Rating: 
Summary: Challenging
Review: Some authors write books that have plots that are straight forward, understandable and clear of purpose. Other authors like to challenge readers. Tim O'Brien falls in this second category. Some words that I could use to describe this story: dark, fanciful, ambiguous, brilliant, gritty and sad. After reflection I think that O'Brien writes his books to make us think. Which is a welcome change.Regarding the book's structure and the chapter organization. O'Brien parses his story using three major segmentation chapter types. The first are the summary chapters which relate the past events, primarily detailing how some characters die. The second are the "Observation Post" chapters where Paul Berlin (the main character) stops to reflect on the past and the present. The third are the present chapters, where the squad searches for Cacciato. O'Brien shuffles these chapters altogether and it is up to us to figure out what is happening. If it appears that the characters are written sketchy and hard to understand, I believe that it is because as soldiers their motivation is unclear. However, the conclusion brings it all together but to really understand the story this book requires two reads (a minimum) and a lot of reflection. At first I didn't like this book, maybe because I anticipated it was a war story...but it's not. The more I thought about this book the more I believe that this story is about people making choices and living. Sort of a Catch 22 for the Vietnam War.
Rating: 
Summary: An under-appreciated classic
Review: This novel has unfortunately been lumped in with other writings about the Vietnam Waw, being overshadowed by books which more completely and accurately describe that experience (e.g. Dispatches or even O'Brien's other works). But get beyond that simple limited interpretation of this novel, and it becomes a latter-day Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with Cacciato as dim-witted but idealistic Tom Sawyer and Paul Berlin as the cynical but good-hearted Huck Finn. Too bad that a movie hasn't been made out of this; it wouldn't even have to involve the Vietnam War. But in the event that never happens, take the time to read this novel.
Rating:
Summary: A SURREAL PERSPECTIVE ON AMERICA AND VIETNAM
Review: As an author with my first novel in its initial release, I am a great admirer of Tim O'Brien's GOING AFTER CACCIATO. While I have never been any closer to Vietnam than Honolulu, GOING AFTER CACCIATO captures the insanity of America's Vietnam experience for me. Good men fought the Vietnam War for what they thought were the correct values, and good people opposed the war because of what they thought were the correct values. Tim O'Brien brings these contradictory values to life in this work. Cacciato deserts his jungle post in-country with the intention of walking over 8,000 miles of land to Paris to get those infamous peace talks moving forward. The men of his squad pursue him, soon beyond the world of factual reality. They go on a surreal journey across Asia, Middle East, and Europe, raising more questions than they answer. GOING AFTER CACCIATO is Tim O'Brien's masterpiece, a landmark in contemporary American literature.
Rating: 
Summary: What is this book really about?
Review: I found this book to be almost boring and unrealistic in its portrayal of Vietnam. I changed my mind several times regarding what this book was about. My interpretation was quite different from any of the others I read and I won't go into it because it would give too much away. My final opinion was "who cares".
Rating:
Summary: Catch-22 for Vietnam
Review: Although 'Going After Cacciato' owes greatly to Heller's classic WWII novel 'Catch-22,' it is a very worthwhile read in its own right. 'Cacciato' describes, simultaneously, the pursuit of an AWOL soldier interwoven with the musings of a common solider (Spec-4 Paul Berlin) during a full-night watch. Berlin imagines how the war could be escaped (by fleeing 8600 miles across Asia and Europe to Paris) as he relieves the traumas associated with casualties in his unit. O'Brien brilliantly captures the empty, purposeless fumbling of Vietnam with vignettes such as "world's greatest lake country" (crater holes filled with monsoonal rain). The sardonic and cynical humor of the men and the remorseless meaninglessness of the war are sharply contrasted with the occasionally ethereal and drug-like escape that is conducted only in possibility. Overall, a very worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Equal to His Other Books
Review: Expecting the best of O'Brien after reading his other novels, I was sorely dissapointed. Something which I cannot put my finger on and that was so successful and in both of the aforementioned books seemed to be lacking in this novel. Perhaps this novel contained, at times, too much narrative. O'Brien's powerful themes were wasted in this book, rather IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS was a better and more artistic display of responsiblity, perception, and misperception as themes, while THE THINGS THEY CARRIED was more shocking and raw in terms of the Vietnam foot soldier's life and mentality. Though worth the investment of time, a better experience could be extracted from one of O'Brien's other novels.
Rating:
Summary: Complex Story... Perfectly Written
Review: Going after Cacciato is a complex story that has three distinct parts. The first being that of Paul Berlin setting out on the mission of Going after this other soldier named Cacciato. The entire book takes place in one night as Spec Four (military name of Belin) stands the watch on the first night of looking for him. He remembers flashback stories of when he first arrived in Vietnam, then jumps to his imaginary story of chasing Cacciato all the way to Paris, and finally back to reality with what he is doing on the watch itself. Beautifully written and very moving, Going after Cacciato is well worth the read!!!
Rating:
Summary: Confusing but good
Review: I was totally confused through most of the book. But I really liked it. I was drawn into the book. I couldn't and still can't figure out if this whole thing happened or if it was in one soldier's imagination (in the book).
Rating:
Summary: A Man's Book YES! But I like it TOOOO!!
Review: My first Tim O'Brien novel was recommended by a male colleague: "In the Lake of the Woods", that haunting suspension of truth and circumspection. After I had recommended to several other men, I decided that I needed to read more O'Brien to confirm my praise of this first reading. Plus men are fickle readers and I needed to be sure of what I spoke. Enter "Going After Cacciato," knowing only that it was a much-praised novel set in Vietnam.......wow boys! I am now making THIS the novel I recommend to men, telling them that there is more to life than Cujo or the Green Bay Packers. I was drenched in the progressions of this story, more than a Dennis Miller Monday commentary. Take it from me guys, ya gotta read O'Brien! I am now off to read "Northern Lights," as further substantiation of O'Brien's accessibility. Turn off the NHL and get into these books!
Rating:
Summary: Alice Adventures in Vietnam
Review: Great book. Provides a lot of laughs. Describes man's fear of puting a good idea in to use when he's not supposed to. It's Alice Adventures in Vietnam. It takes place in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Cacciato decides to leave his army friends on a trip to Paris. His friends decide to go after him. The main character is Paul Berlin. Cacciato is the white rabbit. His army friends are Alice.
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