The Things They Carried
A gripping series of Vietnam stories gathered in a format of O'Brien's devising. It is not a collection of short stories, but it is not one story with a beginning and an ending. It is perhaps closest to listening to a soldier storyteller over a long period of time. While you listen to his stories, you hear a bit of his personal life; he uses repetition of events and certain phrases to reinforce familiarity with the tales.
Closing the book you believe you know the narrator very well. The author is a Vietnam veteran. Attempting to further confuse fiction with non-fiction, Tim O'Brien gave his storyteller the name "Tim O'Brien."
This much honored novel is a favorite of city and school Big Read programs. Winner of France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
"It’s partly a story about what happens to men in a war, but more deeply it touches people to actually look at their own lives and childhoods. The reason that book ends not in the war, but with little Linda dying of brain cancer, is that that chapter is meant to move away from war to the lives of all of us." ~Tim O'Brien
| Reading Group Guide |
Congratulations Tim on the 20th Anniversary of publication!
| United States | United Kingdom | Germany | France |
| [paperback] [Kindle] |
[paperback] | [paperback] | [paperback] [A propos de courage] |
"A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth."
The Things They Carried on the WorldWideWeb
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"How
to Tell a True War Story" (The Things They Carried) |
| "The
Things They Carried" (The Things They Carried) |
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| Reading Group Guide - 20th Anniversary Edition |
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| Index - very useful for students & scholars |
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| Very Detailed Student Website |
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| Glossary - Do you fire a P-38 or use it to open a can? |
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| Video of O'Brien reading from the book (2010) No ballcap! |
O'Brien on Cliff notes:
"It just seems that people should think for themselves, not let somebody else think for them. . . . The second thing is that those books are so analytical and abstract. A novel is more visceral—it's not just an analysis of character or plot and theme and all that. It's the sound to the book and the sound to the language. So I'm not too hot about them, but they do it whether you like it or not."
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| What Did They Really Carry? - Matthew Smith of Mr. Kramer's AP English |
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| Tim O'Brien and the Art of the True War Story: "Night March" and "Speaking of Courage" - Critical Essay |
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| Metafiction and O'Brien's The Things They Carried by Michele Friedlander |
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| The Things They Carried by Jason Voegele |
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| The Truth in Things: Personal Trauma As Historical Amnesia in The Things They Carried by Jim Neilson |
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| Linda and the Lives of the Dead by Captain Pants |
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| Imagining Vietnam: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried’ by
Subarno Chattarji |
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| The Things They Carried: Sweet Heart of the Song Tra Bong Symbolism (three essays) |
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| Student Study Guide addressing many of the stories (Masconomet Regional School District) |
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| "Ambush" Study Guide |
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| Wikipedia Tackles "TTTC" |
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| Book Club
Guide |
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| Study Guide chapter by chapter |
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Lesson Plan from Chicago Humanities Festival (pdf) |
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| Excellent NEA Big Read website with guides and other references |
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| Quiz Time! Do you know how many things they carried? |
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| Book Covers |
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| YouTube Video Not for fun, poignant |
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| Featured on Selected Shorts and read by Dylan Barker |
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| Vocabulary List |
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| NY Times book review from 1990 - Did the reviewer get it right? |
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| "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" made for TV movie broadcast on Showtime. The ending is a mess. |
 Blogging on FREE Classic books for the Kindle |
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| Updated October 28, 2011 |
