The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien

[Maple]

The Things They Carried


GR synopsis:
They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated bibles, each other. And if they made it home alive, they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that history is only beginning to absorb. Since its first publication, The Things They Carried has become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American literature, and a profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart and soul.

The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.

I am reading this for my Mega Challenge, a book you could talk about in a literary salon. This is a book I've wanted to read for a long time, and have been putting off for just as long. Now is the time. I am liking it so far. It seems like a pretty steady story.

[Maple]

I just finished this one. I really enjoyed it. It was depressing, especially regarding young Timmy's story of Linda, but sadness is a constant theme in the book. As someone who knows only a few men who served in Vietnam, but these men do not wish to speak of their time over there, and who can blame them, I found this book to be really insightful to one man's experiences. It was interesting to read the story of a man who was drafted, but really disagreed with the system, and considered his alternative solutions to reporting to the Draft Office.

While I'm not sure this is a book I will reread often, it is definitely a keeper, and I highly recommend everyone read it at least once. If gore is something that puts you off, O'Brien does a good job about being realistic in his descriptions of war without being grotesque, over the top, and disturbing.

4/5

[Stacey]

I really enjoyed The Things... in audiobook form, Manda. To date, it's the only audiobook book I've "read".

The reason I chose it? Because Bryan Cranston, my big crush, did the narration. He did a fine job with it, too. All those lush details deserved a big strong voice ripe with emotion and Bryan brought it! If you ever want to reread it, I suggest giving the a-book a listen.

[Lee-Ann]

Read this for 2017 week #51 (reading out of order), A collection. I went into this book thinking that the stories were 100% true. When I realized that it was historical fiction, I was a tad disappointed. But really, the author is telling the story of all the Vietnam Veterans...the combined experiences. I love books that give me the feels, and this book did just that. A quick read really, but some haunting tales that stick with you. Stories of death, angst, and human survival.

[Sara]

2019 #51 - A journey. What a sad and terrible journey this was for so many young men of my generation. Tim O'Brien has written a collection of stories that resonate, even from the distance. This read like history, even though it was fiction, and I think that was very intentional. O'Brien, the character who is writing the book within the book, and who could or could not be Tim O'Brien, the man who is writing the novel, tells us that it does not matter if the stories are true or not because sometimes what is not true is truer than what is true. So, he may have killed a man on a road, or he may have only witnessed the killing. I think he is telling us that every experience you can imagine was had there and that every man shared in that experience--to be a Vietnam vet is to know something others can only try to comprehend.