Rating: 
Summary: National Treasure
Review: The Red Badge of Courage is unique. Like nothing before it, Crane created a new literary technique. This great work is usually treated as a "young" person's read but pity the "old" person who passes it by, thereby depriving themselves of a deeply effecting experience. Crane took the bold step of merging poetic verse into prose, of focusing the center of his story at the most mundane level of society, complete with the vulgar speech and overlaid a physical battle with a psychological one, all in one tightly constructed, compelling story, in just over a hundred pages. Incredible! The American critics at the time were not impressed, but reaction against ignorant criticism only served to validate Crane's innovative, superlative work. Crane is greatly over-looked today, misunderstood as writing in a crude, simplistic style - nothing could be further from the truth. Much of modern psychological, impressionistic literature can be traced back to Cran! e's The Red Badge of Courage. The art of Crane's story telling is also first-rate - it is hard to believe that he was never involved in a battle. He makes up for his lack of first-hand experience with his understanding of the basic reality, weaknesses and strengths, of the human experience - words such as heroes and cowards lose their everyday meanings in the fog of war. The "youth's" rite of passage to manhood on the field of battle is layered with meaning and symbolism - and ultimately each reader is left with their own personal experience, required to answer for themselves what transformation, what judgement, what change in character did or did not take place. Absolutely first rate literature. If you haven't read it, read it. If you read it in high school or college and think of it only as a simple story of young men in battle, read it again, and appreciate this work for the literary masterpiece that it is.
Rating: 
Summary: This book should be entitled The Red Badge of Boredom.
Review: That's what my classmates and I referred to it as while we were reading it in my eleventh grade English class. While I understand that the novel is complex in certain ways, it is very monotonous, and it drags. It is definitely one of those books that made me smile...because it was over.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent novel
Review: I read this book only recently. Many people could be lost in the simplistic setting and plot but if you look deeper you realize the true complexity of the novel.Crane uses this novel to ironically view the art of war. His vivid imagery and the actions of young Henry Fleming provide you with the progression of a soldier from an innocent to a seasoned warrior. Crane uses this book to make us view civilization as we know it. Are we really civilized? If so, why haven't we stopped practicing the primitive art known as war?
Rating: 
Summary: Novel would be better wriitten like so: War=Tragedy
Review: Don't waste your time reading about how bad war is! It is nice to be sensatized to its calamities, but one can get the same feeling of sympathy by watching SCHINDLER'S LIST, a movie that features calamities that are of more immediate concern, especially with the new Neo-Nazi movements forming in Germany.
Rating:
Summary: Great piece of literature, but not Crane's best work
Review: I have read the "The Red Badge of Courage" several times since I was 16, and have grown more fond of this piece each time I have read it. In many ways however, it does not capture the essence of Crane's vision into the psyche of the desperate human spirit. A far better and more representative piece of his incredible talent can be seen in his novella "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets." For me, "Maggie" is a piece of literature second only to Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." Other great Crane stories include "The Monster" and "The Open Boat."
Rating: 
Summary: This book was very realistic.....
Review: I thought this book was a very realistic view of war. Crane's sense of naturalism really comes through in his portrayal of Henry Fleming. Henry must go through the trials and tribulations of war, just like any other soldier. This book shows how Henry must mature from the glory seeking soldier to the life-seeking soldier.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Description of Battle
Review: I must say that this book was not my favorite and not my least favorite. I was required to read this "classic" in my 11th grade Gifted/Honors American Literature class. To be honest with you, I am not into war novels, and never held an interest in them, but this story was different. The description of the battles were outstanding, and it made me realize what war can do to a person's psyche, and that it isn' always "glory."
Rating:
Summary: Fence Sitting
Review: This book, like any has it's merits and faults. The naration is a bit unconventional in form, and the transitions are a bit confusing at times, and some imagery is strongly overused, but the intreaging character development and rich detailed descriptions make this book worth reading. It is true Crane never saw battle in his life, publishers have never made a secret of this, but after the book debued he was congradulated by war veterans for his accurate depictions and even consulted by various periodicals as a war coorespondant. If you are unconceded enough to get passed grammatical errors in the narration, and see the book for what it was when it was written, then you should enjoy it. Happy reading.
Rating:
Summary: red badge on the rappahannock
Review: chancellorsville is right here outside my windows, and the rappahannock just past the pine grove. when i walk over to the fields that crane sets you in, the ground resonates with the shadowy movements of his scenes. his incredible sense of time & place lives a century or so later. what other books can do the same? red badge defines a moment and it defines us. what more can anyone ask?
Rating:
Summary: Why the fuss?
Review: A book chock full of wartime struggle, its great...if you like that sort of thing. To a reader unaccustomed to almost unbearably slow pace and metaphoric, confusing language, the book will bore you to tears.The first time I read the book was for a school requirement, but years later, it still bores me, even reading it on my own will. I do not reccomend it unless you enjoy these types of books. To the average reader, this will seem like a waste of time and a book who doesn't deserve it's classic standing.
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