Johnny Got His Gun

The Book List 1970-2020

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, 1939

Read this in June 2018.

This book had been on my to read list for probably 50 years but just never seemed to get around to it. I should have just bought it decades ago because if it was on my shelf I would have gotten to it. I finally read this classic anti-war novel about the war that was supposed to make the world safe for democracy. It was also going to be the war to end all wars.

It was a very powerful and grim book set during World War I that was written on the eve of World War II by an author who was later black listed during the Cold War for his anti-war views by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. He was also known for his Hollywood screenplay writing.

This was a very memorable book and I'm sorry I took so long to read it although I've always had his views on war but I really didn't know how horrible and disturbing the story was and the trauma of that wounded soldier. I read the book in about five days.

I had heard about this book during the Vietnam War and again in college where I almost read it in the mid '70s. It was considered as using art as a weapon to make a point.