Rating: 
Summary: This is a book with a sad wounderful lesson
Review: It is about a boy named Johny, who got a brain tumor and how he deals with it through out his 15 month illness as he fights with all his hope and will to live. It was so sad and wonderful, I learned so much. But you have to be a dedicated reader because the author uses difficult terms and it took me along time to read it. I think the audience is more towards adults, but I thought the struggle reading it was well worth it in the end it was such a good book. I hope you get the chance to read this great book.
Rating:
Summary: human tragedy/triumph
Review: If you haunt book sales as often as I do, you get very used to the sight of John Gunther's "Inside ..." books. Starting with Inside Europe in 1936, Gunther, who was one of the premier foreign correspondents of his day, cranked out a series of voluminous (900 pages) books about the peoples, politics, economies, etc. of each of the continents. I finally grabbed a couple and read them and though they are obviously quite dated, they stand up nicely as frozen moments in world history, observed and written by an outstanding journalist.I'd somehow never even connected him with this tender memoir, perhaps because I'd managed to avoid reading it in grade school. (my wife has been reaping a savage revenge, parading around the house sneering at my failure to read it and questioning the value of a Mountain High School [West Orange, NJ] education.) While Gunther was finishing Inside USA, his 16 year old son, Johnny, was diagnosed with a brain tutor and died within 15 months. Gunther wrote the piece for friends and family, but was prevailed upon to publish it in order to comfort other parents and, in the manner of such things, it has become his most enduring work. It's absolutely wonderful and I can see why it is assigned reading for so many kids. The tragedy of Johnny Gunther is the human tragedy writ small; his triumph is our triumph. At one point Johnny cried out to his Mother : I have so much to do! And there's so little time! This is the dilemma that confronts mankind. Our mortality will prevent us from achieving all of the things that we yearn to accomplish. How much worse to know that you will die before even becoming a man? But Johnny Gunther did not despair. He did not sink into maudlin self-pity. He struggled against the illness and lived as full a life as time allotted. He faced death bravely, trying to comfort doctors and family who were frustrated by their inability to save him. As his father wrote: ...he did not die like a vegetable. He died like a man, with perfect dignity. Inured as we have become to stories of death, particularly early death--having gone from Brian's Song to Love Story to disease-of-the-week TV movies--it is easy to forget that the best of these stories, and this is certainly one of the best, demonstrate the indomitable human spirit and the heroism that is accessible to all of us. To be human is to be given the opportunity to live and die with dignity. Johnny Gunther did so; his story is ultimately triumphant. GRADE: A-
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Too Depressing....
Review: This book is one that will definitely take some time getting into, but ends up being very gripping before you reach the last page. The story of seventeen year old Johnny Gunther is about his battle down the long road of cancer when doctors discover that he has a brain tumor. Johnny is a very intelligent, bright young man with a witty, yet shy and quiet sense of humor whose bravery and positive attitude you will grow very fond of....therefore making the whole general idea of the story almost too depressing and a little hard to stomach. This memoir is a very touching read coming from a father's heart, yet deals with such a fragile, not to mention painful topic, and is one that you won't soon forget.
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Summary: To die does not make perfect
Review: While Death Be Not Proud was very sad, I could not feel a connection with the characters. Johnny seems to be remembered in death far beyond what he was in life. The way in which this book was written made me feel like I could not be worth anything unless I die in a tragic manner. If you do not have an overabundance of self-confidence, I would not recommend reading this book.
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Summary: Sad and True
Review: This might be the first book I read as a young boy which drew me to tears. It is relatively short, and when I reread it as an adult, I found myself awake deep into the night, turning each page in sorrow, knowing how it was going to end. I started early on a Saturday, reading until I was done early on Sunday morning. You know how it will end too. The title cheats us from wondering if Johnny will make it, but at the same time, there is a peace. Johnny was ready, and teaches us a little bit about being ready for life's ultimate end. The title, from a famous John Donne poem, is intriguing, as Donne saw no dignity in death, but that there was dignity in how we died. It refers to a more famous passage by St. Paul... "Oh Death, where is your sting?" talking about how Death has no real power over the faithful. Johnny was a faithful, powerful young man. He prayed, like another biblical person, for his unbelief, as he humbly struggles with trying to believe in God in the middle of his fight for life. John Gunther, the father, previously best-known for his travel books, has made a mark on literature which will never be erased. Read this honest, quietly spiritual, compelling story. You'll be emotionally drained, but better off for it. I fully recommend this book. Anthony Trendl
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Summary: "And soonest our best men with thee do go" -- John Donne
Review: John Gunther wrote DEATH BE NOT PROUD as a moving record of the last months of the life of his son, Johnny, who had died, as the result of a brain tumor, at the age of seventeen. Throughout his long and painful fight for his life, Johnny had maintained a cheerful outlook, and continued to hope that, somehow, he would go on. His father, in writing this book, made sure that Johnny did go on. I'm sad that some of the younger (I assume) reviewers of this book found it wanting in pathos, or whatever it was that they thought was missing. Perhaps, with the coming of maturity, they will realize what a remarkable book it is. The fact that John Gunther was able to write this book at all, probably with tears in his eyes, was an amazing feat. The death of a child is probably the most heart-wrenching loss that anyone can experience. I know. I, too, lost a son aged seventeen. That was 21 years ago, just three months after my son's seventeenth birthday. The pain of that loss is still with me after all those years. Just writing a review of John Gunther's book is almost too much. How much more difficult must it have been for Gunther to write DEATH BE NOT PROUD within two years of Johnny's death. In spite of his own pain, Gunther wrote this book in hopes that other children and their parents who might find themselves in a similar situation "may derive some modicum of succor from the unflinching fortitude . . . . with which he (Johnny) rode through his ordeal to the end." Before Johnny died he wrote a poem of prayer that ended as follows: "Accept my gratitude for all thy gifts and I shall try to fight the good fight. Amen" And this when he knew he hadn't long to live. What a remarkable young man!
Rating:
Summary: Never give up..
Review: A boy of his intellect, one would never expect the end of his life at his prime. After three operations, John Gunther Jr. had died at the age of eighteen trageically of a brain tumor. Instead of allowing the disease to take over his life, he continued to wake up everything morning with hope. Even after missing his senior year he was still able to graduate with his class at Deerfield. Regardless of his hopeless situation he never allowed the tumor to dictate his life. He continue to live his life to the fullest. Perhaps he could have become one of the leading physicist of the twentieth century. No matter with the little time left , he was still confident in his pursuit to conquer a few more minutes to live as death gradually takes away his life.
Rating: 
Summary: I read it in school...
Review: and I really didn't enjoy it at all. The writing was very good but I can't understand why we had to read it. It just did not touch me at all.
Rating:
Summary: Death Came Too Soon
Review: This book is a classic for its simple and sentimental theme and fluid writing. If you are moved and inspired by Johnny Gunther's spirit and courage, you might also enjoy reading "Alex, the Life of a Child" by Frank Deford or "Angel Unaware" by Dale Evans Rogers.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing yet intreaging!
Review: At times it got a bit depressing, but I feel Death Be Not Proud really proves Johnny Gunther to be an outstanding person. If it meant he would live a day longer, or take one more breathe, Johnny was willing to open his mind to the possibility. He was so modest, and never failed to prove it to anyone. The most disheartening part of Death Be Not Proud, was that Johnny only got to live sixteen perfect, nearly impeccable years, before a mysterious illness called cancer overtook him. He never knew that for his last couple years he would spend his days and nights in a sterile hospital environment wondering, and waiting for an answer, one that he would never find.
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