The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.

3/5 rating. 233 pages.

Book #1 of 2023. Read January 2, 2023.

This is a classic book about the Vietnam War.

I honestly don’t really know how to feel about this book. It is written in a short-stories format with Tim recounting a lot of tales from other soldiers. The constant theme throughout the book is that war has no morals and that any war story is mostly made up.

Tim does a good job highlighting the wastefulness and lack of sense that Vietnam had. The soldiers just automatically go on because they have to. His explanation of the fear of embarrassment as well as the guilt of so many soldiers also rings really true.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”

“They all carried ghosts.”

“It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do.”

“He was a witness, like God, or like the gods, who look on in absolute silence as we live our lives, as we make our choices or fail to make them.”

“But this too is true: stories can save us.”

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