Product Description
This collection contains Stephen Crane's seminal 'The Red Badge of Courage' and several of his other works.Includes an active table of contents.

THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE
THE LITTLE REGIMENT AND OTHER EPISODES
ACTIVE SERVICE
MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS
THE THIRD VIOLET
MEN, WOMEN, AND BOATS
WAR IS KIND
... Read more

Product Description
Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was an American novelist, poet and journalist. He is best known for his novel Red Badge of Courage (1895). The novel introduced for most readers Crane's strikingly original prose, an intensely rendered mix of impressionism, naturalism and symbolism. He lived in New York City a bohemian life where he observed the poor in the Bowery slums as research for his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), a milestone in uncompromising realism and in the early development of literary naturalism. He became shipwrecked in route to Cuba in early 1897, an experience which he later transformed into his short story masterpiece, The Open Boat (1898). Crane's poetry, which he called 'lines' rather than poems, was also strikingly new in its minimalist meter and rhyme. It employed symbolic imagery in order to communicate at times heavy-handed irony and paradox. Other works include Active Service (1899), The Monster (1899), The Blue Hotel (1899), Whilomville Stories (1900) and Wounds in the Rain (1900). ... Read more

Product Description
World famous at twenty-four, dead at twenty-eight, brilliant, reckless, and ultimately tragic--Stephen Crane is a dramatic study in contradictions. His most famous work, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, is a classic antiwar novel. Yet Crane longed for military honors of his own and pursued a career as a war correspondent that took him to battlefields in Greece and Cuba.Amazon.com Review
Stephen Crane "was an explosion of color in a grayage," writes his biographer Linda H. Davis in a well-turnedphrase typical of the acuity and aplomb displayed throughout herperceptive examination of his short (1871-1900), dramatic life. Cranewas only 23 when the serial newspaper publication of The Red Badgeof Courage made him famous, yet he had already developed theartistic credo that blew fresh air into the stale atmosphere ofVictorian American literature. "Art is not a pulpit," thisson of a Methodist minister wrote in 1893, commenting on hiscontroversial first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Likehis friend Joseph Conrad, Crane believed that fiction should tell thetruth about human beings' behavior and motives; understanding, ratherthan judgment, was his goal. His own standards were casually bohemian,as Davis shows in her vigorous chronicle of his numerous love affairs,his gallant defense of a woman unjustly accused of soliciting thatgained him the enmity of New York City Police Commissioner TheodoreRoosevelt, a nasty lawsuit with a former lover, and a common-lawmarriage to a woman who ran a brothel in Florida. On the literaryfront, the biographer sifts out Crane's finest stories and journalismfrom the large amount of hackwork he cranked out for money--of whichhe never had enough. Davis's appreciative commentary will send readersback to Crane's fiction; her perceptive evaluation of his personalityinspires renewed interest in the man who wrote it. --WendySmith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

a heartfelt, thorough treatment of a fascinating life
Badge of Courage by Linda H. Davis has been an excellent companion of mine in recent days.This is a terrific book that brings to life a Stephen Crane I never knew.He lived his short, dramatic life as bravely andactively as can be imagined.Davis re-creates it all in a vivid,enthralling book that reveals a deep affection for a worthy subject.Shealso reveals a direct, effective style that adds wonderfully to somealready wonderful material.I cannot overstate how much I value this book.

an excellent chronicle, an enthralling read
I went into Badge of Courage with little knowledge of Crane other than a distant memory of my reading his works in high school.This biography brought him back to life for me and involved me from the beginning.Thelife was short but complex, and at times conducted in secret; Davis conveysit all with full, affectionate treatment yet effective economy and punch. I feel as if Stephen Crane has been an enthralling companion in recentdays. This feeling is due not only to the drama of the life itself but alsoto Linda Davis' insightful, compelling presentation of it.

Biographies don't get any better than this.
I admit to bias, because I was involved in the research for this book. Nevertheless, Linda Davis has achieved what any good biographer strives todo but few accomplish: she has brought her subject back to life.This isno small feat in the case of Stephen Crane, who has fundamentally eludedall previous biographers, including the poet John Berryman and the detailedbut impossible-to-read Stallman.Crane led an adventure-filled life, andwas a wonderful and colorful character, as well as a brilliant, pioneeringwriter.Linda Davis, too, is brilliant, as a biographer; and she's a fine,sometimes breathtakingly good writer.If you read only one biography thisyear, make it this one.(By the way, Davis was right about Crane beingburied in Elizabeth, NJ; it WAS Elizabeth back then.) ... Read more

Product Description
Not yet famous for his Civil War masterpiece, The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane was unable to find a publisher for his brilliant Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, finally printing it himself in 1893.
Condemned and misunderstood during Crane’s lifetime, this starkly realistic story of a pretty child of the Bowery has since been recognized as a landmark work in American fiction.

