The Things They Carried
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4.4, 1.5K Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.
Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.
The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Tim O’Brien uses soldiers’ possessions—their own and those thrust upon them—to frame his short stories about a platoon trying to survive in Vietnam. O’Brien, a Vietnam vet himself, crafts an unblinkingly realistic portrait of war, regularly blurring the line between fiction and autobiography—he even names the book’s main character after himself. His somber, weighty depictions of battlefield horrors and their aftermaths read as if he’s trying to process his own experiences through his writing. The result is an emotionally devastating read that left us in awe of what ordinary people can withstand.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Weapons and good-luck charms carried by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam here represent survival, lost innocence and the war's interminable legacy. ``O'Brien's meditations--on war and memory, on darkness and light--suffuse the entire work with a kind of poetic form, making for a highly original, fully realized novel,'' said PW. 60,000 first printing.
Customer Reviews
Good
I read this for a class in high school, I really enjoyed it
A must read
I agree! This book was so haunting and masterfully written, it inspired my college thesis. The insight into the Vietnam war experience from a multifaceted perspective makes this a true eye opener. I cried I was so moved by it...
Fantastic
I read this book in college as part of an assignment - the first time. I've since read it twice more, finding it more and more intriguing each time. The author came to my school and spoke after the book was released and that has probably made it more enjoyable to me -- to hear the behind the scenes and "the truth" about the book. A must read.
