The Thing's They Carried

O, T. (1990). The things they carried. (1st ed ed., Vol. 15). New York: Broadway.

The Things They Carried was a novel written by Tim O'Brien. It was published in December 1990. The book is a collection of short stories. It is about a soldier who served in the Vietnam War. O'Brien himself served in the Vietnam War. While some parts of the book are about himself he claims some of it is fiction. 

Even though the characters are based on a work of fiction, they show similarities to real soldiers that O'Brien knew during his time in the war. This being a war story, there are some truly disturbing, graphic, and violent scenes. But there are also scenes that are haunting, funny, surreal, or ironic. This
book is recommended for ages ten and up. This novel is a Historical/Realistic Fiction, Memoir. Some activities for the students to do are Identify the protagonist and antagonist of each story. Write an essay on how O'Brien's writing reflects the surreal nature of war. Discuss the symbolism in the book and have your students write an essay on the symbolism in the book. Some questions the teacher could ask is why do you think each man carried certain things? What about these things helps represent each character? Discuss the structure of the work. Do the stories progress in a linear manner? How does the work’s fragmented style contribute to the themes that run through the stories? What were your emotional reactions after reading this book? What was your favorite part and what was your least? Tim O'Brien is a very well known author. He has won numerus awards. Like the National Book Award in fiction -Going After Cacciato. One of his books was also named best novel of the year by Time magazine - In The Lake of the Woods.
The Things They Carried fits perfectly in the historical fiction genre. The story is interesting. The setting is integral to the story. The characters are believable. It is historically accurate. The book is authentic to the time period through dialoge and setting. The book presents a different point of view when learning about the Vietnam War. The readers see the view from a soliders eyes. The readers learn about the time and place better. This book is a classic that will be in schools for a long time to come. It is a wonderful book for older children. This is an unforgettable book.