Now Crane’s great short novel of life in turn-of-the-century New York is published in its original form, along with four of Crane’s best short stories–The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, The Monster, and The Open Boat–stories of such remarkable power and clarity that they stand among the finest short stories ever written by an American. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Interpreters
The main theme in this bundle of masterful short stories, highlights of American naturalism, is `brotherhood', or the absence of it.

In `The Open Boat', `the subtle brotherhood of men was here established on the seas. Each man felt it warm him.'
In `Maggie', there is no brotherhood. Home is a `regular living hell.'
In `The Monster', one man opposes the euthanasia of a heavy burned Afro-American (`he saved my boy's life), thereby defying public opinion, the force of the street (`everybody says it.')
In `The Bride comes to Yellow Sky', the protagonist brings his `foreign' (from another city) bride home. He fears the hostile reaction of his fellow citizens. But, the notion of marriage (a form of brotherhood) convinces a wild gunner not to shoot him.
In `The Blue Hotel', a heavy drinking madman provokes fiercely the guest of a hotel.

Brotherhood is the only means to fight Fate: `Fate should be deprived of the management of men's future. The whole affair is absurd.' (The Open Boat).
Or, `one viewed the existence of man as a marvel, a glamour of wonder to these lice which were caused to cling to a whirling, fire-smote, ice-locked, disease-stricken, space-lost bulb.' (The Blue Hotel)
And, `when it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him', there is the strength of brotherhood to vanquish the forces of nature. (The Open Boat)
The main characters in this book are the interpreters of this strong message: `the wind brought the sound of the great sea's voice to the men on shore, and they felt they could then be interpreters.' (The Open Boat).

These forceful short stories are a must read for all lovers of world literature.

Bleak Life
One knows right from the start that "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" is not going to have a happy ending, since it definitely does not have a happy beginning.Crane's portrait of turn-of-the-century Bowery life is unflinching in its bleakness of poverty, highlighted by moments of black comedy and Crane's insistence upon color description.It is a quick paced examination of the realities of what living in poverty can do to the human spirit.

The title character grows up in an abusive household, her father soon dead and her mother a drunk.Maggie is forced to work at a shirt factory to help out, dreaming all the while that a better life exists somewhere.For Maggie, it might, since she is a beautiful young woman.But her innocence and naievete cost her when she is taken in by the charms of Pete the bartender, her brother Jimmy's friend.Believing that Pete loves her, Maggie is completely seduced by him and finally forced into a life of prostitution.It is not a situation from which the reader can expect a happy fate.

Crane's novella is populated with mean sketches - of the poor and the wealthy, of Maggie's drunken and abusive mother, of the neighbors who love to see someone else in misery.Crane realistically depicts the speech patterns of this Irish immigrant family (which might be difficult for some readers to decipher) and captures the hardships that awaited those who could not rise above their station in life.

Heads up...this version is not the complete story
Just to let folks know--this version has passages that have been altered, shortened, or entirely removed from the original, and the ending is considerably changed.If you want Crane's work as it was originally published--and the ending that is both heartbreakingly bleak and visually evocative of her descent into the depths, definately buy another version.I recommend the Penguin Classics edition.

What could have been?
Let me first state that I do not own this specific edition of Maggie, and that I am only reviewing the actual story of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.I wasn't going to review this book since it is not the one that I own; however, after reading a previous review I decided that I had to review it.

First, this book is pretty much about what everyone said it is about.It is about a family living in the slums of turn-of-the-century New York.The protagonist of the book is a young girl named Maggie, whom is full of dreams and aspirations, unlike her loser relatives.Her main dream is to meet a good man and fall in love with him and start a family, to live happily ever after.However, the fellow that she chooses to fall in love with is a loser whom ends up leaving Maggie.Her family, not yet satisfied with all the harm that they caused Maggie during her childhood, disowns Maggie and drives her to her doom.I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say that it doesn't end well for Maggie.It is extremely sad and disappointing to realize what Maggie could've been so much more.She was a beautiful and moral girl.Instead, she ends in tragedy.

