I could have easily have given this collection 5 stars. The narrative is powerful, evocative and highly emotional, especially in the earlier stories included here. The title piece is actually my favorite, and it is cunningly put as the opening gambit in this sequence of interconnected anecdotes a...
For me, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried is the most powerful book that I have every read and it's the standard against which I judge all things O'Brien. In The Things They Carried, O'Brien utilizes a nonlinear and fragmented narrative structure, magical realism, and the power of storytelli...
Going After Cacciato's preface is: Soldiers are dreamers ~ Siegfried Sassoon which gives you an idea of the story inside. We follow Spec Four Paul Berlin, Doc, Eddie Lazzutti, Harold Murphy, Stink, Oscar and Lt Corson as they go after Cacciato, who split, gone AWOL and headed to Paris, on foot, f...
On Sunday, May 5th, 2013, the oceanfront town of Lincoln City, OR set a record temperature of 86 degrees. I know, both because I read about it and because I was there. This heat spike, 32 degrees above average, filled an Oregon coast most often described (and rightfully praised) as brooding or ...
Eh...First off... I think I've read this book before. If not this one, one very similar to it. As I was reading it (and steadily loathing the main character more and more), I felt like I had experienced some of this before. Something was triggering a memory for me. You know, that whole 'Great Ame...
A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE THINGS THEY CARRIED Originally published in 1975, Tim O'Brien's debut novel demonstrates the emotional complexity and enthralling narrative tension that later earned him the National Book Award. At its core is the relationship between t...
Mad Mark said quietly, “we are sending out an ambush.”It was near dusk, and the lieutenant had his map spread out in the dirt in front of a foxhole. His squad leaders were grouped in a circle around him, watching where he drew Xs, taking notes. Mad Mark pointed at a spot on the map, circled it, a...
Hypothesis Or maybe she'd left him long ago, in the summer of 1983, when she flew off to meet Harmon in Boston. In the years that followed she had mostly kept the secret inside, where it was like a weight that had to be carried through her life and marriage, and maybe one day it became too much f...
Aunt Ella said. “I’d rather do without meat than butter, now that I’ve gotten used to having it again.” “Well, with any luck, you won’t have to do without meat for supper. I’m going squirrel hunting this afternoon,” announced Uncle Jed. “I’ll try to catch some bluegills after I see Mrs. Brown, in...