The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Product Details
Web ID: 15624079Unexpected fictional memoir.
I wasn’t sure what to expect of this book and, frankly, it wasn’t until I held it in my hands that I realized it was a collection of related and, at the same time, independent short stories. However, reading this book, it became very easy to forget these stories were works of fiction; they certainly didn’t feel like it. Additionally, to say The Things They Carried is a collection of war stories is, of course, true. But, it’s so much more than that. This is a book about friends and enemies, life and death, love, loss, and reflection. Every story left me contemplating its true meaning. It’s one of those books that will leave you a better person for having read it. You’ll see what I mean when you read it, too.
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The Best Vietnam War Story
I've read many Vietnam War stories, but this has the best storytelling. My favorite chapter is the first.
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Changed How I Viewed War
I read this many, many years ago while I was still in high school and this book, which is neatly quilted tales of fiction and non-fiction stitched together effortlessly, really engrossed me in a subject I thought I didn’t care much for; war. The tragic truth of war is apparent and translucent within the text. I couldn’t put this book down and my eyes were never dry.
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Worth the read
I recently stumbled across this book when I was looking for something else, it caught my eye and I decided to read it. I was a young adult during the Viet Nam war and I had friends who were drafted that did not return. This was a very eye-opening book about the horrors of this war and it was very hard to put down.
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Themes and quotes
Five major themes of the book with illustrative quotes. War and its impact on soldiers: The book focuses on the experiences of soldiers during the Vietnam War and how it affected their lives and relationships. "They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die." "The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities were food, soap, ammunition, reserve magazines, wallets, cellular phones, insect repellent, intelligence reports, grappling hooks, strobe lights, matches, M-16 rifles, C-rations, and water purification tablets." Guilt and regret: The soldiers struggle with feelings of guilt and regret for the things they have seen and done in the war. "Sometimes they carried terrible secrets, like Rat Kiley's hidden stash of illegal drugs." "It was not a matter of choice. They carried the weight of guilt and regret, but also the weight of their friendship and loyalty to one another." Memories and storytelling: The book uses storytelling as a way to explore the soldiers' experiences and the power of memory. "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done." "The war was everywhere, but you could forget it for a few minutes with a good story." Death and loss: The soldiers face the constant threat of death and loss, and the book explores how they cope with these experiences. "They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to blurt out the truth that they might be dead in the next minute." "It was the sight of his own death that stayed with Jimmy Cross, the vision of his own body sprawled and shattered, ripening in the sun." Truth and fiction: The book raises questions about the relationship between truth and fiction, and the role of storytelling in shaping our perceptions of reality. "There's a story I want to tell you. It may or may not be true." "The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head."
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Repetitive and boring
in the first chapter alone the word carried is used 67 times, the first chapter is 25 pages long. this book is also not one story, but many short stories and arent in any logical or timeline order, but simply thrown together. I have never before read a book and so much despiced the author. this is due to how the entire book is written as if it was real, and after looking up the author i found he really was a soldier and believed everything, untill I reached one of the final chapters where he explains that everystory has one or teo true aspects, but is exagerated so you can feel how he felt in the moment. for example he said that he killed a man when he really only saw a dead man laying on the street. these are two totally different things and if you really wanted the reader to feel how you felt you could just be a better author and use tools such as similes or metaphores to express the same emotions.
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A must for the boomer generation
For those of us whose lives were affected by this war, this book is an eye opening, searing, and often disturbing look at the war from the perspective of those who fought it. A view of humanity with young men put in the impossible situations war places the in, relying on weapons and their wits.
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Accurate to the story
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of war stories put together in a book. Each chapter is a different story about members of an American army platoon and their experiences throughout the Vietnam War. The text gives the reader an idea of what war is really like, with dark and gruesome experiences no one wins in war. Starting off the book the narrator introduces all of the main characters which are seen throughout the many different stories along with the things they carry with them during the war, hence the title. Some soldiers, like Jimmy Cross, choose to bring love letters with them, while others, like Rat Kiley, chose to bring medical supplies and M&Ms with him. However, each soldier also carries items that are essential in war and for the mission specifically, like the mens’ rifles, their ammunition, and their daily rations. After, introducing each of the characters the narrator jumps to after the war when he is meeting up with Jimmy Cross and discussing the experiences the men had in the war. They go on to talk about how everything in the war wasn’t all bad like when Ted Lavander found a stray puppy and brought it with him and spoon-fed it every day. However, it is discussed that everything the men did was shaped and shadowed by feelings of violence and fear, like when one of the men took Ted’s puppy and blew it up with a mine. Following this dramatic emotional turn in the story, Tim O’Brien goes back to before he was deployed. He tells the story of him contemplating leaving the U.S. and avoid joining the war altogether, he was unable to get the courage to run and ends up joining anyway. Next, a story is told of the conflict found between the men while learning to live together, where two of the soldiers, Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk fight over a knife. The conflict nearly causes the death of three of the fellow platoon soldiers before the two men make mends and discover it is best to work for each other instead of against each other. The environment the men were living in was transforming and strange, to say the least, so much so that Mark Fossie had his girlfriend visit him in Vietnam, within a few months she grows far from Mark and transforms into a blood-thirsty soldier. The story is never ended and as far as the reader knows Mary Anne spent the rest of the war in Vietnam with the Green Berets. After Mark Fossie’s tragic heartbreak, the men are required to move to another location, they put up camp next to a partially destroyed church where many monks reside. The next couple stories in the book take place near this church including the gruesome story of the first man the narrator killed, and his daughter later asking him if he ever killed a man. After the stories of the men in the war, the narrator tells the stories of the men after the war. All of the men carried specific items with them while deployed however, all of the men carried intangible items with them like guilt, fear, anguish, and anger. These feelings even cause the suicide of one of the men after the war. When asked by his daughter, the narrator goes on a trip to Vietnam to visit the field where one of his fellow soldiers, Kiowa, died, he also recounts his experiences and feelings about the war. The collection of war stories is very powerful and can change someone's perspective on life. Such as, a reader may discover the many things they take for granted and learn to appreciate even the little things. Personally, I felt the book was very well written and intriguing, to say the least. While reading, I found myself unable to put the book down and I couldn’t find words for the feeling while reading. It almost feels as if you are watching footage from the described events, but with the emotions of all of the people, you are watching. I would recommend this book to most people because the stories within it can teach important life lessons and can provide an interesting look into what war is really like. However, I would not recommend this for younger readers as is it does contain strong language and graphic accounts of the war. Even after reading the book, I find myself wanting to reread it and learn more about the author and his experiences in the Vietnam war.
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