The Things They Carried

I quite enjoyed this book but found it to be disappointing (perhaos my expectations were too high) It reads more like a series of good but not particularly memorable magazine articles than a really good 'solid' piece of writing.

Strangely, the section I found most affecting and memorable was nothing directly to do with his Vietnam experiences but was his recollection, at the end of the book, of his first love aged 9.

I found myself wishing I was reading an episodic set of tales about his childhood rather than of his good but not particularly engaging tales of the mess of the Vietnam War

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know there is a GREAT event coming up almost a week away in New York City. The American Place Theatre's Festival: Literature to Life is performing a theatrical adaptation of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien on September 20th, 2008. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity to see this moving piece of literature come to life. Here's the information and can't wait to see you there!

The American Place Theatre's Fourth Annual Literature to Life Festival
Citizen and Censorship: Raise Your Civic Voice!
When: Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Where: The Scholastic Auditorium Landmark Soho Building
577 Broadway between Spring Street and Prince Street
Tickets: Single Show Pass $20, Single Day Pass $55, Full Festival Pass$100
To reserve tickets contact The American Place Theatre at
212-594-4482 x10 or for more information logon to
www.americanplacetheatre.org

This book was received very promptly and in excellent condition - I am very pleased with how quickly I received this - it was needed quickly to use at the start of English class for my daughter. I am very happy!!!

Linda St. Hilaire

Read this book over 10 years ago for high school. It was one of those that really made you think, put you in the state of mind and emotions of the character. A bit depressing - but within context of being a soldier in a war that you did not want to be in; it was pretty powerful. Best of all, there's no deep political, overly spiritual, or wildly insane interjections that one would see in other war or Vietnam books and movies - and no Oliver Stone-like crap. It is O'Brien's observations of his surroundings, his feelings, his recollections of the people around him, and his thoughts about the state of things without deep political or societal analysis. It makes the book a very enjoyable, there at the moment, transport to another world, type of read.

With nearly 700 reviews already, this book is not a touchstone for me alone. I'm a few years younger than Mr. O'Brien, am also from Minnesota, and participated in the last year of the draft. I remember sitting in a dormroom my freshman year with many other young men watching the draft lottery on TV. Three-hundred-and-sixty-six ping-pong balls bounced in a cage, one ball for every birthday of the year. The order they were removed was the order of the draft. At the ninth ball, someone groaned dejectedly. My birthday was two hundred and something--not likely to be called ever, let alone go to Vietnam.

I've explained this because when I first read "The Things They Carried," it was more out of an interest of how my life might have happened if my ball had come up number 9. Like O'Brien's character in the book, I would have not been brave enough not to go as asked. I would not have fled to Canada.

This book far surpassed my interest in the road not taken, one I'm glad I did not tread on. As a fiction writer, too, I've come to feel the many truths in this book that talk about what stories do for us. Fiction can reveal deeper truths than most autobiographies. We need stories, and sometimes I reread parts of this book when I need these particular short stories. One becomes part of every cell of this book. It's as if O'Brien created a warm bath and then opened his veins. While there's death in this book, it's all about life, our perceptions, and our needs.