A Short Wait Between Trains - Softcover

Benard, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440210887 ISBN 13: 9780440210887

Publisher: Laurel, 1991

Synopsis

Twenty-two stories of war, from the Civil War to World War II. Includes authors such as Eudora Welty, Stephen Crane, James Jones, Ralph Ellison, and Bernard Malamud.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 9 Up-- An outstanding collection of 22 short stories by such American literary giants as Bierce, Hemingway, Welty, and Faulkner as well as lesser-known writers. Benard has chosen selections about the psychological, physical, and social effects of war upon soldiers and civilians from the Civil War to Vietnam. The title piece by Robert McLaughlin deals with black soldiers during World War II who return home to the realities of segregated cafes; Wright Morris's ``The Ram in the Thicket,'' an account of a couple who have lost their son, seethes with repressed emotions and sexuality; Kay Boyle's ``Defeat'' offers a moving study of the French people during the German Occupation. Especially powerful are Charles Durden's ``Little Beaver,'' Jim Pitzen's ``The Village,'' and Tim O'Brien's ``The Ghost Soldiers.'' All relate what the Vietnam experience was like for its participants more tellingly in a few pages than do many longer works. On the whole, the anthology includes some of the best prose written, but it should be noted that adult language is used and mature themes are explored. Also, the stories tend to reflect much more the attitudes of today than those of the eras in which they were written; thus, as Knox Burger notes in his intro duction, they ``serve as antidotes to propaganda'' and the myths about war. --David A. Lindsey, Lakewood Junior/Senior High School, WA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0440210887
• ISBN 13: 9780440210887
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 432