The Things They Carried

Honored by the Pulitzer Prize, the ultimate bestseller The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien tells us about O'Brien's true personal stories in Vietnam War. His realistic war stories often drive us to the Vietnam in 1960's. This "work of fiction" may seem as a collection of short stories, but these little pieces are wonderfully woven to sculpt this masterpiece. Even though the writer may not have stayed in the Tip Top Lodge or his friends might not have died through gory and painful moments, his heartbreaking way of telling war stories creates these remarkable stories.

O'Brien opens up the new chapter of the war stories as he recollects his memories. He mentions his friends' death and how they have influenced soldiers in the battlefield. One soldier's death seriously impacts first lieutenant, Jimmy Cross, who considers himself accountable for Ted's death. Jimmy's soldiers also realize how the death of their friend come to them, how they need to be alert about this new environment, and what they really care. The narrator also wanders between the margin of the exile and the war, and he finally makes his decision in favor of his conscience.

Since this is a "work of fiction," we know that stories in The Things They Carried may not be true. He might not have seen his friends dying. He might not have known his friends, Rat Kiley, Kiowa, and others. However, these stories still come close to our hearts because his true, touching descriptions of the scenes make us believe them. Also, his lessons on how to write the true stories make us even more to believe his stories as he takes us to Vietnam and makes us see what has happened in 1960's. As he narrates events that have happened around him, he finally binds them together, making a beautiful, heartbreaking fiction.

Tim O'Brien erases the invisible line between the truth and the fiction which shows his skillful way of writing. It seemed that he had undergone through painful experiences such as his friends' death and the loss of the lover, but as I read more, it was difficult to tell whether he actually saw these happening. Furthermore, the instructions on how to write the true story may be wrong since this book is still constrained as the fiction. However, they make us believe what he is telling us and also his examples that he has given. As we believe more of his examples, he finally blinds us to believe this whole book. This amazing trick connects his war stories to the profound meaning of our lives.

This book is limited in a sense that it can only be written from the view of another soldier. Therefore, the larger scale of the characters' development can't be seen. Readers can only know the superficial knowledge about most of the soldiers. O'Brien mostly describes things from his own view and thus obstructs readers from looking at different angles. O'Brien needs to balance between his view and other people's view of life.

The Things They Carried tells us the real true stories of the war in Vietnam, and questions to everyone: what do you live for? This general question does not only belong to soldiers in the battlefield but also belongs to people who are lost in the middle of the road, questioning about life. We do not realize what we want in our lives until we are in need of them. Do you live for your love? Do you live because you do not want to be embarrassed not to live? And he finally makes a general fact of life, "And it's not a movie and you aren't a hero and all you can do is whimper and wait" (211).

I read this book because it got some votes for the best work of American fiction of the past 25 years. It certainly belongs at the top of that list.

O'Brien's stories pack a devastating emotional punch. The opening story vividly paints a picture of the experience of men in war by focusing first on the physical things men carried with them, then the emotional baggage they brought to the conflict, and finally on the angst they leave with. The best story in the collection contrasts a veteran's circuits around his hometown Iowa lake with flashbacks to his experience of the muck in Vietnam. The inability of anyone to understand the veteran's experience and the vet's inability to adapt to civilian life are portrayed more vividly than any story I can recall. Also brilliant are the story of O'Brien's handwringing about how to respond to the draft and a fable about what happens to a hometown girl who visits the front.

What all these stories have in common is complete authenticity of emotion, the fundamental ability to tell a story, and a passion that is often rare in modern ficition.

O'Brien is a self-conscious writer, troubled by the legitimacy of writing fiction, by whether truth can be found in fiction, and by whether amalgamated made-up tales are truer than literal narratives. There is a bit of Dostoyevsky in his wrangling with this theme. He handles this theme well, and as the last story in the book shows, he finds that storytelling is all about coping and saving ourselves.

This is a beautiful book.

The Things They Carried allows the reader to relive O'Brien's experiences in the Vietnam War and learn the various lessons he teaches through them.

A collection of short stories about the experiences of his and his comrades in war, the novel is tied together by the same characters. At times, the stories are exciting, bizarre, sad, and funny. This blend makes the novel unique in its display of all the experiences he faced at war.

It is meaningful as it is a way for him to keep the memories of his deceased comrades alive through his stories. Taking the reader up close to the environment of the war, the novel gives a glimpse of the harsh experiences in war, especially having to be exposed to death often.

He also admits that he writes as a form of therapy for his regrets and scars from the Vietnam War. An interesting point he makes is that "true" war stories are not ones that are based solely on facts, but are ones that have the ability to move a person and impact their life.

An innovative mix of fiction, memoir and nonfiction, this novel gives it's readers a deeper understanding of war and the physical and mental burdens of soldiers. Anyone even slightly interested in war or the effects of it on a soldier or looking for an informative, yet entertaining, book will enjoy this novel.

This book was an assignment for a college class. I expected nothing out of it but was quite surprised. Vietnam has tons of material already out there about it but somehow the way this book approaches the subject it seems fresh. It was extremely well written and while the much of the subject matter was quite deep it was still an easy read. If this shows up on your reading list for college or high school, don't despair. It reads quickly, will hold your attention and pretty much leaves all of its message right out in the open for you.

As a very easy read that depicts the Vietnam War, The Things They Carried is a collection of events written as short stories combined together acting as one narrative. This novel is a combination of fiction and nonfiction with both the incorporation of real members of the Alpha Company, the company that O'Brien fought in, and some exaggerated details. In this haze of reality and imagination, the distinction between the two is difficult to tell, but it is what makes it interesting.

O'Brien begins the novel with a very enticing account of what each soldier brought with him to Vietnam; however, the main point O'Brien is expressing is the one thing that everyone carried that burdened them the most, guilt; guilt from killing, guilt from deaths that could have been prevented, and guilt from weakness and fear. Many aspects of this novel deal with death and the guilt from these deaths. Chapters are dedicated to Norman Bowker and the heavy guilt that he is burdened with when he unintentionally kills Kiowa and when he gives up and does not save him. Years after the war, Bowker commits suicide because he felt that there was nothing to live for after the war. The war consumed his life.

In one chapter, O'Brien discusses his emotions after he kills a Vietnamese man. He attempts to convey the guilt that he felt and the sorrow that dominated his mind. This subject stayed with him throughout the war and even with him years after the war. This guilt from murdering a man plagues him as depicted when he does not know how to respond to his daughter when she asks if he has ever killed anyone.

This novel is well written and thoroughly illustrates the war and its consequences and effects. It gives a soldiers perspective of the war and how it greatly influences their lives. It also contains O'Brien's reflections of the war and his actions. Overall, this is an amazing book that portrays the Vietnam War through little narratives.