The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
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Book Reviews of The Things They Carried
Book Review: The Things They Carried
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Things They Carried"
As you probably know, the Vietnam War (1957-1975) was one of the bloodiest wars in history. This book, "The Things They Carried" is written by Tim O'Brien and is about the Vietnam War. Basically, this book is about a soldier (O'Brien presumably) who goes to Vietnam and as he does his time there, he finds out what war really is. He talks about the things they carried (hence the name of the book), such as hand grenades, mines, mine detectors, and other such devices needed to wage war on the ground. Throughout the book, several people in his outfit die, then he goes back and describes their lives, their personalities, and the like. At several times during the story, he flashes back to when he brought his daughter over to Vietnam after the war. His daughter always asks him, "daddy, did you ever kill anyone?" and, once he did, but he never admits it, even to his daughter. Overall, I liked this book. Once you start reading it gets pretty interesting, and you want to keep reading it. It was full of action, and suspenseful moments at times. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the language. If you have read "The Catcher in the Rye", you know that the language is pretty bad. Well, in this book, it is much worse. Several times in one paragraph, they mention a giant mud pit, which they refer to as "the s--- pit". When the soldier kills someone with a hand grenade, another soldier in his outfit, Azar, says, "you f---in' trashed the f---er." At another point in the game, they are at a village, and two monks invite them in, and clean their guns. This book is pretty good, full of action and suspense, but with talk scenes at some points. I'm not sure if the names of the characters are real, but I guess to protect the men in his unit that are still alive from scrutiny. Some of the names are the aforementioned Azar, Kiowa, and other, sometimes colorful names I can't think of offhand. Almost all of the people he talks about get killed in some way or another. As previously mentioned, Kiowa falls through the muck of a mud pit; one steps on a mine; and another gets shot through the head. The book ends with the soldier looking back on his life (in a different way than he has throughout) and how he's changed from joking about war to seeing what war is really like. Overall, this book is pretty good, with action and talk scenes mixed in, and once you start reading and get past the language, you'll want to read it right to the end.
Book Review: Eloquent but Drawn Out
Summary: 4 Stars
Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried is a well-written account of Vietnam, albeit a repetitive and overly-extended one.
The overall plot is fragmented and skips between past and present, which can be effective when used sparingly. O'Brien's usage instead gives a sense of the author being lost and without direction. To be honest this work felt more like a disjointed set of short stories than one whole, and it was not surprising to see that many of them were actually first published as such in Esquire.
When I began reading this novel I was immediately intrigued by O'Brien's parallelism in his sentences, many of which begin with, "they carried." But by the tenth iteration it began to become a headache. Novelty does not sustain The Things They Carried for very long, and fairly soon there is only the deadpan tone to deal with. Understandably this is a war novel based on memoir, and it would be ludicrous to give the war too great of a dramatic flair, but this still does not excuse O'Brien's style--of the variety which seems to flow along without break, rarely ever placing conversation inside quotes, without any exclamations, continuing drearily along, good for short stories, but torturous for 246 page work. The author still seems to be caught in a reverie years after the events he describes, without having gained much insight in those years in-between besides that he was a coward for not running away to Canada.
The best part of this novel is the detail. His lists of the items which his platoon carried is intriguingly miscellaneous in otherwise bland scenarios. Many say that his stories are convincing, but men do not usually die by getting shot in the head while zipping up, and girls are not usually shipped to war zones or join the Green Berets.
Oftentimes as one reads a novel one's attachment to the story grows, so that when the end approaches the author can make allusions to details in the beginning, occasionally with a gut-wrenching effect. As I read this novel my interest in it peaked early and then became dimmer and dimmer as it continued. The last sentence is profound, but when I read it I felt less a sense of regret than a sense of relief that the monotonous journey was over. It should have remained a short story or vignette. O'Brien's daughter Kathleen makes the case when she comments on O'Brien's preoccupation: "And that's bad?"--"No. That's weird."
Book Review: The Things They Carried
Summary: 5 Stars
The Things They Carried is a novel that is based off the author, Tim O'Brien, and his experiences during the Vietnam War. It subtly weaves together multiple viewpoints of the same situations, while also including bits of history about each character's past from before the war. It was a very uniquely stylistic novel, in that it puts the reader through the same situation through many different outlooks and therefore reveals the situation to the full extent. The reader is left with a feeling of total understanding because every minute thought of each character is shown. Additionally, the novel also educates the reader about the many emotions felt by the soldiers during the Vietnam War, changing one's outlook on it.
