The Things They Carried

Rating:
Summary: great desription of both tangible and intangible things
Review: The Things They Carried was a very relevant, to the story, title. The book is all about the things soldiers carry; both tangible and intangible. Not only did Tim O'Brien, the author, talk about what the soldiers carried on their backs, but how much each item weighed. O'Brien places a great deal of emphasis on the weight. Time after time, the weight of items are mentioned. This is especially true in the title chapter. Sometimes the weights are listed by the individual object and sometimes as a sum total at the end of a list of items.

Not only are the weights in such detail as to the ounce, but the actual items each man carries is in such detail as to describe the man who carries it. One of the many examples of this use of carried items to describe the character who bares its weight is in the title chapter, "Dave Jensen, who practiced field hygiene, carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and several hotel-sized bars of soap . . . three pairs of socks and a can of dr. Scholl's foot powder . . ." (2-3). From this passage, one can logically deduce Dave Jensen is very concerned about his health, especially the health of his feet. After all, if someone had sick feet he could not walk, let alone run around foreign jungle.

One type of object on which O'Brien tended to dwell, not that it was a bad thing, were the good luck charms and other objects that gave the soldiers hope or helped to distract them from the animosity of the so-called war they were fighting. The objects ranged from a stereotypical rabbit's foot to a good luck pebble to a thumb given to one of the soldiers as a gift. Another soldier carried something that helped to give him the hope that one day he would be able to return home, and that also gave him luck. This aforementioned soldier carried his girlfriend's pantyhose around his neck like a child would carry his blanky. He carried it as both a good luck charm and a reminder of the real world back home. Also as reminders of home and escapes from the brutality, soldiers carried things like comic books and one soldier, as a reminder of his heritage, carried moccasins and a hunting hatchet.

These previously mentioned items are some of the tangible items the soldiers carried. The intangible items, the items that weighed heavily, not on the shoulders of the soldiers, but on their hearts. It is the load they must bare that is more difficult then any tangible object could ever weigh. These intangible objects weighed on the hearts, souls, and minds of the soldiers. One of these intangible weights was the weight on one member of the platoon, Lt. Jimmy Cross. He felt responsible for the death of one of the other members of his platoon who was shot by a sniper. Another man, Curt Lemon - a minor character in the story, carried the weight of the embarrassment of being scared of the dentist. One thing that added onto the weight of everything tangible or intangible, was these men were mot fighting a crystal-clear war. These soldiers did not know who their enemies were or why they had to kill these people. Overall, the weight these men carried was almost unbearable, especially the intangible weights that could never be lifted, and O'Brien does an excellent job of making the reader feel as f he is right there in the thick of the war.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic combination of imagination and memory!
Review: In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien not only portrays life in the Vietnam War but also describes the weight carried by each individual. He mystifies the reader by placing them into the book through the soldiers' boots, flak jackets, and guns. However, the weight that he is ultimately trying to show is the one in the mind, heart, and soul. This book is a perfect example of non-fiction in a fictional book. This is sometimes questioned, though; due to the way that O'Brien places the reader in the "war zone" and even into each character's mind. Thus, he tries to accomplish a difficult task, to make us look into our imagination while combining historical past, or our memory. When comparing this book to others, I found a complete blank because this book stands alone. O'Brien has such a unique, intimate way of expressing the ideas and events that happen throughout the book. It has Dolby Surround Sound and a Tinitron monitor built into the plot. This is what makes it so exciting. When reading it, one can not wait for the ending. But, this is not feasible because the many questions that the reader has requires him to read between the lines of all the pages. This book is so true to life. It combines the memory aspect, as well as imagination, and the reader is then required to use them too. Each page is as unpredictable as the next one. From the beginning to the end, emotions can be felt. O'Brien drops you back in time to Vietnam, leaving you there to experience the weight that was felt.

Rating:
Summary: best darn book in the west
Review: Is it real? Or is it fiction? One may ask these questions while reading, or even much of Obrien's work. Who really cares? I truthfully don't. Is the value of a story depend on it's basis of fact or fantasy? The novel is impeccable, depicting the experience of Vietnam War soldiers with flawless description and detail. Although at times gruesome, Obrien holds nothing back from the scenery, a bloody, hostile, and frieghting atmosphere for soldiers. Although Obrien's vivid description of events during and dealing with the war are impressive, it is rather his use of detail which presents his true talent of gripping the reader. His use of juxtoposition is seen much throughout the text relating the toils of war, and the comfort of home. Most notably weapons and odds and ends in which each soldeir obtains while away. "As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tabe and comic books and everything else a medic must carry, including M&M's for espeically bad wounds..." What is so surprising of the story, compared to the majority of stories (movies, books, etc.) is that The Things They Carried portrays little of the Vietnam War. Rather, it expresses life as in the Vientam War. Hard times. Good times. Last times.

