Reviews

Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien

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planc25's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

wemedge's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

kayleepopovich's review against another edition

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I was completely unaware of this novel of O'Brien's--I had found it buried in my garage somewhere actually. I had already read The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods and loved O'Brien's forthcoming yet enigmatic style, and Going After Cacciato is no exception. Easily one of my favorites of his, because he captured so well the longing spirit of a soldier's mind to be anywhere but on his or her present state. And although the endings was one of those "...and it was all a dream" clichés, I felt like it added to rather than took away from the character study of Paul Berlin's mind. Cacciato himself was never developed as a character. O'Brien seemed to keep his descriptions of the boy vague and incomplete enough to where Cacciato was always just an ideal or a ghost, rather than a person. This was brilliant, however, because the book was never really about physically going after Cacciato. It was the surreal mental journey of Berlin's on which he lost and then found himself, without ever moving a muscle. The entire novel was like one long daydream.