Soldier Boy

Michael ShaaraProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 48K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Soldier Boy by Michael ShaaraAuthor: Shaara, Michael, 1929?-1988,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 5, 2016

Editor's review

Michael Shaara is known for historical fiction and war subjects, and "Soldier Boy" is a short story in English released free through Project Gutenberg. Compared with his longer works, this story focuses more tightly on the situation and psychology of an individual soldier; it is short and narrow in scope, well suited to observing how the author portrays character within a limited scene. Shaara's narration is usually restrained, relying not on grand spectacle but on detail and dialogue to convey tension, and this work continues that style. For readers who want to understand Shaara's starting point or are interested in American war short stories, it is a low-cost entry. The English original has no accompanying introduction, so readers must enter the situation on their own. While reading, it is worth noting the choice of narrative perspective and how the author makes readers feel pressure without explaining all the background. It works better as a short reading experience than as systematic research material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American war-themed short stories
Readers who want to know Michael Shaara's early short fiction
Intermediate English readers who like restrained narration
Teachers and students who need classroom discussion of war and the individual

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting full battle descriptions or military-detail research
Readers who prefer light subjects and avoid war content
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or extensive background notes

Reading tips

Read the first time for plot, then a second time for narrative perspective and the subtext of the characters' dialogue.
Keep a sheet of paper for character relationships and timeline clues; in short stories, information is often buried deep.
After reading, compare it with Shaara's other war-themed works to see how short and long forms differ in pacing.
For classroom use, select a dialogue passage and have students analyze what the speakers really mean.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this story related to Shaara's famous novels?

Available information does not confirm that it shares characters or plot with any of Shaara's novels. It is an independently published short story, best read on its own without assuming connections to the longer works.

How difficult is the English?

Shaara's prose is known for being concise and restrained, with uncomplicated sentences, though omission and implication in war fiction may add difficulty. Intermediate English readers should manage with a dictionary.

Does the Gutenberg edition include an author introduction?

Project Gutenberg mainly provides the original text, and this edition generally does not include a biography or analysis. To learn about Michael Shaara's background, consult other sources.

Comments

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About the author

Michael Shaara Author · American · 1928–1988

Michael Shaara (1928–1988) was an American writer whose work spanned science fiction, sports, and historical fiction. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers University, served in the 82nd Airborne Division, and later taught literature at Florida State University. His writing is notable for its range; his early short stories appeared mainly in science fiction magazines and often explored future societies, human predicaments, and individual choices. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and brought him wide attention as a historical novelist. He died of a heart attack in 1988. Seven of his works are held in this collection, including Man of Distinction, Citizen Jell, and The Book. Public information about his life and work remains limited in the Chinese-speaking world, and his science fiction and sports writing have yet to be systematically translated and introduced.