Rating:
Summary: Feel like your actually in Vietnam
Review: As a high school student, I've been used to learning history through historic textbooks, only covering the facts and statistics. Textbooks only cover the broad view of what happened in an event, but never deep enough to the heart and souls of the people involved. This writing is one of the only texts about a war that made me feel like I was there. O'Brien's ability to capture the feelings of the soldiers is unbelievable. He has completely mastered story telling, but the writing is way past that. He writes so well that it is past fiction and into non-fiction. The events are so real that it can't be fiction; it almost seems to be a lie to say that. O'Brien successfully brings out each character's personality by documenting their actions. The reader begins to like and relate to every character. They get under your skin so your heart aches when one of them dies and can feel the pain of the others. O'Brien's choice of the order of events is also effective. He does not write in chronological order, so it's one of those stories that when you keep reading, you say, "Ahhh.....That's why that happened," and makes you want to go back and read it again to find the clues. Overall, The Things They Carried is not a book to read that leaves you with a chicken soup kind of feeling. It is a good book, but not in that way. The book is good because it is convincing writing, which many books cannot achieve. O'Brien convinces you what is was really like to fight in Vietnam, the life after that, and how everyone felt about it.

Rating:
Summary: Things They Carried:=Great Book!
Review: The book The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is a classic piece of great storytelling. The book centers around O'Brien's experiences in the conflict in Vietnam. He tells wondrous stories about his relationships with his friends in his platoon. The reader gets a close connection with his buddies and laughs at their quirks and cries when they die. The atmosphere of Vietnam comes alive with O'Brien's descriptions. The harsh, steamy jungle wraps around the reader and engulfs them into the past. It even gets to the point where jungle sounds can be heard in the distance and the humid air felt. This book is not as much as a novel as a collection of stories. There is no central plot that drives the book besides the theme of the Vietnam war and its shortcomings. Several of the stories are tied together whereas some events start in one and end in a latter. However, each story does possess its own plot and driving force. Even with this one disadvantage, the book easily is an immersing experience that will keep the reader entertained for hours on end. O'Brien's descriptions put the reader into the other side of the world where different rules are being played with. The way that O'Brien weaves together the life and events of his different squad members reminds one of an old grandparent recalling the memories of their youth. O'Brien mentions his thoughts and ideas about situations, and even some that creep into his head while he is writing. Overall, the story is wonderfully written and will provide a comfortable way to get into the minds of soldiers fighting in far away places.

Rating:
Summary: O'Brien does a great job of providing a unique view of Nam.
Review: In Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, he presents a unique view of the Vietnam War. Experiences seen in the eyes of a soldier touch the reader on a more personal level. O'Brien uses exceptional detail to portray events in their actuality. Tim O'Brien's attentiveness to detail and his passion for the Vietnam War topic both contribute to the successfulness of his novel. O'Brien covers a wide variety of topics and situations throughout his novel. He covers all the aspects of war from things the soldiers carried to crushes that soldiers had on people back home. By writing about the little things of a soldier's personal life, he was able to convey a realistic, more personalized image of the war life to his readers. It seems important to O'Brien to present the truth and actual emotions felt during the war. Presenting anything but perfection would not be doing our veterans justice. O'Brien makes it obvious that he completely honors and respects the Vietnam War veterans. Accounts of a soldier's personal life are evident throughout the novel. O'Brien uses these personal accounts not only to present an accurate portrayal of war life, but also to show the diversity of the American soldiers that fought with dignity for our country. It is true that these personal recollections can all be either saddening, inspiring, or mind-boggling. Whichever the case, each individual story has a personal significance to every person who reads it. I would recommend this novel to any person who seeks a different version of the Vietnam War. Not only does it present historical facts, but it also gives the reader a perspective from the eyes of a soldier. I think that every reader will appreciate its thoroughness, and extreme attention to detail. Tim O'Brien's novel gives war veterans the honor and respect that they deserve.

