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Johnny Got His Gun

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Johnny Got His Gun

By: Dalton Trumbo
Narrated by: William Dufris
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About this listen

 This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered - not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives. This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless, and gruesome...but so is war.

Johnny Got His Gun holds a place as one of the classic antiwar novels. First published in 1939, Dalton Trumbo's story of a young American soldier terribly maimed in World War I - he "survives" armless, legless, and faceless, but with his mind intact - was an immediate best seller. This fiercely moving novel was a rallying point for many Americans who came of age during World War II, and it became perhaps the most popular novel of protest during the Vietnam era.

©1991 Dalton Trumbo (P)2008 Tantor Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military War

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Critic reviews

"[This] is a terrifying book, of an extraordinary emotional intensity." ( The Washington Post)
"There can be no question of the effectiveness of this book." ( The New York Times)
All stars
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Simply a masterpiece beautifully written beautifully narrated should be a must read in all learning establishments

Masterpiece

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The narrator brought this to live. Such a powerful story that I’ll never forget as long as I live.

Breathtakingly Vivid

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This is a simple story with a powerful message on the futility of war. It consists of the thoughts of a man injured in that most senseless of wars,WW1,his memories intermingled with how he tried to deal with having no limbs,hearing sight or face. It is probably an essential read . The story is thought provoking in the extreme. The narration is exceptional ,one of the very best I have heard.

Powerful and Relevant

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Although a very dark and often disturbing story you can really feel what the main character must be going through. It really makes you think about terrible atrocities of war and even more scary when he was able to communicate nobody would even listen. Terrifying but it could be true.

Compelling story I was hooked from the word go

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A deeply moving descent into madness, showing human ingenuity in the face of untold adversity, though ultimately grim in the way it wraps up. I'm not sure it's the kind of book you'd read over and over again, but definitely the kind of book you want to read before you go off to war for glory.

Excellent performance

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Completely horrifying, terrifying and captivating. What an incredible story! Great narration too! 10/10 must read!

Horrifying

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This is a very accurate account of the reasons not to go to War. Live in Peace and Harmony.

A fight against War

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A brutal story about the brutality of war and the lack of empathy of the ones who start and recruit for them. Powerful and a disturbing as an anti war story should be.

Tremendous!

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