An excellent story about Vietnam
Submitted by Stephanie Boothe on June 22, 2009 - 6:44pm
I read assigned chapters of "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien my senior year of college, but by the end of the assignment, I decided to go back and read the rest of the book. I have also reread the book since that time in 2001.
It was one of the first non chick lit books I'd chosen to read, and it was amazing.
The book is classified as fiction even though it is based on O'Brien's own account of the Vietnam War. The book talks about the different things the soldiers carried into battle with them... their gear, their photos of loved ones back home, their fears, their stress, their memories.
O'Brien's writing style was catchy and just descriptive enough to keep me interested. He didn't take up three pages to describe the shade, and he didn't fill his copy with too many adjectives.
The book goes back and forth from scenes of Vietnam to memories of his time leading up to his draft – even his attempt to dodge the draft.
My uncle served in Vietnam, and this book really helped give me an insight into some of the things he may have seen or some of the fears he may have felt... He never talks about his experiences there.
Anyway, if you're looking for a good book to read in honor of all the men and women who have and continue to fight for the freedoms we will celebrate next weekend, "The Things They Carried" is an excellent choice!
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I find it interesting to find another book that details a world event in which so much personal strife was generated. As strange as it sounds on the surface, it's not the suffering that is the reward to the reader, but rather the lengths people will go to in order to overcome their personal problems. War books, fictional and true, always managed to invoke such emotion that other types of literature just can't.
It sounds like a good read! My brother would love it too. My eldest brother was in 'Nam and he still harbors intense emotion over it.
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Well I got there about two months before Tet in 68 and didn’t leave until mid 70
Anything U do for that long when Ur a 18 year old from Indep. Sort of stays with U.
Plus I found out a few years ago I was dead when I got off the plane coming home?
I just didn’t find out for 30 years till I was told I had Agent Orange?
The Young folks comin home now are going through the same thing..
The VA hospital is full of young Gulf War vets that are sick and no one knows why?
The Goberment does want to take about that either???
And I met Goberment it wasn’t misspelled!
My uncle struggled with Vietnam Veteran's syndrome for decades and just got treatment for it a few years ago. I remember when I was little, everyone told us not to make sudden loud noises (like popping a balloon) around him.