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ejrathke 's review for:
The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
Honestly didn't expect to like this very much. It seemed, from the outside, to be a very MFA kind of book, which I often find incredibly unpleasant these days.
But, man, I guess I should have known better. It's been so long since I've read a book written by a soldier about soldiering that I forgot how much I love those books. There are countless examples, but Thom Jones is maybe my favorite.
Anyrate, most people read this somewhere between the ages of 13 and 20, but I'm glad I'm only now encountering it at 30. It's brilliant as metafiction, as fiction, and as a handbook for writing. Whether this is a novel or collection of short stories seems immaterial, since it works as both, I think.
But, yeah, don't have a lot to add about how great this book is, but I'll probably pick up another O'Brien book in the near future.
But, man, I guess I should have known better. It's been so long since I've read a book written by a soldier about soldiering that I forgot how much I love those books. There are countless examples, but Thom Jones is maybe my favorite.
Anyrate, most people read this somewhere between the ages of 13 and 20, but I'm glad I'm only now encountering it at 30. It's brilliant as metafiction, as fiction, and as a handbook for writing. Whether this is a novel or collection of short stories seems immaterial, since it works as both, I think.
But, yeah, don't have a lot to add about how great this book is, but I'll probably pick up another O'Brien book in the near future.