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Red Badge of Courage: Level 3
Red Badge of Courage: Level 3
Red Badge of Courage: Level 3
Audiobook (abridged)54 minutes

Red Badge of Courage: Level 3

Written by Stephen Crane

Narrated by Iman

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

This classic novel is the fictional story about Henry Fleming who was a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War in the late 1800s.

Initially Henry runs from the fight but is later consumed with shame and wishes to be wounded. Though he does receive a minor wound not from the enemy, he manages to return to the fight against the Confederate Army of the south and does act as a flag bearer during another skirmish.


This audio classic novel has been carefully abridged and adapted into 10 short easy to understand chapters. This format enables listeners of all ages and English language abilities to understand and enjoy the story. Composition includes original custom back ground music.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 1, 2011
ISBN9780848113216
Red Badge of Courage: Level 3
Author

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900) was a war correspondent, novelist, short story writer and poet. He is the author of Maggie, The Red Badge of Courage, George's Mother and The Black Riders. Ernest Hemingway on The Red Badge of Courage: "One of the finest books of our literature…it is all as much of one piece as a great poem is."

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Reviews for Red Badge of Courage

Rating: 3.283582089552239 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

67 ratings38 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Henry Fleming finds that he, like so many others, becomes a coward when first faced with the gruesome rigors of the battlefield. He redeems himself--in reckless and hate-filled fashion--while Crane depicts to a point of historically accurate perfection, the confusions that led to Union defeat in the Battle of Chancellorsville.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    About a young union soldier who ran from battle during the civil war. This book taught me the importance of forgiving yourself and others.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Anthony Heald does a fantastic job in his audio reading of this classic novel.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book didn't really grab me. It was just ok.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Story of valor and fear experienced by civil war combatants. How the personal fortunes and perceptions of the participants change so quickly during the tumultuous conflicts into which the characters are thrown.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This short novel recounts a young farm boy's first battle as a Union soldier and his internal struggles with cowardice. Scholars believe the action is meant to take place at Chancellorsville.Henry Fleming enlists against his mother's wishes. Like many naive youngsters, he thinks battle will be glorious, but instead his group is kept in camp for a lengthy period, bored and uninformed of what is planned for them. When they are finally called to action, he sees little purpose to what they do against a seemingly invincible enemy, and he runs away from the battle. Later in the day he makes his way back to try to find a way to feel good about himself. I found the book generally unsatisfying. Henry's internal monologue taken as a whole is thought-provoking, but it's difficult to relate to his reasoning and actions. This may be because I have no experiences by which to judge his, but I think it goes deeper. Henry's not particularly likable (and apparently wasn't to Crane, either). There's something in his manner and speech (and in those of his fellow soldiers), that made me think of the three escaped prisoners in the movie "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" In other words, bumbling and not-too-bright fools. However, many people thought it was so spot-on that he must have been at war himself, so the book obviously resonated with many at the time it was published.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Could this guy be any more annoying? He runs away, he comes back, runs away, comes back. Make up your mind. I know this is supposed to be a classic, but there really are better "classics" out there.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Red Badge of Courage is a descriptive narration of one youth's first battle experience during the Civil War. This book deals with a dark time in American History and the writer treats it as such. The detail is stark, bleak and Crane doesn't sugar coat anything. I'm not disappointed that I finally picked this up and read it. It is a very short novel and doesn't take much of a time commitment to read. I did however find it dragging in parts and it took me a while to get into it. Henry, the youth, of the novel is a fairly simple individual who is shown the ugly face of war and his reactions to his first experiences are what the book is about. All in all, this is a good book, but nowhere near great. I'm not a big fan of Crane's style in his storytelling, however he does paint a vivid picture and the reader gets a clear idea of what it may have been like to be an unwitting youth going into battle for the first time with little training or warning of what to expect.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another one from the Guardian's top 100 books list. Hard to read in that it was depicting such traumatic events and also the language was so vividly descriptive it became a bit dense for me. I was relieved it was short! Modernist text that depicts the confusion and horror of the battlefield.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A lot of people seem to dislike this tale, but I enjoyed it. Really set the stage for thinking about the Civil War.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I found it very hard to keep my attention focused on it, and half the time I honestly had no idea what was going on. But, since I really wasn't interested, I never could take the time to go back and find the context.I can kind of see why this book has become such a classic, but I have to say that it's just not for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A searing tale of fear and courage, set during the Civil War, but more powerful today than ever. A young man enlists in the Union Army, but nervously wonders how he will react to the blood, violence, and death of a real battle. When that terrible day arrives, he flees the fighting in terror. But his cowardly behavior gnaws at his conscience, and he searches for redemption for what he has done.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A classic of the anti-war genre. Read in HS.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Summary: I am sure that I'm just to much of a girl to appreciate the wonder of this book. War, war, war and the suffering of young boys is all around us. I imagine my boys will glory in it, now if I can just get through it again...
