They say every picture tells a story - ROMNEY 1966

[pinboy3niner]

33. I LOVE Tim O'Brien!

But I consider his The Things They Carried the best novel to come out of the Vietnam War (despite some stiff competition from both American and Vietnamese authors).

I read Cacciato first, probably not long after it was published. The platoon's odyssey stuck me as pretty weird--until I reached that delicious moment in the book when the protagonist is sitting in a guard tower on the beach and it becomes clear what is REALLY going on. For me, that one moment resonated and made the book worthwhile.

This is the season when I speak about the war in local schools. The history prof at the local JC uses The Things They Carried as required reading for his class (possibly Cacciato too, but I'm not sure about that). I'll speak to his class in about 2 weeks, then to a series of HS classes (and I think they also are required to read O'Brien).

PS--I've been hoping to meet you and A. at an OLA action. So far I've met Fire, Lefty, ellisonz and Zhade there, some on multiple occasions. I usually can't stay for the GA, though, as I have to catch a Metrolink train back to Lancaster. One of these days...