Now, the previous reviewer stated that this book cannot be a classic because it is too short.I wasn't aware that there is a length requirements for classics.Also, the outdated slang and cussing is outdated because the story takes place in turn-of-the-century New York.I personally felt that this slang added greatly to the feel of the story.

You, the reader, should be the judge on the quality of this novel.Do not let poor reviews detract you from picking it up and giving it a good read.I am confident that if you focus on what Maggie could have been, it will make it easier for you to enjoy the story.

Maggie: Beaten From The Start
For those who read the full title of MAGGIE: A GIRL OF THE STREETS, it is forgivable if they assume that Stephen Crane's novel is a sensationalistic tale of a fallen woman.Sensational it may be in parts, but it is far closer to the flood of naturalism that was dominating American literature in 1893. Naturalistic writing was marked by a belief that human beings were at the mercy of a brute and unfeeling nature that rigged the deck against anyone who dared to attempt to rise above his station.The usual result was the crushing defeat or death of that person.Crane had done extensive reading of European authors who led the way with their own naturalistic writings.In MAGGIE, Crane wrote of a good girl who wanted no more than to find the right guy to love, but everyone in her environment, even her own family, worked in tandem not only to stop her from achieving her goal but to demolish her in the process.

Maggie lives in the slum section of New York.Her dreams to better her life are much more modest than the heroines of any novel by Edith Wharton. Lily Bart of Wharton's HOUSE OF MIRTH was poor like Maggie but Lily sought to mingle with money and to marry into it.Maggie's dream was no more than to find love, and when her brother brought home his friend Pete, she thought she found it.Pete was handsome and what today we would call a "player."He dates Maggie for a while, raising her hopes of marriage, but after living with her, he tires of her and dumps her.Maggie's family is outraged, not so much at Pete for being a cad, which he certainly was, but at her for violating the Puritanical rules that forbad such a relation.Her family itself was not a paragon of virtue.Her mother and father drank heavily and alternately abused or ignored Maggie and her brother, who himself had impregnated several women and then dodged them when they showed up at Maggie's apartment demanding that he own up to his responsibilities.Maggie's sin, such as it is, pales into insignificance by comparison.Her family will not accept her back so she is left to wander the streets as a prostitute.The ending is predictable; Maggie jumps into the East River and drowns.In the literary world of naturalism, Crane had to create a hostile universe and people it with uncaring characters whose only function was to show that this universe truly was a hideous place to live.Once readers finish the novel, they are often stunned with the imbalance in the scales of cosmic justice, suggesting that Crane's vision of a brute nature may never go completely out of fashion.
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Product Description
This Signet Classic edition, published complete from the original manuscripts, includes The Open Boat, The Blue Hotel, The Upturned Face, and The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The added stories make this edition stand out.
Because the novel _The Red Badge of Courage_ is in so many editions, I'm not going to write a review of the novel per se. There are plenty of opinions out there. Instead, I'll talk about why makes this a uniquely difficult (and yet rewarding) reading experience and what stands out about this particular edition.

Crane's novel borders on stream of consciousness, but instead of being all-but-unreadable like so many efforts at that technique, _The Red Badge_ is so vivid that it instead feels like a series of beautiful but disparate paintings. Each one individually floors you, but then reflecting back on the book after having read it, you're hard pressed to explain what if anything holds the images together: indeed, summaries you read online give much more of a sense of plot than what you experience while reading it. Plot summaries might mention individual fights, but it's often only with hindsight do you realize that combat has begun or ended. This is probably true to life, but it's hard to keep the bigger context of what's going on in mind when this happens. (This is a book that requires and rewards rereading.)

This way in which the novel is curiously pleasurable but instantly forgettable comes from how it combines three elements: brilliant psychological descriptions of a young soldier's first encounters with combat; impressionistic images of battle; and dialogue that's spelled phonetically. ("I'm glad t' see yeh! I give yeh up fer a goner.") All of these take a lot of attention, making the book much harder to read than its short length suggests.

The introduction doesn't include any spoilers (though I'm not sure what would count as a spoiler for a novel in which plot matters so little). The intro mainly focuses on the bizarre quirks of Crane's writing style, for whatever that's worth.

The three of the four short stories that accompany the novel are pretty good. `The upturned face' is basically an extended image. `The Blue Hotel' is seemingly pointless character sketches until the last couple of paragraphs change the meaning of it all. `The bride comes to Yellow Sky' feels like source material for the film _High noon_, which is not a bad thing.

