The Things They Carried - Book Group Discussion Thread

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Columba Aug 2018 7:15pm, 24 Aug 2018 16,226 posts	0 Columba The list of the things they carried was much more than an inventory. Some of the things the individual men chose to carry were indicators of their personalities (three pairs of socks and some foot powder). And then, other things were listed as being items they carried, such as malaria and dysentery, and their memories of home, and feelings of guilt. Given in US schools? I'm astonished. Yes, I wasn't too sure about the "Sweetheart" story. I suppose most of the stories were at least based on things that "really happened" to Tim O'Brien, but that one may have been further from the "truth" than most. In my mind I'm bracketing it together with Narrow Road to the North and Catch-22.
Diogenes Aug 2018 7:25pm, 24 Aug 2018 29,742 posts	0 Diogenes I liked the idea of the sweetheart-gone-wild and thought it just the type of story a soldier might make up. Yes, more than just an inventory and helped set the characters, you are right.
Lorraine Aug 2018 4:26pm, 25 Aug 2018 1,367 posts	0 Lorraine I had to read this in chunks in order to digest the tales. It is a fascinating insight to a very unpleasant time. Did I enjoy it ? I did but I need time to get my thoughts together on this.
Little Nemo Aug 2018 7:25pm, 25 Aug 2018 8,742 posts	0 Little Nemo This would never have been a book I would have chosen normally. It's about war, has a short-story format and is a mix of real-life and fiction. That's 3 counts against it! And yet I'm glad I read it. I can't say that I "enjoyed" it because some parts were almost too hard to read (the water buffalo :-() but it is a very good book. Its very well written and possibly the most honest account of war that I've read. There's no sentiment in it. They don't really understand why they are there but they still kill people and devastate villages because that's why they are told to do. I didn't agree with his notion that choosing to go to war rather than Canada wasn't brave. If it had have been me I would definitely have left the country but I would have seen it as a cowardly thing, going to war where you may be killed is far braver. My favourite section was probably the part where he tried to get revenge on the medic who failed him. It turned things on their head that in the end he was the one who was spooked and broke by it all while the medic had turned into a good soldier. I understood why he wanted to kill Azar at the end! This book reminded me a bit of the TV series Generation Kill - finding a grim sense of humour in horrible circumstances. The only part that didn't ring true was the trip to Vietnam with his daughter. It seemed mad to take a 10-year old over there and some of the things she said sounded much older than her age. I gave this book a 9.
Bintmcskint Aug 2018 8:05pm, 29 Aug 2018 41,121 posts	0 Bintmcskint I shall write my thoughts down before reading back. I can safely say I would never have picked up this book had it not been for the Book Group thread. And I'm really glad I did. I found it affecting and beautifully written. Had to read it in short bursts (maybe a couple of stories at a time) just to allow things to sink in a little before moving on. It made a difference knowing that the author was writing from personal experience, and I really liked the re-telling of the same events from a different POV (or even the same POV a different time) and the references to what truth is or might be. It's actually quite difficult to articulate why it affected me so much. The Vietnam war is not something I know much about and it has made me want to learn more. I certainly want to read more of O'Brien's work. I gave it a 9
LindsD Sep 2018 2:57pm, 2 Sep 2018 24,388 posts	0 LindsD I wanted to write that I really 'enjoyed' this, but it's not quite the right word, is it? Parts of it were very painful and harrowing to read. I liked it a lot, though, and would like to read more of his. It put me in mind of Catch 22, but with less jokes. I thought he wrote beautifully about the experience of being in Vietnam/combat, and I was really carried along by the stories. I sometimes don't get on that well with short stories, but these were short enough, and not classic short stories, I guess, as they had a lot of characters in common. I liked the idea that they were fictional but not fictional. I gave it a 9.
LindsD Sep 2018 3:01pm, 2 Sep 2018 24,389 posts	0 LindsD Read back now. Really glad to have been introduced to the book - thanks, Daz. Agree a bit with Columba about struggling to get it out of my head - especially Kiowa. I quite liked the Sweetheart bit - I liked the idea that a woman could be in that space also. Although that sounds a bit odd, writing it down.
GregP Sep 2018 10:02am, 20 Sep 2018 106,975 posts	0 GregP I'm really torn by this. I didn't particularly like it, although it was beautifully written. I don't feel entertained, educated or informed. Or even particularly moved. That said it will undoubtably stay with me for longer than most things I've read this year. I'm giving it a seven. I listened to parts of it on Audible: Bryan Cranston did an excellent job, I thought. I can't explain adequately here why it put me so much in mind of Jarhead (the film - I haven't read the book) - but it did. Possibly because the story (and the war) is secondary to the sensation of being in the middle of an overwhelming experience over which one has only an illusion of control.
westmoors Sep 2018 11:09am, 20 Sep 2018 2,814 posts	0 westmoors Totally agree with your first four lines Greppers, but I've already forgotten most of it.
Diogenes Sep 2018 1:15pm, 20 Sep 2018 30,176 posts	0 Diogenes Bryan Cranston did an amazing job