The Things They Carried: Tim O'Brien
For my junior year in high school English class, I chose to take AP English & Literature. (I thought I was challenging myself, not killing myself...) We were constantly required to read novels and annotate them every single day. Many months ago, (I know it has been a while) we were expected to read a book called The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It is a powerful story with an innovative view on war, the many memories the soldiers carry with them, and what they imagine throughout the war and the rest of their lives. This mind-changing book sold over two million copies in print and has been influencing lives since March 28, 1990. This book is about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and each of its chapters is a short story based off of a true event. Tim O'Brien purposely uses real names of his comrades and also includes himself in this novel. This means that this book is full of metafiction, a technique that authors use in order to mix and blur the li...