Powerfully anti-war. Painful to read, like being buried alive at some points, but still meaningful in 2024. If it was shocking to read in 2024, I imagine that it blew peoples socks off in 1938.

In 1938, to suggest that you shouldn’t have to fight other people’s wars, or sacrifice your life for patriotism you don’t feel, was way ahead of its time. Hmmm, wonder if it might have a little bit to do with Dalton Trumbo being part of the Hollywood Ten who were blacklisted as communists.

“What the hell does liberty mean anyhow? It's just a word like house or table or any other word. Only it's a special kind of word. A guy says house and he can point to a house to prove it. But a guy says come on let's fight for liberty and he can't show you liberty. He can't prove the thing he is talking about so how in the hell can he be telling you to fight for it?”
- Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun

CW: body horror, medical trauma, suicidal ideation, PTSD, war, gore, forced institutionalization, and many more. Also includes many of the things you find in books of its time like outdated terminology about race and disability.