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What Members Thought
Tim O'Brien writes several linked short stories loosely based on his experiences during the Vietnam War. I liked a few of the longer stories but I felt that a lot of the shorter stories were just filler and added as a way to try to make everything connect together. I really disliked O'Brien's writing style. Too many long paragraphs full of short sentences and a lot of repetition. This might have gotten three stars from me if not for the needless animal cruelty in parts of the book. O'Brien doesn
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I feel inadequate to review this amazing book. First, the narrator was fantastic and managed to bring the stories absolutely to life. These linked stories worked on so many different levels: the characters in the stories were entertaining their own right; taken together, the stories are a powerful reflection on the personal losses associated with war. The blending of fact and fiction, and the blurring of the lines between the two, serves to highlight the absurdity of war, at least from an indivi
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I have left this a while since finishing while trying to organise my thoughts about this book. Amidst the mass of 4 and 5 star ratings which lead me to read this, (and glad I did) I'm plunking down 3 stars. The book feels like an unfinished catharsis, written -and well written- by a survivor of the Vietnam war. There are brilliant parts: the chapter which is the book title leaves you wondering how they carried all that stuff, including the psychological burdens, and there are parts that are not
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I read this book on the 30th anniversary of the Viet Nam war. It is a beautifully written book and from there I delved into the author and read 4 or 5 of his other books. I re=read it this past year for my own book club. It makes a very good discussion topic.
What was especially remarkable to me about this book (and some would say it is a collection of short stories, but the books reads like a novel since the same characters are in every story) is that it so perfectly describes the terror of boys ...more
What was especially remarkable to me about this book (and some would say it is a collection of short stories, but the books reads like a novel since the same characters are in every story) is that it so perfectly describes the terror of boys ...more
One of my favorite books ever...
Jul 17, 2008
Lanica
marked it as to-read
Aug 21, 2008
Kate
marked it as to-read
Feb 14, 2009
Haley
marked it as to-read
Aug 20, 2009
Vesra (When She Reads)
added it
Sep 22, 2010
Dingus
is currently reading it
Sep 26, 2011
Harold Ogle
marked it as to-read
Nov 24, 2013
Rebekah
marked it as to-read
