The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien • 1990
Devastation Rating
Vietnam war truth storytelling
Our Take
O'Brien blurs the line between what happened and what is true — these are not the same, and the difference is the subject. The stories accumulate like inventory: weight, weight, weight. The chapter about the girl in the pink sweater is the most honest thing written about killing, and about what stories do to the act of killing.
Appears In
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