Het teken van moed (1895)

Stephen Crane's classic highlights the psychology of a young man facing the reality of war. Set in the United States Civil War it is amazing in that Crane had no experience in battles of any kind. It made his name as an author and has been a favorite of mine since my days in high school. ( )

I read this as a teen and didn’t like it. I remember that the main character struck me as immature and frustrating. He is still that way, but thirty years make a big difference in my perspective. The writing is lush and gorgeous, and the technical choices wowed me. The way that no one is named, yet their names are known, creates such a subtle this-could-be-anyone dynamic. I can now respect this book as a psychological study of a soldier at war. ( )

I first read this book in my sophomore English class, too many years ago. Having reread it I can take away a better appreciation for its greatness. As a novel of the Civil War it remains a powerful example of a young man in the frays of battle. While subtitled "An Episode of the American Civil War" it has few specifics in the narrative that would suggest that this is any different from other mid-century wars in the Nineteenth Century. Thus it becomes timeless and takes on the patina of myth in some small way. The result is a classic worth rereading. ( )

Henry Fleming is a teenager that is out of his mind because one day he decided to go into war thinking it was going to be his personal la-la land. Bu then once he actually faces the threat of battle, he gets all nervous and realizes that he isn't a god. Wait, he actually thinks he's a god by running away. Never mind-wait, he thinks he's a god since he lied his way back to his regiment. And in the final chapters of the book, he magically goes into his la-la land and transforms into a Lawful Good Half-Orc Barbarian. ( )

Fiction