Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

My favorite book I have ever read is by far Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. The book can turn a pro war person into an anti war person just by the imagery and diction used by Trumbo about the events of war. The book centers around a young man who was in the war who as the result of a landmine has become a vegetable with no arms, legs, vision, or hearing. The book grips you in with using first person views from the narrator and how he can't communicate with the nurses until he eventually uses morse code. It also does a great job of keeping you waiting to see what happens next. Metallica even used images from the out of print movie version of the book for their music ...  Read the complete review

Joe wishes the phone would stop ringing. It goes on and on. That must have been some awful wine he drank last night (or was it cognac? or was it absinthe?) because his head hurts so much it could burst. Who could let a phone ring on and on like that? Perhaps it's not a hangover, perhaps he's sick. Even hangover headaches aren't this bad. And someone really should answer that phone. Struggling through the fog of the pain in his head, Joe goes to answer it. And suddenly he knows why it's ringing. It's ringing to tell him that his father has died. Head pounding, Joe takes the call and receives the news from his mother. He's done that before. ...  Read the complete review