The Things They Carried
by Tim O’Brien
Author's Description:
“A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.”
My Review - Rating - 9.5/10
I read this book because my history teacher recommended it to me, and I can definitely see why he did so. The Things They Carried is disturbing and uncomfortable at times, but it gives the reader a better understanding of war than any other book I've read. I can’t say that I understand everything in the book, and I doubt I ever will unless I join the military and enter a war, but I understand far more after this book than I did before. I think everyone should read this book, not because it’s interesting (it is) but because it gives you far more understanding and appreciation for war veterans, something I think our society will never have enough of. The book looks at the impact of the Vietnam war on a soldier's psyche, examining how it affected him during and after the war. It gives a really good look into the PTSD and general trauma that war inflicts on its participants.
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