A review by corruptednatz
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

It’s a sad book, we witness a man slowly go insane being trapped within his own body with no way of communication. The book does a good job of evoking the sense of dread as the man comes to terms with his missing limbs, blindness and deafness. I gave the book a 2 star for the concept. It’s a scary concept that can happen to anyone but the book was mostly the man reminiscing about his past life (some points felt like filler) which made the book very slow. The bits and pieces about him in the hospital bed could only fill up a couple of chapters.
Spoiler  It would’ve been more interesting if the author expanded on the last part of the book when he was able to communicate through Morse code. Rather than the doctor giving him sedatives to shut him up and silence him forever (I understand why, because the government doesn’t want the world to see what war does to a man); he could’ve actually asked questions about his platoon and got more Info on his family or what happened in the war, then shut him up once his questions were too much.
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