Book+Group+7-Period+3

The Things They Carried



Author: __Tim O'Brien__

Pages: __246__

Genre of Novel: __Fiction__

Most Recent Works: // __July, July__ //

__// The Things They Carried: //__ A novel written by Tim O'Brien, about a team of soldiers in the Vietnam War. It is written in third person about a character, Tim O'Brien and his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company. The narrator describes events of the soldiers and the things they brought on their missions. A number of the things are intangible, such as wrongdoings and dismay, while the others are distinct physical items, including things like M-16 rifles, and M&M's candy. This is a book that really interests us because it describes the personal lives of the soldiers out on the field in Vietnam. We all enjoy watching movies and any TV shows about past wars and the lives of the soldiers out on the field. This book does just that, which provokes us to be interested a lot more and read more. //The Things They Carried//, has been recommended by many and has received many awards and also numerous amounts of great reviews. I've always been interested in books like these and seeing all these reviews just makes me even more interested to read it. It is a perfect choice for a book, and will definitely bring a lot of conversations to the meetings. __The Things They Carried__ is a good choice for our independent reading book this marking period because this is definitely something that us boys will be interested in. Instead of reading something that is going to lose our focus in a matter of a few pages, a book like this relating to war is something that will make us not want to put the book down. War is something that has an everlasting effect on everyone and is something that we are going to live with for the rest of our lives. In this book, talks about the soldiers experiences with the Vietnam War, one of the nastiest wars in American History. This book shows a lot of emotions between the soldiers and how they deal with their war experiences and anxiety. I am eager to read this book and discuss it among my fellow group members.
 * // Proposal: //**

__** Reviews: **__

" Many people think this is the best work of fiction ever written about Vietnam. Some even think it is the best work of fiction ever written about war. Both are right, and they were right 20 years ago when this book came out for the first time." John Greenya (Washington Times) "Twenty years later, in 1990, he published this book. To say it was successful would be an understatement. “The Things They Carried” won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger. It deserved to win them." John Greenya (Washington Times) "They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to." (Amazon.com)

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0767902890

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/2/book-review-the-things-they-carried/?page=all = = =Characters:= Lieutenant Jimmy Cross- is in the alpha company. He fantasises about a girl named Martha, from New Jersey. He carries Pictures and letters from Martha, but he knows she doesnt love Him. I like that he went to college in NewJersey.

Tim O'Brien- He is the narrartor. I think it is very cliché, in a good way, that he spends time describing all the things the men carried with them, it sets up an interesting book.

Henry Dobbins- He is the machine gunner. He is very large, so he has to carry extra food with him. Also he is supersticious so he wears his girlfriends pantyhose around his neck.

Ted Lavender- was in the alpha company, but he died. He was explained by O'brien to be carrying pot and tranquilizers to calm him down. It is too bad that he died, he didn't seem to be doing anybody wrong.

The Things They Carried Meeting 1

The Things They Carried Meeting 2

The Things They Carried Meeting 3