Reviews - The Things They Carried

3.98k reviews for:

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

4.12 AVERAGE

drjayne's review against another edition

4.0

What a great collection of stories - though the backdrop is Vietnam, it's more about storytelling than the war.

crgolla31's review against another edition

5.0

emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

hokoro's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Although it is labelled as a work of fiction, I have no doubt that they were all influenced by real experiences of the war in Vietnam. They feel less like a story and more like recounts. It really brings out the spirit of how to tell a war story mentioned in the book.

Stories like "On the Rainy River", "The Man I killed" and "The Ghost Soldiers" made me feel so overwhelmed - like im completely in Tim O' Brien's head and experiencing it for myself. The repetition of the experience reveals a sense of unravelling at the horrors he had experienced. What hits the most is the chapters after the story has been told -

one that hit the most is the one after "Speaking of Courage" - The trauma left by the war on the supposedly bright futures of young men like Norman Bowker really hits home.

Some stories are lighthearted but never do you forgot you are in Vietnam.

Edit: saw smb's review - "imagine writing the title of your book as a “a work of fiction” and then proceeding to trick all the readers into thinking it’s completely real. that takes talent." Yea thats basically the whole vibe of the book.