false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223649799m/3446.jpg 3446 18 <I>"In October, near the end of the month, Cacciato left the war."</I><p> In Tim O'Brien's novel <I>Going After Cacciato</I> the theater of war becomes the theater of the absurd as a private deserts his post in Vietnam, intent on walking 8,000 miles to Paris for the peace talks. The remaining members of his squad are sent after him, but what happens then is anybody's guess: "The facts were simple: They went after Cacciato, they chased him into the mountains, they tried hard. They cornered him on a small grassy hill. They surrounded the hill. They waited through the night. And at dawn they shot the sky full of flares and then they moved in.... That was the end of it. The last known fact. What remained were possibilities." <p> It is these possibilities that make O'Brien's National Book Award-winning novel so extraordinary. Told from the perspective of squad member Paul Berlin, the search for Cacciato soon enters the realm of the surreal as the men find themselves following an elusive trail of chocolate M&M's through the jungles of Indochina, across India, Iran, Greece, and Yugoslavia to the streets of Paris. The details of this hallucinatory journey alternate with feverish memories of the war--men maimed by landmines, killed in tunnels, engaged in casual acts of brutality that would be unthinkable anywhere else. Reminiscent of Joseph Heller's <I>Catch-22</I>, <I>Going After Cacciato</I> dishes up a brilliant mix of ferocious comedy and bleak horror that serves to illuminate both the complex psychology of men in battle and the overarching insanity of war. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 2242784 1975 Going After Cacciato total:1989|5:485|4:878|3:499|2:111|1:16| 1989 7672 2598 177 4 26 false false Tue Mar 10 19:28:26 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 23:08:40 -0700 2009
Tim O’Brien can write.

I don’t mean Tim O’Brien can express ideas well, or that Tim O’Brien knows how to make cogent points using the written language. Hell, I can do that. I can wake up hungover, drink a liter of coffee, a...more...]]> 5 4 false false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 23 16:09:27 -0800 2007 Wed Oct 15 14:16:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 22 10:50:26 -0700 2007 Thu May 24 21:29:13 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 10 15:19:39 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 24 15:36:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Fri Oct 12 13:27:35 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 23:12:18 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Oct 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 12:41:42 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 12:58:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 14 20:30:03 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 20:30:03 -0700 2009 After reading The Things they Carried in class I thought I would enjoy another book by Tim O’ Brien called Going After Cacciato. I enjoyed this book a lot because it is a war type book. This book is about the search for Cacciato and it becomes a journey to find him. Through mountains and de...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 10 19:28:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 19:54:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 15:13:48 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 11:59:21 -0700 2009 Going After Cacciato. This book was like a mix between Pynchon and Mailer, gritty detail and expansive imagination. O'Brien's demons skulk in the background, only able to be confronted in his...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 05:15:47 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 05:15:47 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 0 false true Sat May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 00:31:06 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 01:14:12 -0700 2009
This book is like a puzzle that needs to be pieced together requiring a second read. There are several stories going on in the book. One focusing on Paris, the Observation post, and lastly the war. Interestingly, there are imaginary characters all in ...more...]]> 4 0 false true Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 13:52:05 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 10:56:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 true false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 07:54:08 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 07:55:49 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 19:15:58 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 19:23:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Sep 18 10:48:23 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 10:50:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 08:43:56 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 09:21:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Mar 16 14:27:57 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 14:28:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 24 09:55:29 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 10:33:44 -0700 2009
One particular scene of note:

The dialogue between Paul Berlin and Sarkin Aung Wan...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 19 13:54:52 -0800 2009 Thu Aug 20 07:55:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 20:36:17 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 28 11:02:50 -0700 2008 1
A platoon of soldiers is ordered to pursue Cacciato, who has deserted the field...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3446