The other story, however, is a truly excellent piece of realism. Entitled `The open boat' it kept me thinking to myself, "Yes, that's what it would feel like to experience that." And the suspense borders on painful. The writing is so tight (despite what the person writing the introduction thinks) that it makes _The red badge_ feel slightly loose.

The edition also includes some editorial marks to distinguish between different editions of the novel. These are distracting but the presence of `The open boat' more than makes up for it.

The Red Badge of Courage Book Review
The Red Badge of Courage Book Review

The major conflict in this book is when Henry Fleming runs away from his very first fight. This conflict is resolved in a number of ways. The first way is when Henry runs into a clearing and finds a general telling a messenger that Henrys regiment held the enemy back. The second way is when Henry runs into a line of soldiers and they are all wounded, there he realizes that he has not done his part for the Army. The final way this conflict is resolved is when Henry finds his regiment and fights a battle with them.


The two characters I am going to compare and contrast are Henry Fleming and Tobias Macivey. One thing they have in common is that they both have something they are fighting to get back to, Tobias is trying to get back to his family and Henry is fighting to get back to his regiment. One thing that is different about them is that Henry supports the north and Tobias supports the south. I think they would help each other by giving advice to each other when they needed it. One way they would hurt each other is that they both may have different opinions on ways of living.

"The Red Badge of Courage is an action packed book filled with adventure and suspense". The Red Badge of Courage is action packed because there are many battles. It is suspenseful because at any moment the regiment could be in a clearing resting. The next minute there could be a shower of cannon fire raining down upon them. This book is adventurous because there are many twists and turns.




I would recommend this book to someone else. This book is a short read of 130 pages and is great to read if you have some free time. I think teenage boys would enjoy reading this book. It is an inspirational story of how Henry Fleming learns what it means to become a man. It also states that you should do what is best and stick with your friends.


One theme in this book is courage. I can apply this theme to my life in many different ways. The first way is to stick by your decisions and never give up. The second way is to fess up to your parents about something you did. The third way is to stand up for your friends.

The Psychology of a Young Soldier
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was a journalist and covered wars in Mexico, Cuba, and Greece. His life was cut short by tuberculosis, the major killer from the mid 19th to the mid 20th centuries (caused by poverty and poor diets). This is his most famous novel. It tells of the thoughts and actions of Henry Fleming, who leaves his widowed mother to enlist in the war. Crane does not mention the economics of enlisting in the Volunteers. The story is generic so it could apply to many battles, and describes the events to the reader. Tales of battle are found in literature from the Iliad to the Song of Roland, but have been displaced in modern times by detective and spy novels, and their analog on television and films.

This novel is impressionistic, it does not go into details much. A writer is less likely to be caught in errors that way. Some say Crane based this book on the stories he heard as a boy, or maybe from the many newspapers and books he read after the war. Young Henry wonders if he will skedaddle in combat. His fear comes true; but his regiment was scattered after the attack and then regathered. Henry got hit on the head, a bleeding wound (the red badge of courage), but rejoined his unit and continues to fight in the next battle. The moral is that failure can be redeemed in the future.

The timing of the publication may have helped to make it popular. Many of the veterans of the Civil War were beginning to die out, and a novel about a 30-year old war would have interested readers. 1893 saw the worst depression in American history (until the Great Depression). The story of a man who falters then succeeds afterwards would provide symbolic comfort for the many suffering from the economic setback. I wonder if Henry's accidental wound was due to Crane's cynicism? In that era more soldiers died from sickness and disease than from combat. In today's world, farming is still the most dangerous occupation.

Classic novel of the Civil War
Stephen Crane's classic novel, "The Red Badge of Courage" is as much about what goes on in the mind of a young soldier as it is about the military action taking place. Henry Fleming goes off to fight, having overblown illusions of a spectacular, mythical epic rather than of the reality of a horrible, brutal war. What he had hoped would be a grand, romantic sendoff by his mother fell short of his expectations. When he gets involved in his first battle, Chancellorsville (which historically was a crushing defeat for the north) he has fears that he might get scared and run. These fears are realized and the novel deals with his efforts to hide his act of cowardice from the rest of his regiment and, to redeem himself. He is a afraid of every question asked of him and distrusts the meaning of statements that are made since he knows what he did and is concerned that his fellows do too. For example, when he talks about the earlier events of the battle, a fellow soldier replies that he is talking as if he fought it by himself. It was an offhanded comment but, to Henry, it took on great significance as he wondered what the soldier meant. Did he in fact know that Henry cut and ran and was, in fact making a pointed statement? Ultimately, the question is whether Henry can become a hero and achieve redemption.

