corneliadolian's review against another edition
2.0
Full disclosure: I might just not be into absurd/ridiculous war literature. I've been unable to make it through Catch-22.
You know how some books are a bit difficult to get into, but once you're solidly in they're really good? This was the opposite. I had little trouble grabbing onto this imaginative war novel, but boy did I have a hard time going back. The problem was that I didn't feel invested in the story-within-the-story that took up more time than the actual narrative. I'm talking about the parts where they actually go after Cacciato, traveling across Vietnam and other places. The parts I found most interesting were the parts in Vietnam, in the war, and the backstory bits on Paul Berlin and others. All of that was amazing. But it comprised maybe 25% of the novel, while the rest was this ridiculous journey toward Paris that I quickly got bored with. Oh, and the characters became caricatures and the single female in the novel was so annoying I kept hoping she'd die.
I get that O'Brien was trying to make statements about the Vietnam War: all the humping the soldiers did, how the mission was more often than not nebulous and maybe it seemed like the laws of the world didn't apply. But I think that could've been done without the extremely elaborate and draggy heading-to-Paris fantasy. Also, the fact that it was a fantasy annoyed me and diminished my interest.
You know how some books are a bit difficult to get into, but once you're solidly in they're really good? This was the opposite. I had little trouble grabbing onto this imaginative war novel, but boy did I have a hard time going back. The problem was that I didn't feel invested in the story-within-the-story that took up more time than the actual narrative. I'm talking about the parts where they actually go after Cacciato, traveling across Vietnam and other places. The parts I found most interesting were the parts in Vietnam, in the war, and the backstory bits on Paul Berlin and others. All of that was amazing. But it comprised maybe 25% of the novel, while the rest was this ridiculous journey toward Paris that I quickly got bored with. Oh, and the characters became caricatures and the single female in the novel was so annoying I kept hoping she'd die.
I get that O'Brien was trying to make statements about the Vietnam War: all the humping the soldiers did, how the mission was more often than not nebulous and maybe it seemed like the laws of the world didn't apply. But I think that could've been done without the extremely elaborate and draggy heading-to-Paris fantasy. Also, the fact that it was a fantasy annoyed me and diminished my interest.
nicflix's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
emmasophierund's review against another edition
5.0
Tim O’Brien is maybe my favorite author (probably tied with Stephen King). He has a magical way of playing with reality and screwing with your head just enough that it makes you feel really smart when you see what he’s doing. I want more!!!! It’s my new mission to read all his books.
paul_cornelius's review against another edition
3.0
I have begun to think that Tim O'Brien has something of a myopic vision when it comes to Vietnam and Southeast Asia. He simply cannot produce anything beyond a vague image of the settings and atmosphere. There is no feel to his Asia, unlike the case with Graham Greene, W. Somerset Maugham, Norman Lewis, or even other Vietnam War writers such as Michael Herr, Gustav Hasford, or Philip Caputo. And in no fashion can he equal the work of someone such as Christopher Koch. There is always a curtain that seems to hang between the reader and O'Brien's characters and their situations. In some ways, it's like watching an Antonioni film, where physical barriers constantly intrude and block both the viewer and characters from physical and emotional contact with one another.
All of which is underscored when O'Brien turns from the realism of war to the night of imagination and the journey to Paris (and the peace talks). Both Delhi and Paris come alive in detail. The smell, odors, sounds, sights, and people, who seem so muffled and abstract in Southeast Asia, take on a specificity and vividness not apparent in the outpost or on the missions "in reality." This is where O'Brien is comfortable. The West. Asia is forever beyond him, I think. An alien land whose people are faceless villagers; cities which never make more than a token appearance. The best he can do is summon up a single woman from his fantasy, Sarkin Aun Wang, who isn't Vietnamese, although she comes from Cholon, or Chinese, or Cambodian, or Lao, or Burmese. In some vague way, she seems to be of an unidentified hill tribe, someone herself exiled from the main life of South East Asia. She, too, is a refugee. She doesn't belong. Neither does O'Brien.
All of which is underscored when O'Brien turns from the realism of war to the night of imagination and the journey to Paris (and the peace talks). Both Delhi and Paris come alive in detail. The smell, odors, sounds, sights, and people, who seem so muffled and abstract in Southeast Asia, take on a specificity and vividness not apparent in the outpost or on the missions "in reality." This is where O'Brien is comfortable. The West. Asia is forever beyond him, I think. An alien land whose people are faceless villagers; cities which never make more than a token appearance. The best he can do is summon up a single woman from his fantasy, Sarkin Aun Wang, who isn't Vietnamese, although she comes from Cholon, or Chinese, or Cambodian, or Lao, or Burmese. In some vague way, she seems to be of an unidentified hill tribe, someone herself exiled from the main life of South East Asia. She, too, is a refugee. She doesn't belong. Neither does O'Brien.
shelleebee's review against another edition
5.0
Tim O'Brien is a Minnesotan author just recently added to the IB Prescribed Book List. I was thrilled when I saw his name added and decided to include this, his National Book Award winning novel, to the class. What I like best about this book is O'Brien's blend of fiction and reality in order to access the truth. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War and most of his novels are set there or deal significantly with the war. His best-known work is probably The Things They Carried and is a bit shorter and a bit more accessible as a starting point if you are reading just for fun.
joshuadavid1986's review against another edition
4.0
EXACT RATING: 3.75 stars
Read this during my China study abroad and was kind of blown away but also confused. Would probably enjoy it more if I read it again!
Read this during my China study abroad and was kind of blown away but also confused. Would probably enjoy it more if I read it again!
abbyyyedge's review against another edition
4.0
Good and confusing in a good way. Writers blow my mind sometimes. How did Tim O’Brien even figure out how to write this book. It’s a non linear narrative, plus it has a little bit of magical realism (which just matched the dizziness and confusion and mania of the Vietnam war so well, it really blows my mind). I say, don’t read this just because you liked The Things They Carried because it really is very different. But O’Brien’s style (and in some places, you could tell he was drawing from the same Nam memory as he did in TTTC, I’m looking at you, baby water buffalo scene), so it’s like, if you liked TTTC and also separately are interested in the Vietnam war and this novel as it’s own entity and not as a sequel, you’ll like this. Correlation doesn’t equal causation, kiddos.
Anyways I really liked it and Tim O’Brien is such a good writer imo that it’s ok that he pretty much just writes about Vietnam.
Anyways I really liked it and Tim O’Brien is such a good writer imo that it’s ok that he pretty much just writes about Vietnam.
inseparalien's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0