Comments on: Tim O’Brien: The Things They Carried

By: Betsy

Betsy — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:41:03 +0000

Thank you, Trevor, for this review of TTTC, particulary your discussion of O’Brien’s concept of story-truth and happening truth, and his perception that a war story cannot be moral. In these remarks about the questionable morality of writing about war, O’Brien warns (as you point out) against feeling uplifted, and yet O’Brien’s writing is so intensely human that uplift is what we feel with this book. We struggle with that. The paragraph you quote about the weight of what they carry soars with its last phrases: “and all the rest, plus the unweighed fear.” We know from the catalogue how heavy the fear is, and the word, when we encounter it, rolls out into us, heavy and nauseating. O’Brien doesn’t shrink from the violence and terror of war, its loneliness, and its terrible shame. But he tries to cover the full landscape of being human in its midst, and that is why the book soars. While his writing can be full on realistic, he also depends upon extreme lyricism and surrealism to tell his stories. I remember particularly the (hallucinatory) story of the American girlfriend who turns up in Vietnam (unbelievably) and gets caught up in the killing, til even she wears a string of tongues around her neck. Of course, she stands, in her beauty, for the innocence of all those eighteen year olds. Our horror at what this girl has become should be our horror at what the boys became. In this case, though, only hallucination appropriately conveys the horror of the transformation war requires. TTTC and “Going After Cacciato” are masterpieces, each worth a second read or more. Thanks again for this reminder of these great short stories in the TTTC.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:30:32 +0000

It’s been some time since I read this, Leroy, so I don’t remember how I felt about the last piece. Certainly what came before it was enough for me to consider it a magnificent work.

Despite that, though, I have never read anything else by O’Brien. I’ve been meaning to for years, but just haven’t. Part of that is not knowing exactly what to read next. I’ve actually heard good things about most of his books, but perhaps most of it has been about Going After Cacciato, which won the 1979 National Book Award.

By: leroyhunter

leroyhunter — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:39:30 +0000

I just read this so I thought I’d have a look at your take on the book Trevor – I have to echo Kevin’s praise for your review. You’ve captured what makes this book quite different from other Vietnam accounts.

It’s powerful stuff in places and very affecting. If I was being critical I’d have to admit the final piece in the book didn’t work for me, but that doesn’t lessen my admiration for what O’Brien has created.

I read Junger’s book on Afghanistan last year and he describes the exact same experience of intense cameraderie, and the sense of loss and helplessness in those excluded from the group by injury, chance, promotion etc.

Have you read any other O’Brien? Would you recommend?

By: The Things College Students Carry « Letters from the Library

The Things College Students Carry « Letters from the Library — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 03:09:04 +0000

[...] I assigned my composition class this week was the first chapter of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. (If you’ve not yet read the book, I recommend it [...]

By: Trevor Berrett

Trevor Berrett — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:50:16 +0000

Max, it’s great to have you back! Hope the month away was excellent. You’re more than welcome, by the way. The book is excellent, and revisiting it and reviewing it was excellent too!

By: Max Cairnduff

Max Cairnduff — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:25:32 +0000

Hi Trevor,

I come back from my month away, and find this marvellous review. Many thanks for following up on my request, this is now definitely going on my TBR pile. Excellent stuff.

Now I need to take a couple of days to browse all the back reviews I’ve missed, particularly the final Bookers. Still, delighted to see this one, even though I do agree with John that the UK covers leave much to be desired.

By: John Self

John Self — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:10:09 +0000

PS: Just looked at the UK edition of O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods - these 'diseased faces' seem to be a pattern!

By: John Self

John Self — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:08:15 +0000

Like Stewart, I have been put off buying this because of the terrible design of the UK edition. Indeed, the cover shows a sort of mottle-patterned face, as though partly eaten away, which made me think always that the “things they carried” were disease parasites and put me off in a “yuk!” way as a result! Your review, Trevor, is the first time the title has been put in context for me – so thanks. I’ve also heard praise of O’Brien’s other books, so time to check him out regardless I think.

By: Isabel

Isabel — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:05:30 +0000

Yikes, I meant to say that my father’s ship was not a steamboat.

By: Trevor Berrett

Trevor Berrett — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:55:55 +0000

Isabel, I enjoyed the book I read, but I’m anxious to see how it squares with someone who has closer experience with the topic. The review will be posted on Monday, but in case you’re interested before then, it’s John Hughes’s In Hazard, available from NYRB Classics.

Evie, I agree that the extended metaphor is fantastic. The crazy thing is that O’Brien can extend it so far without making it get redundant. By the way, do you remember the title of the Owen poem? I touched on him briefly in a survey course, but after reading Pat Barker’s The Ghost Road I’ve been meaning to get to know him a bit better.