Crane was a very young man when he wrote this novel but, he had mature insights into what makes the human psyche tick. Also, he had a good undrstanding of the battle at Chancellorsville and what went on at the minds of soldiers in the battle. For example, Fleming's regiment was holding off a frontal attack by Lee's troops not realizing that this frontal attack was only a feint. In fact, the real battle was, perhaps, a mile away as troops led by Stonewall Jackson was rolling up General Otis's troops on the left flank. Those in the middle, at times, thought that they were winning the battle because they were focused on what was happening where they were. In a historical perspective, we knew of the disasterous results which were unfolding but, the soldiers in the novel (at a time when there was no communications equipment) saw things on the micro level.

Thye Red Badge of Courage is an American classic and, although I have an interest in the Civil War, I recommend this for all readers who appreciate great literature.

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Product Description
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, is a novel depicting the cruelty of the American Civil War, featuring a young recruit who overcomes initial fears to become a hero on the battlefield.

18-year-old Union Army private Henry Fleming deserts his battalion, considering the battle to be a lost cause. Escaping into a nearby forest, he finds a group of injured men. One member of the group, the "Tattered Soldier", asks Henry where he is wounded. Henry, embarrassed that he does not have any wounds, leaves the group and wanders through the forest. He ultimately decides that running was the best thing, and that he is a small part of the army that is responsible for saving himself.

Henry later learns that his battalion has won the battle, and feels very guilty. As a result, he returns to his battalion. On the way back to his battalion Henry sees a fleeing regiment and grabs an artilleryman and demands to know what is happening, the man hits Henry in the head when the boy refuses to let go of the gunner's arm. When Henry returns to camp, the other soldiers believe his head injury to be caused by a bullet grazing him in battle. ... Read more

Product Description
When Maggie was published, society was unprepared for its grim and stark tale of a pretty young girl's fall in New York's Bowery, and its criticism of the irresponsibility of men toward women. Stephen Crane also exhibits his stunning genius in the five other stories of this collection, from the local color of small-town life to the bustle of the city to war stories full of the irony of heroism. The six make up an enduring testimony to one of America's finest writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Portrait of desolate poverty
I thought I'd never read a book sadder than The Chocolate War, but I was wrong. Maggie: A Girl of The Streets is desolate. What I found most disturbing about it is that Maggie largely doesn't have parents, and certainly not loving parents. Both parents are alcoholics, and the father dies early. The mother is a brute who often smashes furniture in drunken rages. When Maggie disappears from the family's house while dating Pete (which is never really explained), her mother and older brother conclude that she's behaving scandalously with Pete, and disown her. This, and the mother's rants about how she raised Maggie better than that, make her hypocritical.

Characterization is not a strength of this novella. Maggie's mother is a completely flat and static character; so is Pete, and probably Jimmie, the older brother. The glimpses into Maggie's mind are limited; only during her dates with Pete do we see her thoughts extensively.

Sad but true
This book is a very fast read.it's a small book and also one that is hard to put down.It tells a story that is historical 19th century American(New York).A typical slum(immigrant) family.It's Brutal, shocking and sad.One you will think about for a long while after you read it.

ALWAYS HAPPY
I HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ALL TRANSACTION TROUGH ALL BUSINESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AMAZON.I WOULD LIKE A POINT SYSTEM THAT WOULD ALLOW A STUDENT SUCH AS MYSELF REVIEW A FREE BOOK AFTER SO MANY ORDER.


THANKS
JOSEPH ST. ROMAIN

Realistic; very sad
Of all his works--'The Red Badge of Courage' included--Stephen Crane loved most his 'Maggie,' and for good reason.

'Maggie' is the tale of an inevitable fall from grace on the part of a young, innocent girl trapped in the vicious world of New York City's slums. Yearning for acceptance and love, beaten at home by alcoholic parents, Maggie sets out with Pete, a local bartender whose "cultured" mannerisms elicit great respect from the impressionable young girl. However, when Pete spurns her for another, Maggie is ejected out onto the street, forced into prostitution to make a living. We last see her moving off, a huge, oily fat man in tow, for a darkened corner in the city's seedy underworld.

If Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' is a torrent of social anger and protest, Crane's 'Maggie' is like a brilliant lightning strike, flashing across our vision and leaving us temporarily blinded. The book--scarcely 70 pages--is succint, brutish, and merciless. Crane allows his readers to form their own opinions regarding the characters. His innovative use of near-phonetic spelling to depict in the reader's ear the local dialect of New York's rough neighborhoods was shocking and difficult to comprehend when the book was first released. It lends "Maggie" an air of earthy legitimacy.

Ultimately, "Maggie" is a cry for the plight of poor children--the souls we overlook with a callous unease mirrored in Pete's offhand, uncaring rejection of young Maggie's genuine love and affection. It is, without qualification, Stephen Crane's greatest and most moving achievement.

Maggie:Girl of the Streets
The literary element that I chose to write about was conflict. The book is about a brother and a sister who grew up in a very poor part of New York. They did have a younger brother but he died. Maggie and Jimmies (the brother) parents were both abusive drunks. They were always telling each other to go to hell, always fighting, hitting, breaking furniture, and passing out on the floor. Their dad eventually dies and the mother lives. Jimmie and Maggie both get jobs. Jimmie ends up with a negative outlook on life and acts just as he was raised, but maybe a little bit soberer. Maggie on the other hand didn't seem to end up like Jimmie. She knew her life was crappie that she lived in a crappie place, her mother was a very big drunk but yet she seemed unfazed, infact Maggie turned into quiet a looker. So some of her conflicts started when she was young, but the got even worse when she met her brother's friend Pete. Pete was sort of like Maggie's brother, but maybe in my opinion a little more stupid and cockier. And to Maggie he was the classiest person she knew, even though in reality he really wasn't, so maybe Maggie really didn't understand what classy was. Pete took Maggie out a few times on dates and she was crazy about him and he seemed to be some what amused by her too for the minute. One day Maggie and Pete had came home after Maggie's mother had just finished a drunken fight with Jimmie and then her mother turned on her and basically suggested that she was a slut or a "fallen woman" and told her to leave and she was never welcomed again. Maggie ended up living with Pete and things were ok for a while, but he ended up tired with her anyways. Maggie did try to move back in but Jimmie and her mother had felt like she was a fallen woman, so to keep her going from time to time she ended up prostituting an d eventually killed her self when her Maggie's mom hered about Maggie's death she said she forgave her. ... Read more

Product Description
From one of the most innovative and talented writers of his generation—an excellent collection offering new insight into the mind and genius of an author known primarily for his fiction. Nearly all of Stephen Crane’s verse is included, including two complete books of poems, The Black Riders, which brought Crane dazzling international fame; War is Kind, ablaze with vivid imagery and a selection of the writer’s uncollected poetic works.
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Customer Reviews (4)

Bitter, Yet Good
Stephen Crane is more well known for his prose than his poetry, being the author of The Red Badge of Courage.This is partly because his poetry is very unlike the poetry of others (and thus not generally considered "good").The poems of this collection are often very simple and short.He tends to focus more on the bare bones in his poetry, using his words to establish a philosophical meaning or to give off the impression of a strong emotion.As a result, he does not use a lot of flowery imagery, and the poems are short and to the point.A lot of the times, his poetry is either hit or miss.Some of the poems are extremely good.Others seem like something a three year old could write.

Personally, I find Crane's poetry very entertaining and provacative, for the most part.When I first read his poetry, I was astonished to see how unashamedly antitheistic much of his work was.Many of his poems center around the idea of humanism or the irrelevance and unimportance of God.The poems "God lay dead in heaven" and "Should the wide world roll away" evoke a sense of Crane's strong passion for humanity and love, as the themes of these poems resonate with his courage to deny even the idea of God for the love of man.He also writes several poems that question the justness of God, wondering how such a being could punish the innocent, or how people could consider such a being just.Almost all of his poems focus upon some moral issue, such as the absurdity of war, the difference between good and evil, or the goodness of God.

The poem "In the desert" is perhaps his most well known, with its theme of a grudging self-acceptance in its depiction of a creature eating its own bitter heart."The impact of a dollar upon the heart" and "God lay dead in heaven" are also considered to be among his best.

