Book Review : The Things They Carried
Image from www.illyria.com
Book Review
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien
-------------------------------------------------------------
I have just finished reading this book, about an American infantry platoon in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War had always fascinate me, how a militarily inferior army of rag tag troops can defeat a superpower, how superior firepower, napalm, jets, Agent Orange and other nasty ways of killing could not break a nation's will. We can always argue that the war is lost in the living rooms of America. That the South Vietnamese regime is corrupt, but that is another story.
The Things They Carried is, well about the things those troops carried. They carried with them rifles, ammo, mines, grenades, knives, things for killing. They carried rations, water, ponchos, radios, insect repellents, medicine, stuff to stay alive. They have with them snapshots of wives and girlfriends, bibles, talismans, dope, anything to keep them sane. But this book is really about the scars they carried during and after the war.
This book is called a work of fiction, but reading it you realised that the line between fiction and reality is very blurred. Tim O'Brien served in Vietnam, the book was dedicated to "the men of Alpha Company", which were the characters in the book. Also, one of the characters was called Tim O'Brien. Maybe the Atlanta Journal & Constitution said it best: " The imaginative retelling of the war is just as real as the war itself, maybe more so.."
So why do I like this book? I can't put a finger to it. I just like it. Maybe because of the poetic way it is written. Or is it because this is no ordinary war story book, not the die-for-your-country exhortation tale? It is not about heroes, nor glorifying any gung-ho unit account. It's about the ordinary soldier, how he's trying to stay alive in the bush, the surrealism of the war. How in a night ambush, he saw a beautiful moon shinning over the paddies. How a soldier will carry a guilt all his life, because he was unable to save a buddy from a stinking swamp. And another who went home from the war, and the war was not really over for him, because he still see the Vietcong in his house. These are the terror, the grief and horror these soldiers still carried.
Tim O’Brien wrote in the book:” It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horrors, you can't help but gape at the awful majesty of combat. You stare out at tracer rounds unwinding through the dark like brilliant red ribbons..... It's not pretty, exactly. It's astonishing…..”
And that’s it. An astonishing book on an ugly subject.
***
Tim O'Brien served as an infantry sergeant in the Army's Americal Division near Quang Ngai, Vietnam, in 1970-71. The Things They Carried was a finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
posted by dsnake1 at 1:45 PM
14 Comments:
I read the book a few months back - on the advice of another blogger. I agree with all that you say, particularly your final comment. I said when I read it that it made me think of John Hersey's "Hiroshima."
I have not read John Hersey's "Hiroshima" yet. I heard that it was a radical piece of work when it was was first published in a magazine just after WW2.
I'll KIV this one. It's quite hard to find war books to read.
The last one I read was Voices from the Third Reich - interviews with various people of all backgrounds who lived during the time.
Ladies don't like war stories.
Confirmed. :)
I must admit prefer watching war movies or war series on tv than reading it nowadays.
I am more interested in WWI and WWII than modern warfare. Used to read more war books when I was younger and was playing those pc wargames (like The Operational Art of War and Talonsoft's Campaign Series games).
At the risk of sounding like I fully agree to your rather generalised statement :) ( because I somewhat agree) -- I think women don't tend to pick up war books because it's not as easy to relate to them. The war books on the shelves are typically about male soldiers and their experiences. Women haven't been allowed to enter war as actively fighting soldiers until recently.
liz,
you made some keen observations here. I tend to agree with what you said.
I will not acquiesce in on it. I assume nice post. Especially the title attracted me to study the whole story.
Hi Anon
thanks for your comments! Titles are important, aren't they? :)
i think this is a good book. have you read it?
Good post and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you as your information.
Hi Anon
glad to be of help with your college assignment. anyway, to get a better understanding of the subject matter, nothing beats reading the book. :)
Good brief and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.
glad to be of some help. :)
The authoritative message :), cognitively...
hi anon
authoritative? not really. :)
just expressing my opinion. :)
Post a Comment
<< Home