Reddit Reddit reviews The Things They Carried

We found 16 Reddit comments about The Things They Carried. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Literature & Fiction
Books
Genre Literature & Fiction
War Fiction
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
Check price on Amazon

16 Reddit comments about The Things They Carried:

u/redshasta · 6 pointsr/booksuggestions

Although you are looking for novels related to WWI or WWII, the book The Things They Carried relates to the Vietnam War, but has very little to do with it. The collection of short stories follows a variety of characters with all very different backgrounds. I do not believe you must know a lot about the political context of the war to understand the effects it had on the characters. Lastly, the collection is classified as fiction but there appear to be some very real moments because O'Brien was in the Vietnam War. Worth a quick read.

u/rbp7 · 4 pointsr/thebookclub
u/watsoned · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

The Hobbit is always a favorite of mine. But otherwise, I can never recommend The Things They Carried enough. It's a fictional account of the Vietnam war, but it doesn't always seem that way. It's gritty and doesn't really spare you the horrors of the war and what people going through it had to deal with. Oh, raffle, My favorite book!

ETA: And if I happen to win, I'd love this book, since Dick Van Dyke is possibly my favorite person ever.

u/electric_oven · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

I have mostly nonfiction recommendations, but hope the following are of some use to you! I used these in my classroom in the past year with much success.

I can edit and add more fiction later when I get home, and look over my bookshelf as well.

World War II


"In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Larsen - highly recommend, especially if you are familiar with Larsen's previous book, The Devil in White City


"The Monuments Men" by Robert M. Edsel - highly recommended, especially if you are interested in the juxtaposition of art, war, and espionage.

"Unbroken" - by Laura Hillenbrand, highly recommended. Hillenbrand's command of the language and prose coupled with the true story of Louis makes this a compelling read. Even my most reluctant readers couldn't put this done.

Vietnam War

"The Things They Carried" and "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up, and Ship Me Home" by Tim O'Brien are quintessential war canon. Must reads.

Iraq/Afghanistan/Modern Military Operations:
"The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers was called "the modern AQOTWF" by Tom Wolfe. Pretty poignant book. Absolute MUST READ.


u/thenightisJung · 2 pointsr/booksuggestions

I'm not 100% sure it's what you're looking for, but The Things They Carried is fantastic. It's a collection of short stories about soldiers in the Vietnam War, though I'm not sure if it has the grittiness I think you might be looking for. Worth checking out though. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0618706410

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/Military

i am/ never gonna be published/ won't change names because it takes the reality out of it.

edit: these are the best out there, hands-down, period.

http://zarqawisicecream.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Matterhorn-Novel-Vietnam-Karl-Marlantes/dp/0802145310

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0618706410

u/jewzak · 2 pointsr/ifyoulikeblank

The Things they Carried by Tim Obrien is basically exactly what you described.

I love Slaughterhouse Five!

u/isopropyldreams · 2 pointsr/MorbidReality

A surprising number of these books were assigned reading from classes.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

And I'm currently reading a book recommended by an excellent redditor somewhere in this sub, Mad in America by Robert Whitaker

u/ricklegend · 1 pointr/IAmA

Tim O'Brien: The Things They Carried Great book if you haven't read it.

u/MechAngel · 1 pointr/books

How old is your nephew? Does he prefer books on modern or historic soldiery/warfare? There are a few adult books (like The Things They Carried) I read as a teen that I really enjoyed, but I wouldn't give them to anyone younger than 15 or 16. There are also several juvie books (like My Brother Sam is Dead or Under the Blood Red Sun)that are fantastic reads, but they're mostly historical fiction.

Right now I'm reading The Things a Brother Knows which is shaping up to be excellent, but I'm not nearly far enough along to officially recommend it.

u/DocFreeman · 1 pointr/history

I'm glad you asked! I know you said you like American and more modern history but I'm going to suggest something from a little bit further back.

One of my personal favorites is "A Conspiracy of Paper" by David Liss. It's set in the 1700s in London so it's not too extreme of a culture shift and it's an action/mystery novel that I couldn't put down. It's also really well researched and has a lot of history about one of the earliest stock markets in the world.

http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Paper-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/0804119120/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

If you're feeling a little more bold, check out Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. It's set in the 12th century and it traces the growth of a town into a city over about 100 years. If you like fantasy as a genre, this might be more your thing and it is also has a lot of history about what life was like during the Middle Ages and its a cool mystery/drama to boot.

http://www.amazon.com/Pillars-Earth-Ken-Follett/dp/045123281X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331181793&sr=1-1

Lastly, this is less historical and more of a just a really good read but check out The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It's a collection of war stories from Vietnam and really gets you into the mindset of what it was like to fight over there and then come home. I read it years ago and loved it.

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0618706410/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331181955&sr=1-1

Let me know if you end up liking any of these! Everyone has different tastes so you may find something else you like better but these are the first three that popped into my head.

u/DoctorFork · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

This is from The Things They Carried, which is one of my favorite books of all time. True to your excerpt, it's a very interesting interplay of fiction and autobiography.

u/Yakev · 1 pointr/EnglishLearning

Hi Ivan! If you like military stories you should check out The Things They Carried. This is a book that many American students are required to read in high school and college. I think you'll enjoy it.

u/xdrenched · 0 pointsr/AskReddit

You remind me of Tim O'Brien