Crane's poems are rather easy to read and interpret, and this is perhaps why is poetry isn't considered to be of the same quality as his prose.Conciseness and clarity, elements which are necessary and beneficial to prose, are often not even relevant to poetry.The fact that Crane's poetry so often spells everything out to simply and concisely (he was, after all, trained as a newspaper writer) is perhaps the reason his poetry often fails to be anthologized.However, though the interpretations are often on the face of his poems, clear as day, I don't feel this detracts from the power or significance of the message he delivers with his poetry.Many of his poems, indeed, are simply beautifully written, despite his refusal to cover his poetry with flowery images.

I'd recommend this work as a good example of Poetry Lite--it is poetry that can be read like prose, and in which the meaning of the words is more important than the interpretation or the imagery or the arrangement.

Short, striking and symbolic poems
This volume contains the contents of both of the volumes of poetry Crane published in his lifetime. Short, striking and symbolic poems which are considered a prelude to the poetic movement 'Imagism'.
Though I do not know Crane's work well what I have read gives the sense and feeling of a true poet.

Rather a shock to read
Dark and rather succinct, it's a little more than what a normal thinking and somewhat religious person might want to read after a lunch repast. What grips me here is that this man must (MUST!) KNOW God, must have met Him severally, and must have been denied some sort of heaven by God. The thing that makes me so impressed and in one passage, breath-taken, is that this man had to go through tremendous pressure, stress (his peers and friends hated him and laughed at his creativity) and ultimately, consumption, to create this small (and quite inexpensive) collection of poems. "War is Kind" is sarcastic, I agree, as some would say, but I also think that Crane's wars were waged not only on the Somme or in the trenches in some Eastern front, but they were waged with desire, for heaven with or without the presence of women or lovers, waged with the Ultimate thoughts he was being given so as to recall God's ear to bend to his poems. I like the book so far that I've read. It benefits the poet-in-progress to study Stephen Crane, and it also might help to not be quite so deeply drawn into his case against his maker and himself by reading some poems without much sobriety. For a $..., someone wishing to know Truth might be wealthy in more ways than the list price. Thanks, Stephen Crane.

MUST HAVE!!!!!
Stephen Crane was such and eloquent poet.His works always seem to question both himself and society at large."War is Kind" is the picture of this as Crane mocks the idea of glory in war, using sarcasm to condemn war even as he praises it.This is a wonderful book, one that everyone should at least read if they don't own it, but this is such a great price, it should be a must-have for every literary scholar. ... Read more

Product Description
Mark Twain once famously said "there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering, and that was the fact that it is past and can't be restored."Ê Well, over recent years, The British Library, working with Microsoft has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collection of 19th century books.

There are now 65,000Ê titles availableÊ (that's an incredible 25 million pages) of material ranging from works by famous names such asÊ Dickens, Trollope and Hardy as well as many forgotten literary gems , all of which can now be printed on demand and purchased right here on Amazon.

Further information on The British Library and its digitisation programme can be found on The British Library website. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Open Boat
I was very impressed by author Stephen Crane's abilities. Wish I could articulate the reasons, but I'm so overwhelmed by his skill and artistry, that's all I can say.

Amazing writer, great deal
This is short but packed with excellent short stories by Crane. I had to buy this for an english class but I've read it twice since then just because its so good. The first story takes place in Brooklyn and it seems very authentic even today. This is one of my favorite authors and I guess there's a reason they have you read him in school - to get you into reading!

New York Matters
Crane has a delightfully light style of writing that can take the deepest and most sorrowful of situations, and somehow bring them light. His, "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets," is a wonderful depiction of life for a 19th century girl in New York. "The Open Boat" puts you on the ship; you can naturally feel the narration and flow with him as he crashes against the waves. A wonderful read for any interested in American or New York literature.

Hard stories for hard times
Stephen Crane died at the early age of 29, but in his writing he shows what he'd come through in life. I think his style is mature and hardened up, due to a life spent in difficult times. In "The Blue Hotel", he depicts a brief, brutal and enigmatic moment in the lives of several residents and migrants in Nebraska, a stupid and cruel fight in the midst of a snow blizzard.

The rest of the stories have to do with Civil War episodes and other moments in the US history. My favorite tale is the one that's on the cover of the book: the Open Boat. It is masterfully told, the story is tense, sad and exciting. The reader can feel the up and down movement of the boat, the cold wetness of the clothes, the seasickness the characters suffer, the desolation at every failure to approach the coast, the relationship between the characters, etc. It is a pity that Crane died so young, since in these short stories he shows himself as a talented, gifted and mature writer.

