The Things They Carried (Twentieth Anniversary Edition) Hardcover - 1990

"The Things They Carried" is a powerful and moving collection of interconnected short stories about the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Written by Tim O'Brien, a Vietnam veteran himself, the book explores the physical and emotional weight that soldiers carry with them into battle, and the lasting effects that war can have on individuals and society as a whole.

Through a series of gripping and often heart-wrenching vignettes, O'Brien delves into themes of memory, trauma, loss, and the power of storytelling to make sense of our experiences. He also examines the complexities of human nature and the moral ambiguities of war, showing how soldiers are often forced to confront difficult ethical dilemmas and make impossible choices in the midst of chaos and violence.

A classic, life-changing meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling, with more than two-million copies in print

Depicting the men of Alpha Company—Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three—the stories in The Things They Carried opened our eyes to the nature of war in a way we will never forget. It is taught everywhere, from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing, and in the decades since its publication it has never failed to challenge our perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, and courage, longing, and fear.

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