A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the … Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.
Taught everywhere–from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing–it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.
The Things They Carried won France’s prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
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There was so much more to the things the soldiers carried than just their gear. An incredibly honest portrayal of the lives of soldiers during the Vietnam war. I first read this book about ten years ago, and decided to purchase a copy for a friend … but first, I had to read it a second time. Sections and quotes from this book have come up on many occasions during English classes that I’ve taken, and for good reason. It’s written as almost a collection of short stories that together make up the scope of a well conceived novel. For anyone wanting to understand the thought process and anguish the soldiers had to deal with, along with the comradery, told through the honesty words of a soldier who lived the experience, this book is for you.
Used to teach this book to my high school students before retiring – I am a Vietnam veteran, and know firsthand the truth behind O’Brien’s words. I also get what he is subtly alluding to with all his symbolic references. The messages are deep, yet sit right on the surface of awareness. And the questions he raises are those that haunt our sense of conscience, forcing us to examine our beliefs. Unlike most war-time movies, “The Things They Carried” is a thoughtful, heartfelt sharing of what war is really all about. It is fictional reality at its best.
Good book
Love this book! I’ve gifted this to so many people.
The Things They Carried is a strange and wonderful book. I could never tell if it was autobiographical or fiction (the protagonist is Tim O’Brien), but then that seems to be the message: there is no one truth in a war story. And it is a war story, set in Viet Nam in the late 60s. This is no conventional narrative; just snippets of recollection, little details that stuck in the author/protagonist’s memory, post-war experiences not only of him but of the other soldiers, all in very plain Middle American language. One of the most moving and horrifying chapters is nothing but the mental rehashing of the image of a dead Vietnamese soldier whom the author/protagonist has just blown up. The other soldiers are described though a piecing together of their words and behavior, patch by patch. I can hardly believe I would like such a book, but I loved it—disturbing, funny, heartbreaking as it was. This will become an enduring classic, and you’ll want to say you’ve read it.
An amazing book by an amazing writer. You will forever carry the sentiments of this book with you just as the soldiers in these stories carry the devastating effects of the Vietnam War.
Sylvie, the adult heroine of this novel, is a character for our times. She comes to the rescue of her nieces, Ruth and Lucille, when their mother, Helen, does a really inexplicable thing — she drives her car into the river, the same river that drowned her father after a train derailment several years earlier near their hometown in Idaho. The mother’s suicide makes it suddenly clear she was never really stable or functional after her dad’s death. Nor does the family have anyone close by who will take the girls, including their own grandmother, Sylvia, who refuses. A pair of sisters-in-law of Sylvia’s try for a time — but they really aren’t parent material. Then Sylvie appears and the sisters-in-law flee. The novel asks what it takes to truly feel at home in the world, despite our losses and adversities and the impermanence of everything. Their mother, Helen, clearly never learned how. As Ruth and Lucille look around, they find few who are really comfortable on earth. Most seem quietly terrified of the world. But not Sylvie. On the other hand, Sylvie is like nobody they’ve met. They eat only packaged foods because she doesn’t cook. The house is often dark because Sylvie rarely uses electric light. When the house floods, Sylvie calmly moves them upstairs until it recedes. The windows and doors are always open, keeping the weather inside and outside the same. She can also sleep anywhere and often naps in the grass in public parks. But Lucille can’t adjust. She wants poodle skirts, hot meals, electric light and gas heat, new furniture and cheerleading — so she asks her teacher to take her in. Ruth, on the other hand, gets it. She gets the value of what Sylvie is showing her and stays. And all is well until the townies decide Sylvie is failing with Ruth and step in.
This book is good. You should read it.
Excellent exposition of feelings and reactions to reality
The Things They Carried I knew so little about the war in Vietnam and the dangers our young soldiers encountered in a hostile land for which they were ill-prepared. Tim O’Brien’s brutally honest recollections of his experience in this war and his return visit with his daughter years later gave me new respect and appreciation for the veterans of this very controversial war.
This is the only book I generally recommend on Viet Nam. Not a typical war story. One of the stories is titled “How to Tell a True War Story.” Powerfully written. At times emotionally difficult. The real thing.
A good war book, without the flag waving. Anyone who has done time in the army, even Peace Keeping, can relate to the culture, the fear and the doubts of being in a dangerous area. The reading struck home with me.
Everyone should read this!
This book was NOT easy to read, in an emotional sense. It was sad, but inspiring. This book is required reading in high schools. My nephew recently read it and he was inspired and educated regarding the Vietnam war and a little of what our dear veterans went through. Also, the manner in which Mr. O’Brien writes is interesting and different from other materials. Thank you, sir, for your service to this country and for this deep-feeling book!
Tim O’Brien wrote one of the most realistic stories about Vietnam and the war stories surrounding the forgotten soldiers. It is truly one of the most chilling, entertaining and tearful things I have ever read. I highly recommend it.
One of my all-time favorite books. I borrowed it from a friend and refused to give it back. I did replace it with another book, but I had so bonded with that paperback I had to keep it. The story is haunting, the writing is beautiful. It unspools as memory does—over and over, trying to understand how to put the unspeakable into words.
An excellent novel about a very troubling time in our history
At turns heartbreaking and funny, Tim O’Brien intentionally confuses memories with reality to reveal the truth. The Things They Carried is a story not so much about the Vietnam War, but rather the people who fought it–and by extension everyone who reads it.
One of the most accurate portrayals of warfare and the experience of soldiers. The stories within are detailed in such a way that you learn a great deal about the psychology of warfare, not only in the horrific Vietnam War, but the timeless experience of men at war. Tragic and haunting, it is also sprinkled with humor and love, The Things They Carried is a book you’ll carry with you long after you put it down.
Beautifully written stories about NAM