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Summary: The new American lit
Review: I was pleasently suprised to find this novel. It's a collection of short stories loosely connected to the exploits of a company of soilders in 1968 in the jungles of Vietnam. Except it's not. It's really not a collection of short fictional stories, but a searing memoir of the events that haunt the real life Tim O'Brien. Except it's not. It's actually a fully fictional novel, using emotions and symbology to convey the political and personal horror of Vietnam. Except it's not. The truth is that The Things They carried is all of this and more. It's easy to (attempt to) pidgen hole this book into a perfect category, but the truth is, it's undefinable. It's seemingly a simple book, and the first few chapters will not have you believe that you are reading anything more than a simple war story. But in the end, the book's very structure causes us to question the very nature of truth itself. And the importance of it as well. I realize that I'm making this novel seem very complicated, but rest assured,Ulysses this is not. Anyone who wants to see where American Literature is going, needs to read this.
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Summary: they carried so many things.
Review: I am not, under any circumstances, a fan of war novels. I dislike fighting (though I know that, sometimes, it's necessary). I dislike graphic violence (in books, anyways). I dislike pretty much everything this book is about.So when I learned that I had to read this book over the weekend to catch up with the honors english class that I got into, I wasn't very happy. But I decided that hell, might as well make the most of it. I read the first half of the book after one of my finals, just last week. I loved it. It was so graphic, so GOOD. I could barely put it down. At the time, I wondered why there was so much repetition ('the things they carried' was the first sentence of almost every paragraph in the first chapter), and thought that it took away from the rest of the writing. And that is partially true. I mostly forgot about that until today, the day before my class begins. I sat down and read a good 20 pages in five minutes - it flowed so well that it was impossible to NOT read rapidly. Before long, it ended. And here I am. The book is brilliant. It's graphic, that's for certain. Maybe only one of the chapters is real... but it all rings true, even with a high schooler who wasn't even born when this war occurred. In my opinion, the best chapter is 'The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong', and that opinion is shared with pretty much everyone I know who has read this book. It's brilliant. Culottes and sweaters will never be the same. This book is good for anyone who is NOT a fan of violence. Or war stories. It will make you want to cry; and, most likely, more than once. But that's okay.
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Summary: Have you ever wondered what being in war was like?
Review: If you have ever wondered what being in war was like this book is yours. Tim obrien shows the most detailed aspects of war in his book. He tells stories that show you how it really truely feels to be thee. In his accounts he describes the events, all the people there, and how not only he felt but a view into what the others felt. The best thing is he does this in such a way that it does not bore. Its descriptive but not to long and drawn out desciptive. Every detail somehow kept me glued to this book. I loved it. I'm not one who reads much, I dont even read that fast, but this book kept me reading. I liked it alot and recommend it to anyone who is considering a good book that will not bore them.
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Summary: Finally a good book!
Review: I've often been accused of not liking anything I read. I am sad to say that I am a blaze reader...but for the first time in a long time I can say I LOVED this book. My introduction to Tim O'Brien was with a Tomcat in Love. I also loved that book. Both are surprising in how they normalize and render sane the most outrageous of behaviors and thoughts. Two very different stories, yet parallels are easily made. This was not a war novel to me, it was a story about the psychological deterioration of young men under dire and traumatic circumstances...and who can blame them...and how very normal of them...and how very crazy. I strongly urge all to read this book. You will likely become a Tim O'Brien convert.
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Summary: "Story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth"
Review: "They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of they things they carried... They all carry ghosts... They carried the land itself - Vietnam, the place, the soil - a powdery orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatigues and faces."
I read The Things They Carried for my sophomore English II class at Culver Military Academy. I chose the book out of five other book choices, because I was not very familiar with the Vietnam War and after looking through the first couple of pages, it drew me in. I read and discussed the novel with five of my fellow classmates in literary circles (Lit Circles). Our group discussions were completely student-based with the teacher only dropping in for a couple of minutes to listen to our conversations and ask questions. Members of the group were assigned one of six rotating jobs - discussion director, illuminator, illustrator, connector, word watcher, and the summarizer. Each job required the student to prepare something the night before to bring into class the next day to help lead group discussion.
The Things They Carried is a fictional novel by Tim O'Brien exploring the Vietnam War, specifically the pains and burdens the soldiers carried with them throughout the war. The book is divided into twenty-two stories, each slowly progressing deeper into the traumatic memories of the narrator. The stories follow members of the Alpha Company focusing on the psychological stress and the ambiguous nature of the Vietnam War. Throughout the book the narrator deals with the deaths of members of his platoon and the unexpectedness of fatalities to land mines, traps, and sneak attacks. You are drawn into the emotions of the soldiers in the jungle. This is O'Brien's way of dealing with this sense of loss and of carrying a great emotional burden.
The most striking part of the book is the difference between Tim O'Brien the author, and Tim O'Brien the character. O'Brien deals with his emotions of the war by fictionalizing his memories. The key point to keep in mind when reading this book is that it is a work of fiction. Fiction allows the narrator to explore and express memories that may not be expressed otherwise. A phrase from the story "Good Form" concludes this very well: "story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." Overall, I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys both fiction and non-fiction because it is very close to both.
