Johnny Got His Gun
Dalton Trumbo
It’s an anti-war novel about a man who returns from World War I after having lost his vision, hearing, his ability to speak, and all of his arms and legs. In this state, he claims that he is “the nearest thing to a dead man on earth” and in his unique position, caught between the worlds of the living and dead, he begins to re-examine the reasons he felt compelled to go to war.
This book just moved me. There’s a wealth of interesting points of discussion (political, historical, literary), but above all it is just a persuasive call for humanity.
CASSANDRA KARP
Class of 2019
English major
This book is part of the 2019 Berkeley Summer Reading List. Stay tuned for more weekly posts!