quality literature: the things they carried

 

i have rediscovered my inner bookworm and am devouring books these days.  it's been so satisfying.  i am fast coming to the end of my "to read" pile and will soon need to go on the hunt for more.

"the things they carried" is another novel that i scavenged from the high school book room.  the setting is the vietnam war.  this was a completely different perspective for me as i've mostly read stories from world war I and II.  i could see where the author was going with the opening pages, but didn't feel the connection. it wasn't until the third chapter that i finally understood where he was going and became involved in the story.  tim o'brien is a vietnam veteran whose writing weaves a series of disjointed moments into a cohesive commentary on the time.  he tells these stories in a distant, disconnected way because he is trying to make sense of where he was and what he did there.  his war memories are too intense to carry alone, so he shares them with those who will read them.