War Is Kind

Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 19K words
Chapters: 2

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. War is Kind by Stephen Crane. Author: Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: Feb 1, 2006

Editor's review

War is Kind is a poetry collection by Stephen Crane, issued here by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain electronic edition. Crane is best known for The Red Badge of Courage, and his poetry likewise sustains a cold, unflinching gaze on war, death, and human nature. The title itself is ironic; the poems are spare in language and direct in imagery, often using short lines and repetition to striking effect, making the book useful for observing how late nineteenth-century American poetry pushed beyond traditional meter. The Gutenberg edition is easy to search and cite and suits repeated close reading on an e-reader. Readers may use it as supplementary material for war-themed poetry in American literature courses, or to understand Crane's work beyond his fiction. Note that public-domain e-books usually lack modern annotation, so some historical context must be checked independently.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American poetry and war literature
Students of American literature who need primary poetry texts
Readers who enjoy compressed short poems and repeated close reading
Scholars of Crane's work seeking to extend their study of his poetry

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern annotation and detailed background introductions
Readers who prefer long narrative and have limited interest in poetic form
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are unused to reading English poetry in the original

Reading tips

Read through the whole book first to sense its overall tone, then choose short poems to read aloud one by one and feel their rhythm.
Read the war-themed poems alongside Crane's fiction to understand his consistent cold gaze.
While reading, note recurring images and sentence patterns, and observe how irony is achieved through structure.

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 a novel or a poetry collection?

This is a poetry collection by Stephen Crane, not a novel. It contains poems, spare in language and short in form. Readers familiar with The Red Badge of Courage can use this collection to observe how he handles war and death in poetry.

What does the title "War is Kind" mean?

The title is clearly ironic and does not literally claim that war is kind. Readers need to understand its tension in light of the poems' descriptions of war scenes and individual fates. It is best to return to the title after reading the whole book and appreciate its irony.

Can I understand it without annotations?

Crane's poetic language is generally direct, but some historical and war context may require background knowledge. Public-domain e-books usually contain no modern annotation; readers can first read through for the general sense, then consult American literary history or relevant war background materials for difficult passages.

Comments

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About the author

Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900 Author

Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was an American writer who lived to be only twenty-nine. Fifteen of his works are held in this collection, commonly grouped under inspirational coming-of-age reading. His representative works include The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, The Open Boat and Other Stories, The Little Regiment, and Other Episodes of the American Civil War, The Monster and Other Stories, and War is Kind. Drawing mainly on the American Civil War and the lives of the urban poor, his writing is cool and restrained, focusing on how characters respond psychologically and morally in extreme situations and forming a distinctive naturalist and impressionist style. The Red Badge of Courage, with its theme of fear and courage in war, has had a lasting influence, while Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, concerned with poverty and degradation, was controversial when first published. Public information on details of his life, education, and awards is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.