it holds in literary history. The basic storyline of the book (boy-becomes-man-during-war) has been recast many times in print and cinema (All Quiet on the Western Front, Platoon, etc), but The Red Badge of Courage stands out for two reasons.First, it was the first popular novel to depict war in a realistic manner. Prior to this work, war was almost universally treated as a glorified and romantic undertaking. Not so in The Red Badge, where we are given a soldier's-eye view of combat. The battle scenes in this book and the descriptions of the dangers and hardships (both physical and emotional) faced by the soldiers may seem tame by today's standards of blood-and-gore violence, but they were quite radical to readers in the 1890's, when the book was first published. The Red Badge was thus a harbinger of the direction in which American popular fiction would move in the 20th century. Secondly, the tale is much more than just a war story. It is primarily a psychological drama played out in the mind of Henry Fleming, the young soldier who is its main character. This psycho-centric perspective allows the story to encompass some of the great issues that were just beginning to enter the realm of popular knowledge at the time, and thus the main character comes to symbolize the entire human race at the end of the 19th century. We follow along with young Henry as he learns through hard experience that he does *not* occupy a privileged place in the world, as he falsely believes at the beginning of the story. As his mother tells him before he goes off to fight, "yer jest one little feller amongst a hull lot of others." This revelation reflects the feeling of all humanity as Darwin's theory of evolution began to gain wide acceptance. We also feel Henry's terror during his first battle and his later willingness to risk death in order to avoid the ridicule and scorn of his peers. The thoughts and fears running through this young soldier's mind, soon to be analyzed in more scientific ways by Sigmund Freud and others in the emerging field of psychoanalysis, are as historically realistic as the men and armaments running across the battlefield.
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