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The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien's modern classic reset our understanding of fiction, nonfiction, and the way they can work together, as well as our understanding of the Vietnam war and its consequences.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
October 2009
On Sale: October 13, 2009
256 pages
ISBN: 0618706410
EAN: 9780618706419
Paperback
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Non-Fiction Memoir | Non-Fiction
Since its first publication, "The Things They Carried" has
become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of
American literature, and a profound study of war that
illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart
and soul. One of the first questions people ask about The Things
They Carried is this: Is it a novel, or a collection of
short stories? The title page refers to the book simply as
"a work of fiction," defying the conscientious reader's need
to categorize this masterpiece. It is both: a collection of
interrelated short pieces which ultimately reads with the
dramatic force and tension of a novel. Yet each one of the
twenty-two short pieces is written with such care, emotional
content, and prosaic precision that it could stand on its
own.
The Things They Carried depicts the men
of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley,
Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the
character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam
to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.
They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy),
and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see
their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They
miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they
miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy
and kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them
unscathed through the mine field, the girl who grieves while
she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam
they are the only family they have. We hear the voices of
the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way they
tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories
about themselves.
With the creative verve of the
greatest fiction and the intimacy of a searing
autobiography, The Things They Carried is
a testament to the men who risked their lives in America's
most controversial war. It is also a mirror held up to the
frailty of humanity. Ultimately The Things They
Carried and its myriad protagonists call to order the
courage, determination, and luck we all need to survive.
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