The Things They Carried

I finished reading Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" a few days back. I've been told that this book it touted to be the best book coming out of the Vietnam war - I can believe it. A great read. If my Chip Kooi hasn't read this one - it's a must read for my pacifist friend.

A few favorite passages:

"A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it..." (68)

"You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty" (69)

"I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." (179)