This book is amazing!!! I share 100% the enthusiasm of my fellow classmates for Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried. O'Brien has a beautiful voice and his uncensored description of the war in Vietnam is proving very effective to me. I especially love how his book is laid out as a series of short stories about his life around the time of the war and how they are all interconnected, enhancing the story.
The main stylistic point that has made an impact on me thus far in reading O'Brien's novel is in the first chapter when he makes a lengthy description of the things that the men in his Alpha Company carried during the war. He explains not only the obvious physical things that they were required to carry (guns, radios, etc.) and the things they were not required to carry (condemns, marijuana, tranquilizers, etc.), but also the emotional/psychological things that they were all burdened with, such as the deaths of many of the men in their company.
Thus far, this book has made an impact on me both as a writer and as a reader, and I cannot wait to read on and experience Tim O'Brien's amazing writing.
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I completly agree with you, Peter. I love this book so far. My favorite part is what you described in your second paragraph. It makes it fun to read and is really effective in getting his idea across.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too! This book is fantastic, and you're very right about all the aspects of it that make it so effective. The way the book is broken up into sections makes it really nice to read, and the first section about the literal and emotional things that Alpha Company carried with them was really powerful to me too.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read more! Good post.
Peter, i am in awe of your writing abilities. I think you would make an excellent opinion writer for a newspaper. Back to the post, i think that you are extremely right in the way that you talk about TTTC. It is an absolutely amazing book that although may not be 100% true, im still 100% in love.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I really love how this book is set up into a bunch of different stories. Keeps things interesting!
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