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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen. (from "How to Tell a True War Story")
Because I'd previously read the title story in [b:The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970|102615|The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970|Lex Williford|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393221796s/102615.jpg|98936] and later in [b:The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Writing|1679037|The Making of a Story A Norton Guide to Writing|Alice LaPlante|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395374819s/1679037.jpg|1956418], I was under the impression this book would be a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War. It is, I guess, but it also isn't.
Some of the stories can't stand alone and the ones that do are more interrelated than in a 'traditional' short-story collection, and yet it's hard to think of the work as a novel, as O'Brien at times writes as if it's memoir, though the book's subtitle calls it "a work of fiction" [emphasis mine]. So, forget labels. The importance is that the work achieves a cumulative power as it goes on, like the incantatory prose outlining the things the men carry in the title story. The 'carrying' reverberates throughout the work.
O'Brien is a character in his own work of fiction because it doesn't matter if it's factual or not; because whether it is or isn't, it is true -- as are other arguably definitive pieces of so-called war fiction. I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that each war inspires work along the same themes as O'Brien's: [b:The Red Badge of Courage|415002|The Red Badge of Courage |Stephen Crane|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320530709s/415002.jpg|2314709] for the American Civil War; for WWI, [b:All Quiet on the Western Front|355697|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388243875s/355697.jpg|2662852] (which I haven't read yet, but see Ted's review here) and maybe even [b:A Long Long Way|379087|A Long Long Way|Sebastian Barry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388286097s/379087.jpg|368906]; and the list could go on. These books are, or have been, widely read and yet still we must wonder if anyone is listening.
Because I'd previously read the title story in [b:The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970|102615|The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970|Lex Williford|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393221796s/102615.jpg|98936] and later in [b:The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Writing|1679037|The Making of a Story A Norton Guide to Writing|Alice LaPlante|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395374819s/1679037.jpg|1956418], I was under the impression this book would be a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War. It is, I guess, but it also isn't.
Some of the stories can't stand alone and the ones that do are more interrelated than in a 'traditional' short-story collection, and yet it's hard to think of the work as a novel, as O'Brien at times writes as if it's memoir, though the book's subtitle calls it "a work of fiction" [emphasis mine]. So, forget labels. The importance is that the work achieves a cumulative power as it goes on, like the incantatory prose outlining the things the men carry in the title story. The 'carrying' reverberates throughout the work.
O'Brien is a character in his own work of fiction because it doesn't matter if it's factual or not; because whether it is or isn't, it is true -- as are other arguably definitive pieces of so-called war fiction. I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that each war inspires work along the same themes as O'Brien's: [b:The Red Badge of Courage|415002|The Red Badge of Courage |Stephen Crane|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320530709s/415002.jpg|2314709] for the American Civil War; for WWI, [b:All Quiet on the Western Front|355697|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388243875s/355697.jpg|2662852] (which I haven't read yet, but see Ted's review here) and maybe even [b:A Long Long Way|379087|A Long Long Way|Sebastian Barry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388286097s/379087.jpg|368906]; and the list could go on. These books are, or have been, widely read and yet still we must wonder if anyone is listening.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Everything about this book is exceptional. My favorite is, for reasons probably obvious to anyone who’s talked to me for five minutes, Sweetheart.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An assigned novel for one of my high school classes that stuck with me throughout the years. In the beginning the novel is said to contain true stories about men in the Vietnam War. However, upon closer inspection, the author reveals that he has made up all the stories. The stories of these men, whether directly true or not, have a resonance with anyone who reads about them. It is especially relevant for younger generation who haven’t been faced with a war to read this book. O’Brien showed me to tell the truth that you believe in, whether or not it is historically accurate.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
don’t remember much except this pissed me off (something ab the definition of a story or truth or whatever)
This is one of my new favorite books. I don't know how I got through an English degree without having to read this. This is part fiction, part nonfiction; the line between the two is blurred. And though each chapter is its own story that can stand alone, it also works really well when the stories are read like a novel. I really enjoyed reading this!