"They Carried All They Could Bear, and Then Some"

Picking up The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, I had no idea what the book was about. From the cover I assumed it was a war story, but what war or what year, I did not know. I slowly learned that it took place during the Vietnam War by reading through the titular story.

The stories had both a very real and very fictionalized feeling to them. Reading them, I felt as if the author was going between his literal experiences in the war and his figurative experiences that represent how Vietnam made him feel. These two approaches constantly collided and mixed together to form his novel.

One point in particular that spoke to me was that O’Brien tells both the despondent and favorable memories with the same tone. For him, all of his experiences, even before he lands in Vietnam, are collectively looked at as one distinct point in his life. Many of these memories are very different, yet, O’Brien treats them all as the same event, played out many times in varying ways. I personally liked this choice because it expressed the gravity of Vietnam on the author. In total, his war experiences created such an impact that it is impossible for him to separate the pleasant parts of those experiences with the difficult parts.

Overall, I enjoyed the stories. O’Brien’s style reminded me of Hemingway, especially his novel, The Sun Also Rises. The almost blunt manner of telling a tale, particularly a story influenced by war, was employed by both. Also, the use of a semi-autobiographical method, of borrowing details from real life, was comparable. The similar styles caused me to appreciate The Things They Carried even more.