The Things They Carried

Rating:
Summary: This is a genuine masterpiece.
Review: The Things They Carried is not only about the effects of war on the human spirit, it is also about story-telling itself -- the power of stories to heal, to console, to inspire, to save our lives. Here is a work of literature that will endure.

Rating:
Summary: Read this book
Review: I can't add much to the other reviews of this work, but wanted to add another vote to this being a modern masterpiece, perhaps one of the defining masterpieces of the past twenty years. Simply put, my favorite book of all time. The last chapter, especially, moved me to tears.

Rating:
Summary: Simply the finest book on war and human nature
Review: TTHC is a wonderful example of a book which cannot be placed into any one literary category. Is it fiction or real? What is real? Is it about how war affects humans or how human nature acts in a war? O'Brien eloquently presents a myriad of levels in his collection of stories. A wonderful journey into the dichotomy of the human heart. The greatest book ever written on the experience of war.

Rating:
Summary: O'Brien poses a two-sided ambiguous novel that moves.
Review: O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is a clear example of the ambiguity and uncertainty of the Vietnam war. The collection of stories can be confusing at times, as the points-of-view and the real truth of the plot changes, but nonetheless O'Brien's clearly vivid mind compensates and does so with interest. The dialogue is strong and moving while the characters are typical of the average Nam war heroes. I personally enjoyed the way O'Brien masterfully depicted the sights, smells, and sounds of the war. The book is fast-paced, and at times, a little gruesome. To summarize this vibrant work into a literary term that most can come to understand, I would say that it is an oxymoron. It presents the war in more than one dimension although they may not compliment each other. It is the perfect example of a war that provided its takers with unbelieveably striking surprises. This one is just as big as the war itself.

Rating:
Summary: Simply put, a masterpiece.
Review: O'brien pieces together the horror that was Vietnam through a collection of war stories told by an ambigous narrator claiming to be O'brien himself. Most worthy of accolades in the novel are the stories "Speaking of Courage," "How to Tell a True War Story," and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," which display O'brien's best and highest level of achievement in the war fiction genre.

Rating:
Summary: "TTTC" is a great book that you'll wanna read over and over.
Review: When my 11th grade teacher told my class that we would be reading a book about the Vietnam War, I just groaned. Not another one. Every novel I read about war up until then I found very boring and dry. But when I began to read THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, I couldn't put the book down. O'Brien grabbed my attention right away. Even though he says that the book is a work of fiction, it just seemed so real, and the whole time he plays on your emotions. The reader really gets an insight of how the soldiers felt about what was going on during the war and of how that time they spent over in Nam would change their lives forever. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I am currently reading the book again three years later. I highly recommend it to both young and old and the in between.

Rating:
Summary: Gave it a 70, I liked the beat.
Review: I served off LZ Gator just as O'Brien did. These stories gave me a feel for their potential in reality. Except for "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong." Too farfetched to have been remotely possible. The rest I could relate to my own experiences some what.

Rating:
Summary: A must for us to see the complexities of war
Review: I teach "The Things They Carried" as part of an American Literature class, and I have found the book to have a profound affect upon younger readers. The unromanticized approached to war, yet the humanity in all the death, proves to be a viewpoint that many authors strive for, but very few are successful in obtaining. I have found the book to look at all areas of pshychological and exestential developments astutely and keenly. O'brien's ability to phrase a situation, pinpoint one episode within that event, and examine smaller elements within that event to be his best talent. War is not glamourized, nor is it idolized. It is examined as the catalyst of man's never ending thought process regarding a major part of his life. He doesn't preach, nor does he tell. The narrator's psyche becomes our guide, and we're left hoping that he will survive despite his thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: A Breath-Taking Work of Literature!
Review: Few writers can touch the heart like O'Brien. The pain and emotion he feels is passed on to the reader. Not a novel; nor a collection of short stories--it seems to be a collection of various thoughts and reflections over the years. Most memorable is the final entrance in the book, "The Lives of the Dead." Few books can boast about an ending as captivating and as heart-wrenching and as BEAUTIFUL as this one. It is impossible for me to overstate: Read this Book!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful look at the idea of the truth of storytelling
Review: Tim O'Brien's wonderfully compelling book is not just a shocking account of the conflict in Vietnam. It is also a literary masterpiece, looking closely at the power of storytelling. This book is as much a book about the neccessity of using fiction to describe fact, especially to aid the uinderstanding of those who have no personal connection to Vietnam (as I do not). O'Brien leaves the possibility open that many of his stories did not actually happen. What is so powerful is that they could have happened. And what is integral to the importance of this book is that they evoke the same emotions (to a lesser degree) in the reader that O'Brien felt when he went to Vietnam.

All in all, one of my favorite books. A truely beautiful book, both in its message and in its prose.