Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read!!!
Review: I had to read this book for a college literature class and I must say, it was one of the best books I have ever read. The imagery was magnificent. I was completely engrossed by the vivid descriptions of war, death, cowardice and acceptance. I discovered that Stephen Crane himself had never even been in the military, so his descriptive accounts were all the more magnificent.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful book
Review: A great book for thoughtful and intelligent readers. It explores what it would be like to be in the civil war-- how a person might react to the terror of war. As good as "All quiet on the western front."
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and monotonous book!
Review: This book was confusing and hard to read. Half the time I did not understand it and the other half I was bored to the core. The slang dialogue made me take time to figure it out. But, it did get exiting torwards the end of the book. The only reason I would recommend this book is so that we could share the torture.
Rating:
Summary: Just couldn't stick with it!
Review: It just didn't seem, to me anyway, a real reflection of the issues involved throughout the civil war.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I ever read!
Review: It makes it feel like you're really there
Rating: 
Summary: we would never read this book again
Review: We're into the Civil War and history and stuff...but when we were assigned to read this book for our sophomore English class...it didn't catch our attention. It was so confusing. We feel like it jumped from one thing to another. It was hard to understand what the soldiers were saying, because of the way they "talked". (example...it ain't right!! the hull army...i thought you was done keeled over..) I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who gets confused about the Civil War. Even we got confused and we like to read about it.
Rating:
Summary: Too deep, wordy and difficult to understand
Review: This book demonstrates the a perfect example of how a good writer can set back his career with one book. I read reviews of 11th graders reading this book and some said that it was too hard to understand. As an advanced 8th grader i too agree with these comments. I DO NOT reccomend this book to anyone that does not like poetic books or does not want to have to pay a great deal atttention to a book in order to understand it.
Rating:
Summary: "Coffin of their Honor"
Review: This book chronicles in slow motion the metamorphosis of a naive farmboy, Henry Fleming, as he comes of age during the Civil War. Proclaimed an "American masterpiece of fear, courage, conflict and death", this poingant tale of brutal initiation into military chaos makes a difficult read, despite its apparent brevity. I suspect that few high school students will appreciate or savor Crane's pre-20th century style; I must admit that it left me wallowing in the dust and mud of quasi boredom. The limited dialogue and long monologues are spelled in dialect and slang, which slows down the pace as we try to decipher the actual words and accents intended. Thoughtful readers will recognize that this book is really a Psychological novel, which just happens to be set within the bloody frame of our most shameful war. There is much military action (skirmishes rather than all-out battles) packed between the covers, but Crane focuses on the mental struggle and emotional turmoil of his protagonist--casually identified as "the youth." He is so insignificant in the grand military scheme, that he does not even earn a name from the narrator. Indeed we only learn his name in conversation, for the author is hoards specific details. The barely-named secondary characters are identified by their attributes: the loud man, the tall man, the sarcastic soldier, the tattered soldier, etc. Perhaps a name makes us care more about their fate than mere impersonal adjectives...Crane seems as indifferent to their destiny as Nature appears during the smoky scenes of guns and gore. In Henry's defense I must point out that at no time does he consciously plan to desert; nor does he deliberately abaondon his comrades. No one ever accuses him of the foulest military crime (Desertion), yet he is tormented that he almost ran away after the first skirmish. Circumstances separate him from his regiment, but he does not undertake any despicable action and he returns voluntarily. Reduced to mere animal survival instincts, he is too terrified and confused to plan any definite stragegy. Later he strives to keep his initial panic hidden from his regiment; he hugs his shameful secret to his breast like a second rifle. Will Henry ever find justification for his first reaction of horror to the insensate terrors of war? Will he be vindicated and gradually forgive himself-- especially for his fake "wound" which he wore as an undeserved badge? Will this youth ultimately accept the accolade as a "wildcat" on the battlefield and behave as a true war hero? If he survives the physical ordeal, can he endure his own personal scrutiny into his fragile, refined psyche? An introspective read.
Rating:
Summary: Red Badge of what?
Review: I REALLY DON'T LIKE THS BOOK. I HAD TO READ IT FOR MY 8TH GRADE ENGLISH CLAS AND..... UGH I HATED IT. CRANE IS A GOOD WRITER BUT.... THIS BOOK GOES ON AND ON AND IT GETS TO BE BORING!
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless story could be set today
Review: The strength of the story to me is that even though it was set in the Civil War, Fleming's emotions & thoughts were probably similar to soldiers in Vietnam, D-Day, etc. He wondered when the time came what would he do, why he enlisted, and so on. Crane using no names of the battle, landmarks, officers made the story timeless.
| 
