Take a photo of a barcode or cover
tjventre 's review for:
The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
I was shocked by how much I liked this book. Probably because my mom said I might not like it at all. But it swept me up right away, and I didn't put it down for three days. I haven't finished a book that fast since Peace Corps, when there were entire weeks with nothing to do EXCEPT read.
With O'Brien, it's all about the story-telling. That's what distinguishes it from Caputo's A Rumor of War. That one's a captivating book in its own right, and the two have a lot in common, including the way they provide a real sense of the boredom of war and the many contradictions that apparently exist out on the front. But where Caputo stopped at what amounts to reporting (very moving reporting, but reporting nonetheless), O'Brien goes further, coming up with genuine characters and memorable story after memorable story (none more so than "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"). I guess that's the advantage a novel has over a memoir. Like Sanders said, "What you have to do is trust [the:] story. Get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself."
With O'Brien, it's all about the story-telling. That's what distinguishes it from Caputo's A Rumor of War. That one's a captivating book in its own right, and the two have a lot in common, including the way they provide a real sense of the boredom of war and the many contradictions that apparently exist out on the front. But where Caputo stopped at what amounts to reporting (very moving reporting, but reporting nonetheless), O'Brien goes further, coming up with genuine characters and memorable story after memorable story (none more so than "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"). I guess that's the advantage a novel has over a memoir. Like Sanders said, "What you have to do is trust [the:] story. Get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself."