The first time I read the book I found the first chapter pretty boring. I was wondering if the whole book was going to go on and on about "things they carried were..." I remember looking past the first chapter to see what else there was actually. I was reading it because I wanted to use it in my classroom and the first chapter made me second guess this! I remember getting frustrated because there were chunks of stories here and there and nothing was completed. I wanted to know more details about Ted Lavender and the dog getting killed and Bowker getting shot into a tree. The small details got me interested but frustrated! ...Maybe an author's technique? I did keep reading...
This time around though I'm enjoying it more because I can appreciate more how he's putting in bits of the story at a time to coax you in. I remember the parts of the story and how attached I got to the characters and how real they all seemed (or possibly fake, we don't know yet, as Emily said).
This time too I'm catching on more to O'brien's artistic writing abilities and how he can make the war sound beautiful and poetic. I guess that's an oxymoron, but I think in this instance, it's true. Beautiful, poetic war mixed with every possible human emotion someone can muster.
Hey! I have never read this story, but I wanted to leave a comment about how you talk about war being beautiful and poetic. I think this is interesting because I feel like words have the power to do this. Often times the subject matter comes second to the way in which something is written. My bf likes scary evil music, but he argues to me that if you actually pay attention, or look up the lyrics (since all you hear is screaming) that they have something to say in beautiful ways. Hmmm. not sure if the hardcore music and Tim O' Brian connection works, but that is all I could think of.
ReplyDeleteps. Like your blog's colors and themes!