The plot is relatively simplistic and is told multiple times, through each character's point of view, making it much more complex. At the same time, there is an underlying plot revolving around each character's past and life before the war. Though this multitude of narratives seems complicating and as though it would be confusing, O'Brien does a wonderful job keeping each story separate from one another by clearly distinguishing each retelling from the next. The book is very philosophical, often delving into not only the situation but also the mindset and feelings of everyone in the novel, mentioning human nature and the tendency of people to act a certain way. The plot of the novel, however, does not solely focus on the war, and mostly deals with feelings about the war and its immense impact on the soldiers. The raw emotions and descriptions do not attempt to lighten the mood of the war atmosphere, instead relaying the frantic ambience and panic in war. Its intricate plot was not only weaved together into a masterpiece but also contained heightened language that captured every aspect imaginable.
Overall, this novel is not only very uniquely presented to the reader, but also contains an appealing plot that is philosophically complex and changes the reader's outlook on war and its repercussions. For me, there are no aspects of the novel that can be criticized, except for its raw portrayal of the war, which some people might not like. Besides that aspect, this novel is crafted to perfection and I found myself interested to read it although it was given to me as assignment. I would recommend this novel to everyone because it is not only enjoyable to read but also an educational experience.
Book Review: the things they carried
Summary: 4 Stars
Once I got a hold of the book I noticed the unique format of the book. It was not like any other conventional book. After reading through the first few chapters, I understood why it was sectioned off into different chapters of his life, each chapter with its own unique story and purpose. The book is about the Vietnam War, but more importantly it is about a personal war experience that Tim O'Brien had. Though he, in real life, did participate in a war, O'Brien notes, in the sixth chapter, that everything was just fictitious, and thus just a fabrication to emphasize a point.
I believe that The Things They Carried encompasses everything that a war novel should be as O'Brien focuses on the stories of one unit of the army as they make their way through Vietnam carrying weapons, memories, fear, guilt, mementos and, at times, each other. It carries the universal truths about war both in the past and present. Through intertwining his own experiences and thoughts with the experiences of those that he fought with in the Vietnam War, O'Brien is able to capture the decided truth that war is horrific to all those who experience it. Although the book is organized into short stories, it becomes apparent that these stories all tie together as the novel weaves through past, present, reality and what is conceived as reality. Not only would this book satisfy readers who enjoy and have read other novels about Vietnam, but it appeals to those with little knowledge or real interest in war stories.
In general, the book is good, but not excellent. I would give kudos to O'Brien for his unique and unconventional approach to The Vietnam War or a war in general, but his overemphasis on himself draws attention away from the more important stories. Avoiding the bloody and gutsy gore in traditional war books, O'Brien does successfully finds a way to stray off the war per say and emphasize a personal experience. His approach is notable, because he centers his novel on an individual of a bigger scheme, while putting less emphasis on the war itself. By employing this approach, it can be inferred that O'Brien portrays wars as meaningless compared to the life and soul of an individual. However, his overemphasis on himself takes away the magic his has built throughout the novel. Overall, I would recommend this book, because even if you lack a historical background of the Vietnam War, it is still easy to read the book.
Book Review: This Book Will Change Your Life
Summary: 5 Stars
There is no way that my review can do Tim O'Brien's amazing opus on war and writing justice, so I will do the best I can. This book is so phenomenal it can barely be explained. While the book takes place mostly in Vietnam during the war, the book is about story-telling and its purpose. Through these horrifying stories of a terrible war, O'Brien is both able to effectively convey the raw emotions of being an American soldier in Vietnam as well as helping him exorcise his demons that have been with him since the war (as well as one that was created long before).
Most chapters in the book are stories of the war, though every now and then, he writes a small letter to the reader about how to tell a "true war story" and why he writes them. At one point, he states that a true war story never had to happen in order to be true as long as it could have happened. He also talks about how stories with morals aren't true because war stories are just terrible and usually end poorly and without something to take away. As an example, one of the best stories, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, is a fantastic tale that defies all logic and yet provides no life lessons. It recalls how a soldier who missed his girlfriend was able to get her out to Vietnam (which right there is too much to believe) and how she began to display some disturbing characteristics due to her exposure to the foreign land.
The stories are not told chronologically. Often characters who died in previous chapters reappear in later ones. One chapter, which occurs in the middle of the book, talks about what happened to a friend of his after he went home after the war, with tragic results. That chapter also has a parallel tale that takes place during the war and is possibly one of the most horrifying in the entire book. Another story, On the Rainy River, tells about O'Brien's desire to dodge the war, which allows him to describe how many potential men felt during the heat of the draft.
The Vietnam War is extremely prevalent in modern fiction, and often it can be a trite subject due to its overuse. However, The Things They Carried nails the subject. It fearlessly displays the way in which soldiers coped with the death and destruction around them - by joking about dead bodies - while presenting an unflinching account of the horror of the war. This is, without a doubt, a book that absolutely every American should read.