Better Than "The Red Badge of Courage"
Crane proves to be an early American master of the short story.I found "Courage" to be plodding and obvious, but Crane's short stories rescue his literary reputation for me.

The stories are well paced withvivid characters and little epiphany by story's end. ... Read more

Product Description
This Norton Critical Edition of Stephen Crane’s classic 1895 Civil War novel is again based on the first published edition, conservatively edited.The Fourth Edition offers abroadenedand restructured“Backgrounds and Sources”section that illuminates the social and intellectual climate of the 1890s and includes thought-provokingmaterial by Jay Martin,Charles J. LaRocca, and Perry Lentz on Crane’s use of the Battle of Chancellorsville.“Criticism” includes an expanded introduction by Donald Pizer covering major criticalapproaches to the novel andfourteen assessments that reflect the revival critical interest in The RedBadge of Courageby,among others, R. W. Stallman, Charles C. Walcutt, John Fraser, Amy Kaplan,John E. CurranJr., James B.Colvert, and Donald Pizer. 1 map; 3 photographs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Stephen Crane's masterpiece
Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage is not so much a Civil War novel, but more a story of two young soldiers in the midst of a war much larger than either of them. The book only follows these two soldiers for a matter of weeks, but it spans a lifetime's worth of battles, both physical and introspective. By the end, the two young soldiers develop and change so drastically that they are entirely unrecognizable from the scars of war. Their transition from fresh, uncertain soldiers to hardened veterans is compelling to watch.
Having that said, this book is still a war novel. The beauty of this book, though, is that it does not focus on the mundane little facts of the Civil War, but brings you harshly into the dirty features of war itself. Crane keeps up a relentless pace that rarely lets up, throwing these two soldiers into the fray of combat time after time. His palpable and even grotesque descriptions of battle immerse you in with the characters, leaving you clinging on with dread and excitement. Vast vistas of trampled battlefields, lines of musket-bearing soldiers colliding with each other, and nineteenth century American landscape are spread right in front of you. If you are looking for a textbook of the Civil War, this is not it. If you are looking for a raw piece of war fiction, you have found it.
The Red Badge of Courage is deserving of its title as a classic and as one of the greatest war novels ever written. The story of these two young soldiers intertwined with the beast of war is a great read that I recommend to anyone.
... Read more

Product Description
Works of Stephen Crane with active table of contents.Works include:

Active Service
The Little Regiment
Maggie, A Girl of the Streets
Men, Women, and Boats
The Monster
The O'Ruddy, A Romance
The Red Badge of Courage
The Third Violet
War is Kind ... Read more

Product Description
Stephen Crane, an American writer and journalist, is best known for his critically acclaimed Civil War novel "The Red Badge of Courage". In addition to this remarkable work, Crane also wrote many short stories about the Civil War, among other subjects. His best short stories are collected here in this volume and include the following tales: The Open Boat, The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, The Monster, Death and the Child, The Pace of Youth, A Desertion, An Experiment in Misery, A Dark Brown Dog, The Men in the Storm, A Mystery of Heroism, One Dash-Horses, The Little Regiment, His New Mittens, The Price of the Harness, Virtue in War, An Episode of War, Shame, The Upturned Face, and The Knife. ... Read more

Product Description

This comprehensive volume of Crane's work includes the first published editions of The Red Badge of Courage and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, both of which were considerably toned down in subsequent editions for a genteel 1890s reading public. In addition to Crane's longer works, this volume presents his short fiction, as well as a wealth of supplementary material, including historical and cultural contexts, essays on urban life and reform in the late 19th century (to accompany Maggie), Civil War backgrounds (to accompany The Red Badge of Courage), and Spanish-American War backgrounds (to accompany Crane's short writings on the subject).

Product Description
When Stephen Crane saw boundaries, he didn ’t dawdle and wait for someone to help him inside.He just jumped the fence.This spirit is evident in the Civil War novel that he's famous for, The Red Badge of Courage.He was only twenty-one when he wrote the book,and he dared to tell the story even though he'd never so much as stepped onto a battlefield.His life was a series of wild dares.Every time he disobeyed his Methodist parents and snuck away to explore the neighborhood, he risked punishment.Every time he compromised his safety as a journalist by disguising himself and sneaking into dangerous places, he risked his life.What was his greatest feat?That's easy.Somehow, he wrote it all down. ... Read more