Book Summary -
This book is basically a collection of vignettes. They are about a platoon of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The title refers to the items that each of the men carried throughout the war and the importance of them to the soldiers. From the soldier who goes crazy and shoots his foot, to the one who dies from being shot in the head, each of the soldiers carries guilt along with actual items. For those who do not die, no one returns the same. This book is violent and bloody, but very realistic.
APA Reference -
O'Brien, T. (1990). The things they carried. New York: Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt.
My Impressions -
One of my teacher friends always used a chapter of this book to teach, and I was always interested in it, but never read it. Since I've never read a book about soldiers during the Vietnam War, I was very interested in reading this. This book was, at time, hard to read. It is quite graphic. It was a great read, though, even when it was a hard read. This book is certainly not for younger readers, and only for older high school students.
Professional Review -
Winner of a National Book Award in 1979 for After Cacciato {LJ 12/15/77), O'Brien again shows his literary stuff with this brilliant collection of short stories, many of which have won literary recognition (several appeared in O. Henry Awards' collections and Best American Short Stories). Each of the 22 tales relates the exploits and personalities of a fictional platoon of American soldiers in
Annichiarico, M. M. (1990). The Things They Carried (Book). Library Journal, 115(3), 212.
Library Uses -
This would be great as a focus during a banned books week. The students could read it and then decide why some chose to ban this book
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