The Things They Carried
Jun. 23rd, 2019 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearSome time ago, a friend recommended I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.
Then, a couple of months ago, he asked me if I'd read it yet, I said no, and immediately bought a copy when I got home.
When it arrived, it looked very familiar and, as soon as I started reading it, I remembered I had done the same thing when he mentioned it to me the first time. I had read a few chapters, really hated it, stopped reading it, not told him, and then completely forgotten about it.
Now I didn't hate it because it was bad - far from it. It's an excellent book of beautifully written stories, described in very explicit detail, all about the Vietnam War. Masterfully written? Absolutely. Barrel of laughs? Not so much.
This time, though, I decided to see it through, and actually read the whole thing in two days. Once I'd started, I couldn't stop, even though I wanted to. There's a conscious manipulation to it, which made me feel obliged to continue. And, mostly, I'm glad I did. Some of the unpleasant images are probably going to stay with me for a while, but there's also a lot of fascinating discussion of the role of truth in fiction. Tim O'Brien did fight in the Vietnam War, and these are ostensibly his recollections. They are true and yet they are not true. The speak to the truth of his experience, even if they do not contain factual truth about what happened.
This is a book I would recommend, but it's not for the faint-hearted.
Then, a couple of months ago, he asked me if I'd read it yet, I said no, and immediately bought a copy when I got home.
When it arrived, it looked very familiar and, as soon as I started reading it, I remembered I had done the same thing when he mentioned it to me the first time. I had read a few chapters, really hated it, stopped reading it, not told him, and then completely forgotten about it.
Now I didn't hate it because it was bad - far from it. It's an excellent book of beautifully written stories, described in very explicit detail, all about the Vietnam War. Masterfully written? Absolutely. Barrel of laughs? Not so much.
This time, though, I decided to see it through, and actually read the whole thing in two days. Once I'd started, I couldn't stop, even though I wanted to. There's a conscious manipulation to it, which made me feel obliged to continue. And, mostly, I'm glad I did. Some of the unpleasant images are probably going to stay with me for a while, but there's also a lot of fascinating discussion of the role of truth in fiction. Tim O'Brien did fight in the Vietnam War, and these are ostensibly his recollections. They are true and yet they are not true. The speak to the truth of his experience, even if they do not contain factual truth about what happened.
This is a book I would recommend, but it's not for the faint-hearted.
