The story of the men of the Alpha Company during the Vietnam War. During this story, we learn the stories of these men, and their lives before, during, and after the war. It is not told through one specific person, but instead takes turns in telling the stories of each member through their perspectives, or their fellow soldiers’.
I was honestly blown away by this book. I am usually not one for war stories, but my friend spoke highly of it so I decided to give it a read, and I sure am happy I did. O’Brien does a brilliant job of telling the story of these men and the Vietnam. Told through vignettes, each one tells I completely different story, but they were all able to intertwine to create the masterpiece that is The Things They Carried. An emotional and raw telling of how war impacts humans differently. Something that I loved was how O’Brien went back and forth between him being the narrator, and then either having a first person or third person narrator when it came to the soldiers’ stories. Since O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran himself, I felt like the story had an extra sense of reality added, and I think I appreciated the story more knowing that the author really did have these types of experiences. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this book. I would recommend it to absolutely anyone, even to those who don’t like war stories, like myself.