Was sie trugen (1990)

I wish I'd read this in high school. This is a book that can change a writer's whole world view on his craft. Every page, every story, every sentence, Tim O'Brien walks such a fine line between fiction and non-fiction I didn't even know if that line actually existed or not. It was amazing, manipulative in the most refreshing way. Really, what tied all the stories together wasn't that they all featured the same characters and settings and themes--it was the concreteness of that idea, of how the essence of life flows in and out of truth. And the ambiguity of O'Brien's genre--was he just putting his memory down on paper? or was he making up entire characters, settings, even themes, only inspired by a random thought from his past?--seems like the most powerful method one could use to pinpoint it down on a page and say "This is it--this is what Vietnam was, what life there was, what life is," and actually, totally make the reader feel the essence of the war, and of the soldiers' lives.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is--I had no idea if the stories he was telling were true or false. But I understood what they were trying to say. And my understanding made everything worth it. It's been an hour and I'm still shell-shocked. Some of O'Brien's images and ideas are going to stick with me for a long time.

Beautiful writing. I was especially moved by the final story. ( )

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book. I had to read it for class and I don't always like all the books that I have to read (Beloved is a prime example) and I almost never would have kicked up any of these books on my own. On top of that, this was a war story. Maybe it would be a pity novel, or a story about an American hero. It wasn't. It was a collection of short stories all connected by unifying pain, guilt, and truth. His goal? To keep the dead alive through telling their stories. ( )

Honest. Raw. War is hell. ( )

Collection de nouvelles sur la guerre du Vietnam et ses suites. Un nombre inattendu d'entre elles se déroulent aux États-Unis. De bonnes phrases mais aussi beaucoup de poncifs. Moyen. ( )

I still must approach this book with care. I am not generally a fan of war fiction, but this book goes so far beyond any and all expectations I had. It made me cry. A lot. ( )