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The Things They Carried

Book · 1990 · Tim O'Brien

Some things weigh more than a rucksack. Guilt. Grief. The friend who didn't come home. O'Brien shows how to carry them without putting them down. 🎒

Who it's for

O'Brien's linked stories move between the platoon in Vietnam and a middle-aged writer who is still carrying them, and they openly question what makes a war story 'true'.

Guilty / Ashamed→Understood

Feelings it meets

What it is

Tim O'Brien's 1990 book is a collection of linked short stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, with O'Brien appearing as both author and character.

Where to find it

In print (Mariner / HarperCollins), widely in libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Not public domain.

Find it

Before you start

Heads up: A soldier's suicide and graphic war deaths.

Age: Ages 16+

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

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