Rating:
Summary: It involves so much more then war.
Review: When I started reading this novel, I have to admit it: I expected it to be nothing more then your average heroic war saga. In these stories, there always some good honest guy who heroically wins a battle or saves someone's life, and through perilous obstacles, always turns out victorious in the end. But in Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried", it is anything but your average war story, and goes far from limiting itself to just the subject of war. It does involve so much more then war, which is precisely why it's such a well-written novel. For starters, I actually cared about O'Brien's characters and what happened to them. They seemed like everyday normal people, with their own hopes, fears, and mistakes. They are far from being glamorized by the wrath of Hollywood. Neither perfect angels nor devious villains, his characters are flawlessly displayed as real soldiers fighting the battle of their lives in Vietnam. Not only is there evidence of a strong balance of characters, "The Things They Carried", questioned my own opinions governing morality and war. It is not one of the books you read through and then can't remember what you just read; however, it is one of those books you read through, and can't forget what you just read.

Rating:
Summary: A revealing look into a soldiers psyche
Review: A true testament to the horror of the Vietnam War is Tim O'Briens's collection of stories, The Things They Carried. He uses blunt informational statements to contrast with his profound emotional writing. They carried 14 pounds of ammunition, and O'Brien tells what they did with it. The Things They Carried is a book that takes the reader to the dark side of a soldiers mind a and soul. O'Brien revels to the reader the psychological effects of war; the depression, fear, paranoia, and loss. The book provides a real insight into the damage that war causes. O'Brien takes the reader to the details in a soldiers life. For example, he tells how to help deal with their emotional trauma the soldiers clung to their own personal pieces of happiness. Letters, a girlfriend's panty hose, peaches, or a bible. They treasured an odd assortment of goods, each holding much importance . O'Brien writings in The Things They Carried are so vivid it seems he experienced the stories himself. This is possible being that he was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Yet O'Brien claims that the book of stories is a work of fiction. Certain passages may leave the reader suspecting otherwise. Norman Bunker lying on his back one night, watching the stars, then whispering to me, "I'll tell you something O'Brien. If I could have one wish , anything I'd wish for my dad to write......(p.36) Despite whether the stories in the book are real life experiences for O'Brien or not, he certainly is able to portray them to be as real as the sun in the sky. This book is a must read for the man or woman who wants to know what scars a war can leave, and the emotional, and physical effects of war.O'Brien has created an portal into the life of a Vietnam soldier, don't miss your chance to look through it.

Rating:
Summary: A burden that will never be lifted, but forever carried.
Review: They carried more than guns, boots, clothes, helmets, and food. They carried grief, love, hate, longing for home, and compassion in the midst of what seemed like the end. Only when they could not carry anymore did they give up their right to sanity and plunge into a world of chaos. The men either stood back and drifted from war, or they grasped on and devoted the time spent in Vietnam to be a choice of kill or be killed. In "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien allows the reader to grasp a part of war that is missing in the context of our history books. The focus is real and personal. It is alarming, yet captivating with the details at hand. The Vietnam War was none less than a dynamic adventure for the young men that fought in it. The story escapes into a world of imagination and memory. O'Brien crosses that line between comfort and discomfort with the reader. The binder reads fiction, but as you walk in the words of the author, it is hard to imagine the story being falsified. The vivid sensory details entangles the mind in a world of love and hate; war and freedom. He challenges the reader's reaction in each chapter and plants an emotional edge to his words. O'Brien finds his past to be more than a memory, it is real and lives daily. The descriptions pull the reader into the battle front to face each obstacle as if it were happening that moment. The book is brought to life with the introduction of each character. The title is rapidly evaluated by the items in which each soldier had to carry. As the chapters plunge forward a deeper meaning of The Things They Carried becomes evident. A burden that grasps not only the identity of each individual, but the heart as well. A burden that will never be lifted, but forever carried.

Rating:
Summary: The truth of fiction
Review: Tim O'Brien's collection of stories from the Vietnam War claims itself to be fiction. Some parts of his stories may well be exaggerated to enhance the affect on a reader. Exaggeration does not make a work untrue in all but the most literal sense. O'Brien seems to want to make us feel what the grunts felt as the humped their packs through the mountains and rice paddies. His occasional exaggeration, only serves to underline the message of the book. Each story tells us what the soldiers sometimes thought, of Charlie and the night or of youth and war. It is not a book for those who glory in destruction, or for those who are enamored with peace. It is a book that tells about the average soldier's Vietnam. O'Brien's life in the jungles of Vietnam comes to us through this book, though he claims not to be a character. It is not his memoir, rather it is a memoir of every infantry man to go out on patrol. It is the remembrance of a cruel and hateful time. He reflects on it, sometimes dropping into the singular first person tense as if he had forgotten that he was not the character. It makes you wonder what he truly meant by his descriptions and stories. This is a book to think about, stories with morals that there are no morals in war. One must devote time to understanding its contradictions and characters, or one loses the point of all of O'Brien's writing.