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Sep 02, 2012andrewgraphics rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A deeply psychological novel of a young man who decides to fight in the Civil War, it follows his thoughts as he is filled, in turns, with patriotism, doubt, fear, shame, cowardice, and heroism. I wasn't quite ready for such a thought-filled story, expecting more of a narrative; it was not only quite engaging but also at times humorous and quite insightful. An interesting trick Crane pulled was not using the main character's name throughout most of the book (since the first couple of chapters? something that's hard to go back and check with an audio book), but instead identified him as "the youth" or some such. Helped create more of an Everyman the reader (or listener) could identify with, no matter which side you might have rooted for.