Johnny Got His Gun

By: Dalton Trumbo

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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)

eye opener

exceptional writing and thought provoking. i read the book years ago. This audible gave a new perspective.

Jesus christ

This is the darkest shit you'll ever read. I never thought a book could scare or make me feel uneasy but I was wrong.

Poopoopeepee

I don’t know who needs to hear it but, there it js. I love you.

A Masterpiece

An outstanding performance of a masterpiece of a novel. This should be read by everyone.

Outstanding

This is such a great book, by I was not prepared for such an outstanding performance by the voice actor. Fantastic.

Skip the introduction...

The book itself, after you get to it, is well written and flows as erratically as the life of someone in that condition might have theirs go. The introduction, however, is absolutely terrible!

Her rant about her son in a different war, under completely different circumstances plays no bearing, what so ever, on the story itself aside from her take on it. Why she was permitted to write an introduction to this book is beyond me, and why the publisher permitted it to be put in there is, once again, staggeringly beyond me.
You cannot compare the trials and tribulations from a mother's point of view, having lost her son, a volunteer to combat, to the point of view of a soldier conscripted into a war. It's as simple as that.

Johnny Got His Gun

The narrator of this audible book makes listening to this book easy. I've read the book, but it is at times very difficult to read due to the lack of proper punctuation (it indicates a drugged state of the first person narration of the book, I believe). The narrator makes it much easier to understand and enjoyable.

SKIP SPOILER FOREWARD AND INTRODUCTION!

I first read this book as a high school senior and saw the movie as a college freshman. It remains the most profound, powerful, gut-wrenching book I've ever read, each time, and there have been many, and has influenced every day of my life ever since.
It is unfortunate that the foreward on Audible is such a spoiler. This story builds on itself and to fully experience the impact, you MUST begin with the text itself--CHAPTER TWO. DO NOT begin listening until you've skipped past the forward and introduction. Read them last. Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for the most frightening, unforgettable ride of your life.

WOW! Such a powerful story and well voiced!

If only mankind paid attention to stories like this. We don't need war, we need humans taking care of each other and living their lives.

Gripping and calming in alternation.

Very well performed. Fascinating read and not so disturbing as to turn a reader off while still being morbidly novel.