The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War (Puffin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Coming of age in a world torn asunder.....
Review: Having had no prior exposure to The Red Badge of Courage, I had no idea of what to expect. I saw that it was slim, but Heart of Darkness is slim and look how much Conrad packed into that. Shelby Foote's introduction, as much as I admire the man, was the standard intro one finds with all "classics" - more suited to scholars than readers. Thus, I embarked on page one with no previously conceived notion of the book's true worth to me.

And, I loved it. Henry Fleming: greenhorn Yankee, afraid he might run, marches to his appointment with destiny. When faced with the terror of armed conflict, hand-to-hand butchery, a violent death, his fears materialize and he skedaddles. It is during this flight that Fleming's fortitude hardens. Stephen Crane artfully allows the reader to observe in detail a youthful mind steel itself to horror.

Ultimately, Henry Fleming takes his place as a battle-hardened veteran, a hero, a man owning courage with which to regale the folks back home. It is this transition that Crane presents so exquisitely - from cowardice to courage, red badge and all.

The Red Badge of Courage isn't a tome in size or in scope. It isn't specific as to where, when, or why. It seeks not to explain notable events, but to portray an excruciating process. It does so exceedingly well. 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: The Red Badge of Courage: Stephen Crane's masterpiece
Review: I do not believe that this book should be regarded as a classic.

The novel tells about the adventures of a young soldier named Henry during the American Civil War, whose alacrity for fighting in the army soon fades as he is faced with the real horrors of war. Every other soldier the protagonist fights with, instead of being given a name, is labeled with an adjective such as 'loud soldier' or 'tall soldier'. Whilst I accept the author was trying to show the reader how anonymous the people you fight with are in a war, it also meant that the characters came across as flat and uninspiring, and the reader never gets to know or understand them.

Although I have not enjoyed other classic works of literature in the past, I have always been able to see past my opinions and understand why they are regarded so highly. I did not feel that with this book at all. The prose was dull, the style did not engage me at all, and I am still struggling to understand why it is rated by so many people.


Rating:
Summary: The Red Badge of Courage
Review: The red badge of courage takes place during the Civil War. Henry Fleming, the newest recruit to the 304th regiment, is the main character in the book. Henry is a young boy who doesn't seem to have to courage to be in the army. Their regiment rests along a riverbank, where they have been camped for weeks. At last the regiment is given orders to head out, and the soldiers spend several weary days traveling on foot. Eventually they approach a battlefield and begin to hear the distant roar of bullets and gun powder. After securing a position, the enemy charges. Henry, boxed in by his fellow soldiers, realizes that he could not run even if he wanted to so he begins to fire on the opposing enemy.
Henry wakes from a brief nap to find that the enemy is again charging his regiment. Terror overtakes him this time and he leaps up and flees from the line. As he scampers across the field, he tells himself that he had done the right thing, that his regiment could not have won, and that the men who remained to fight were fools. He passes a general on horseback and overhears the commander saying that the regiment has held back the enemy charge. Ashamed of his cowardice, Henry tries to convince himself that he was right save his life. Henry finally returns to his regiment and begins fighting the very next day. In a charge, the regiment's color bearer falls.
Henry takes the flag and carries it proudly before the regiment. The group is sent into more fighting, and Henry continues to carry the flag. The regiment charges a group of enemy soldiers fortified behind a fence, and wins. Wilson seizes the enemy flag and the regiment takes four prisoners. As he and the others march back to their position, Henry reflects on his experiences in the war and realizes that he has found his confidence and his peace.
I think that this was a very good book because I am into these kinds of war books. In the beginning I felt that Henry was being a coward for running away but if I was in the same position, it would be hard or me to fight also. As Henry continues on his retreat, he comes across a group of men who have all been injured and he pretends to be injured himself. He only did this so that the others wouldn't know that he ran away. I think that this was Henry's lowest point in the book. After a couple more days, he finally returns to his regiment, which was a hard thing to do for him. After he helps his regiment to win their final battle, he is finally feeling very happy about himself and has found his courage after all. I think that everyone should read this book because it shows you that you can not run away from your problems.


Rating:
Summary: The Red Badge of Courage
Review: The story is taken place during the Civil War. It's about a young soldier, or recruit, that wants to prove his bravery and courage during war. He wants to become a hero and get a Red Badge of Courage, a wound. Henry Flemming, the soldier that wants to prove his courage, is a recruit with the 304th Regiment. But Henry is worry about his courage, he is worried that he might see a battle and is afraid that he will run away. But when battle finally comes around, Henry does run away. Henry is scared of dying, but he wants that red badge. Henry hears the roar of battle, so he decides to get a closer look. Along the way he sees someone else on his Regiment. Jim Conklin, a recruit also on the 304th Regiment, was wounded on the side of the road. Henry was all shakin' up from war, sees the wounded soldier. Henry told Jim that he would take care of him, but Jim ends up dieing. Henry finally walks up to battle, he sees the blue regiment retreating. He wants to stop one of the soldiers from the regiment and ask what had happened, but instead one of the soldiers hits him in the head with his gun opening a gash in his head. But the next day, the regiment heads back to the battle field, Henry starts to fight. He fights like a lion, like there is no tomorrow. As he is fighting he is thinking of his friend Jim Conklin. But as he is thinking, he gets angrier and angrier at emeny soldiers. Henry is fighting for Jim's vengence. Henry takes the flag and marches proudly. Another soldier from the regiment takes the enemy flag and takes four prisoners. They start walking back to their positions. Henry reflects on his recent battle. He thinks that he did well in the battle but he still feels ashame for running away. But he puts the guilt behing him and looks forward to peace and a steady manhood.

Rating:
Summary: The Red Badge of Courage
Review: There are those who say that this is the best book about war ever written though the author himself never experienced a battle. Crane tells the story of young Henry Fleming who dreams of being a hero in battle, and instead in the first great fighting he knows runs in fear. The battle the reality and his own fear take him by surprise, and his imagination proves to be a poor preparation for the encounter with reality. The main drama of the work is then the young man's confrontation with his own act of cowardice and his redemptive acts of battlefield courage later on. This overcoming of himself, this transformation of himself is what makes the story a moral drama of the first order.
Crane was a poet and one of the impressive features of the book is its poetic language.
I know the work , have read it more than once, understand it to be a ' classic ' and yet am still somewhat reserved about it. I suppose this is because I never had the kind of overwhelming identification with the central charater which I did in certain books I love much more.