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think that there are some very telling moments in this novel, and I think there are some beautiful metaphors, but there was something about it that just did not draw me in. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something was missing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Today's book is a classic that I have wanted to read for quite some time but never got around to...until now. Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage covers the American Civil War from the point of view of a Union soldier. It's the gritty portrayal of life at the front and just what it's like to lay down your life for a cause that you don't fully understand. In fact, our protagonist has almost no clue what it is that he's fighting for or against. He joined up because it was the done thing which seems to be the case for the rest of his regiment as well. There are those that brag about their bravado but when the time comes for the bullets to fly they are the first to turn and run. At first, our soldier is condescending towards these 'cowards' as he sees them but he very quickly sees the futility of their regiment's actions as they seem to be merely feinting and arbitrarily gaining and losing ground. It is a gritty, raw description of battle and defeat which is undercut with confusion and fear. These are children playacting warfare but the injuries and death are very real. Crane's insistence on not holding back lends a realistic, deadening of the senses feel to what it's like on the battlefield when you are surrounded by death and horror at every turn. He was making a commentary on the futility of war and how those who are a part of the 'war machine' are generally lost as to the meaning of why and who they are fighting. I am immensely glad that I finally picked this book up and gave it a read. I encourage ya'll to do the same. It's a slim volume and will take no time at all (though I don't promise you'll want a break every now and again from the bloodshed). 9/10
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Almost impossible to tell who is speaking, thinking, etc. Had to re-read many passages to attribute it to an individual. I kept reading because it is a "classic" and in theory it would get good. I was disappointed. Good thing it was a "short" classic. Why IS this a classic?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I believe I was introduced to the book first, not the Audie Murphy movie based on it. I don't remember as many of the details as I'd like, but it's good as far as Civil War novels go. I remember how he got his "red badge of courage", his conversation across a river with a Confederate, and one poor bastard who insisted on dying in a particular spot (as he was dying anyway).
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This is among the very worst books I've ever read! I absolutely hated it! In my eighth grade journal (we read it in eighth grade), I nicknamed it The Red Book of Boredom. It was simply atrociously awful, and it went on and on and on. I remember no merits or saving graces in this one. To be kept in mind- I like most books in general, even books I don't especially LIKE, I feel friendly towards and am generally amicable towards. This book sucked.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The Red Badge of Courage is yet another book that has been praised so much I thought I should read it. While I can't say that I enjoyed it, or even appreciated it, I can say I'm not sorry I read it. But into the Give Away pile it goes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Crane's poetic realism makes us see war and the fear inspired by it as something we would have to experience in order to understand. If we'd been in his place, would we have run too? And how many battles do we have to fight before we realize that the true war is with ourselves?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    To say that Red Badge of Courage is about a young man in combat during the Civil War sells the story short. Henry is a young man facing many things for the first time in his life and throughout battle he struggles with all of it. It's a historical snapshot of the psychology of war. It goes beyond whether Henry can be brave or not. Whether he is a true soldier or not.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Written near the end of the 19th Century, this is a classic story of the Civil War. The "youth" leaves his farm and mother as an idealistic soldier wanting to fight the good fight for the Union. War is Hell, especially in the 1860's. But it also means long stretches of boredom. After much waiting around, the Youth's regiment meets the enemy on the battle field. He finds he is overwhelmed and has a crisis of faith and confidence and runs away, a coward. He eventually returns to his unit, after much soul searching, the next day, crisis resolved, determined to become a good soldier.This war story is, perhaps, the prototypical war story. I recognized many tropes of modern war stories (both in film and books). The unsure, untested youth, who rises to be a hero. The gruff veteran leader who cajoles and inspires his troops to fight on to victory.A classic story that is engrossing, despite being almost 125 years old. Despite being that old, the language wasn't that dated, and very readable."In the darkness he saw visions of a thousand-tongued fear that would babble at his back and cause him to flee, while others were going coolly about their country's business. He admitted that he would not be able to cope with this monster. He felt that every nerve in his body would be an ear to hear the voices, while other men would remain stolid and deaf.""In the present, he declared to himself that it was only the doomed and the damned that roared with sincerity at circumstance.... A man with a full stomach and the respect of his fellows had no business to scold about anything that he might think to be wrong in the ways of the universe, or even with the ways of society."8/10S: 1/7/17 - F:1/15/17 (9 Days)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Red Badge of Courage is an American Civil War story masterfully written by a guy who never had an war experience. I regrettably felt a lot of connection to the protagonist. I also noticed familiar themes of incompetence in military leadership. Unsettling to think that little has changed in common observations made by enlisted men of their officers. This, too, was an unabridged audiobook expertly read by one of the most gutturally pleasant voices I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read this book a long time ago and just reread it. The author describes a young recruit in the Federal Army during the civil war. We are told of his actions and thoughts. He begins with cowardice and later acts with courage. The story is a reminder that war is a stupid way of resolving conflict. It is difficult to see why this book has been forced on students for many years other than it is short and teaches some history. There is nothing really interesting about the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Almost impossible to tell who is speaking, thinking, etc. Had to re-read many passages to attribute it to an individual. I kept reading because it is a "classic" and in theory it would get good. I was disappointed. Good thing it was a "short" classic. Why IS this a classic?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Another book that I no doubt should have read as a child, but never got to (not being American). Very fast read. I finished the entire thing in about an hour. While it is a classic study of the horrors gripping a young soldier on his first trip to the battlefield and influential in its time, the book didn't really grab me. This is probably due to the use of theme as plot in a fairly short novel so I never really became attached to Henry.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    One of my all time favorite books!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Crane's work, an early entry in the pantheon of American literature, can be read as either an anti-war polemic, or a pro-war piece of propaganda. Certainly the main character, who goes through a personal crisis when faced with battle, swings like a pendulum between the two extremes, and it is unclear by the end which side he settles on. For instance, is it good to fight the good fight because it is good, or because it is necessary?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rite of passage? Ideal v. reality? Historical fiction? This novella has all of those. Stephen Crane wrote this story in 1895 without ever having fought in battle. Somehow he still creates this vivid account of young Henry as he arrives to fight for the first time in the American Civil War. Powerful story.