Sunday, August 3, 2014
Naomi Belay - The Things They Carried
For my APUSH summer reading assignment, I chose to read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, it had been suggested to me by my older sister. The book takes place during the Vietnam War and tells a variety of short stories. Although I'm not all that interested in war stories, I thought it was an easy read and there were multiple times where I was too focused in the book to stop reading. I particularly enjoyed the stories "The Man I Killed", "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" and "On the Rainy River". In "On the Rainy River" it shows the fear the author Tim O'Brien had felt prior to becoming a soldier in the Vietnam war, and how he almost went to Canada just to escape all the chaos. Usually soldiers or men drafted for the war are portrayed as brave and fearless, I admired how he admitted to being afraid. I liked how it wasn't just one long story and that there was a string of fascinating stories; and it wasn't just sad war stories, there were some funny ones too. It really helps you absorb what the Vietnam War was like, and it's nice how it's written by someone who had experienced the war firsthand.
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3 comments:
This book sounds interesting. The authors truthfulness to the reader about his life during the war makes me want to read it too!
-Fizza Mir
I wish I could have read this book, it sounds super interesting and I love the idea of short stories connected to create a bigger picture as to what the Vietnam War was like.
Emma Hale
I really enjoyed this book even though, like you, i'm not a huge fan of war stories, it ended up not being solely about war but more about life and its struggles for each individual person.
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