Author: Tim O'Brien
# of Pages: 259
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:
I recently took time out of
my busy schedule to read, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and it did
not disappoint. This is not your ordinary book, telling one long story. This
was a series of short stories from a man who went and fought in the Vietnam
War.
Most of the stories take
place over in Vietnam, with the main characters being all the men in his
platoon. The main subject matter of the whole story is how all the soldiers
felt about the war. They got spit or and couldn’t live a normal life when they
got back for being “child killers” but none of those men really wanted to be
over there doing that.
Here’s the connection, all
those men got so much disrespect from the people they were fighting for and now
today many people are disrespecting not only our soldiers but our flag. They
are stomping on in crushing it in the dirt for what? Because they think this
place is so horrible and not fair.
This wasn’t just some
observer writing this stories, it was a man who was actually there and fought
as much as he didn’t want to. He developed the stories very well and it was
easy to picture what was happening. He used a lot language from the war and
terms they used. It made the book that much more unique.
The characters had little
amount of detail behind them all you knew was their attitude and where they
were from. All the characters were important in the story but what I like with
the little development was it left more to the imagination.
This book didn’t have your
normal plot. There was not just one story through the book it was all the
memories this man had. To tie into the theme it was about the things these men
carried. Not physical things but mental things these soldiers carried. There
was so much more to the war than fighting. They have memories of all the men
they were with and the people they used to know before they were shipped out.
The book doesn’t tie into
another book or story. It is directed to anyone who wants to know about the
war, about how the men felt and what they had to go through. It isn’t for a
little kid but a young adult and even older people.
I would strongly recommend
this book. It did not only set a different reading experience it also helps
open your mind. It was a short read which means any busy person could take the
time to read. This is by far one of the greatest books I have read.
I have also read this book and came away with similar thoughts. I have to say they really did carry a lot of gear(over 80 lbs in most cases) in addition to what they carried mentally..I am so glad that you mentioned how our flag has been treated with less than respect. My mom is a veteran and was deployed for Desert Storm. She has the utmost respect for this symbol. She also understands that it is a right we have here in the USA to disrespect it even though it causes her and other veteran's distress.
ReplyDeleteLea, I also wanted to add that you described the very essence of this book.You did a great job! I know your blog will inspire others to read this non fiction book of real stories.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very different book! I am not much of a war story reader, but it seems more interesting because it's not just one long story, but a bunch of short stories that tie together. I think that there would probably be so many text connections to real life, like you said with people damaging flags and things like that, but also with veterans and deployed soldiers now. You could probably also be able to tell the differences, if not the similarities between the book and real life, with how people treat soldiers today. It makes it even more intriguing that there is some sense of imagination that's left for the reader to make up about what some of the characters look like and things like that. I'm glad you liked the book you chose, I think I really might look into this one!
ReplyDeleteThe way you described this book made it sound very intriguing! My grandfather actually fought in the Vietnam War, but thankfully came away sane. A lot of veterans go through so much while defending our country, and because they see so many horrible things, often times they come home with severe PTSD. The fact that multiple books have been written about soldiers' war experiences so that we may admire how much they do for your country is so cool. Many men and women sacrifice their life simply to protect our country, and they unfortunately aren't recognized for it as much as they should be. Great analysis of your book!
ReplyDeleteHuh, sound like a cool book! I've read many books about wars(Civil war mostly), but never read much stuff on Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder how it would've been there. I think that I probably wouldn't have lasted a month, and that's just my opinion based on watching movies(Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Born on The Fourth of July).
Did you have a 'favorite' short story?