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Summary: True lies
Review: I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien in a lit. circle in my sophomore English class. This was my second time reading this book and I enjoyed it as much as I did when I read it for the first time. My first time reading this book I was more focused in the story and the second time reading it I focused more on the style of writing that Tim O'Brien used.
I found out that most of these stories are made up and that they are lies. After reading more attentively looking for clues that say these stories are false stories that could have happened. I saw that he tells you several times that these stories are not true. I noticed that it doesn't matter that these stories are made up, but the fact that we learn from them is all that we need to know about the things they carried in the Vietnam War and that is what the book is about.
This book talked about everything the men in Vietnam carried from weapons to deaths of friends. The stories that are true lies tell you in more details the emotional problems that the men carried and what they needed to put up with in the war.
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Summary: A Book That Makes Life Seem Inconsiquential
Review: I attend a private boarding school. I read The Things They Carried for my tenth grade English class in a group along with four of my fellow classmates. The book is completely open to personal interpretation and anything we grasp from it is our own. We construct our own themes for the book such as the repeating instances of death and lies.
The Things They Carried is a true war story as defined in the book. The Things They Carried does not leave you with a sense of completion; it is not uplifting in any way. The Things They Carried gives only one thing to carry away, a sense of wonder. The book makes you wonder about how you would react in adverse situations. The soldiers in Vietnam dealt everyday with the deaths of friends, and were responsible for the killing of civilians and enemies who they bore no grudge against.
The Things They Carried is a truly thought provoking master-piece which I would recommend to any individual who considers themselves capable of dealing with gruesome detail and profanity of a gritty and emotional tale of Vietnam.
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Summary: The Things They Carried
Review: In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien shares his stores of the Vietnam War. The novel is more like a collection of detailed short stories from Tim's point of view. By reading the novel you can almost see what the war was really about, and what it is like, the fear and joy that soldiers went through. In the chapter "On the Rainy River" Tim writes about how he was drafted to go to war, and he didn't know what to do so he went to the border and stayed at an old fishing lodge for a week. The whole time he was their he contemplated crossing the river, just swimming across it, and ditching his country, and leaving it all behind. He was nervous and didn't want to go, but at the same time, he did not want to be a coward. Therefore, he went. Tim did not believe in the war and didn't want to be their but he was and he learned how to deal with it. He describes what it was like to be their what it was like to carry can openers, pocket knifes, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, salt tablets packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, C rations, two or three canteens of water, and other knickknacks soldiers carried through the jungle. He explains how those knickknacks are what made the soldiers different from each other. The book kept my attention as I read it kept me waiting to read what would be next. The Things They Carried is a very good account of the Vietnam War. It comes highly recommended from lots of people including me.
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Summary: O'Briens True Look at War
Review: O'Brien's calls The Things they Carried a work of fiction, but this collection of stories is much more than that. The actual stories in the book may not be true, so in essence it is a work of fiction, but the people in these stories represent and show the reader just what the Vietnam War was like better than any real account could. Going into the book I expected a collection of events that happened in the war, but it was much more than that. A few of the stories actually take place in the war, but most are simply about the people. Some take place before the war, showing the reader what went through one's mind when their draft letter came. Others take place afterward, showing the difficulty Vietnam vets had readjusting to 'normal' life. In some way each story shows just how much Vietnam changed people, from their morals to their beliefs to the things that they truly value. Contrary to what I believed before I read the book, not all the stories told are gloomy or depressing. O'Brien truly shows just what war was like, including the light-hearted things his company did to keep themselves sane. I recommend this book not only to war lovers, but also anyone who has ever misunderstood a war vet as this story will help you understand why they changed so much in their short time in that foreign place. I have read good war stories before, but this 'work of fiction' affected my outlook on war and it's effect on people more than any true war story I have read.
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Summary: What a great book
Review: This book is an interesting composition of stories, memories, and thoughts derived from the lives of the people who served in the Vietnam War. The author, Tim O'Brien, uses his amazing writing talents to stir up a variety of emotions and feelings in this book. His writing style is one that makes you connect to the story more clearly than any other book I have ever read in my life. The ideal audience for this book is anyone interested in what was really thought in Vietnam during those rough, exhausting years. Any people who can take some hard to believe scenarios, and believe them to be something real; something that really, scarily enough truly happened will accept this book. This book has stories that will make you cry, by expressing the compassion and brotherhood between the men out on the field, as well as anywhere else in Nam, and it will make you laugh, because some of the things that they said to each other to keep their spirits up would make anyone laugh, no matter the situation they are in. I truly enjoyed this book because it spoke to me in a way that I had never experienced before. It reached out and grabbed my heart, and has completely changed the way I look at wars. The stories told in this book are heart breaking, but they are encouraging just the same. They show what it takes to survive, both mentally and physically, and lets common people know a little bit more about the lives that lived in Vietnam during the war. My overall impression of this book was very good, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good book to get into, and wants something that will open up their eyes to some new.
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