One thing I like about this book so far is how the author thoroughly goes through every segment of how life was like during his experiences during the war. I like how he creates a heart wrenching, brilliant and beautiful atmosphere in certain scenes yet violent, devastating and sad when he experiences the loss of loved ones. O’Brien makes you feel like you’re right there, in the middle of the war and doesn’t hesitate to explain his feelings straight up. Something really interesting and confusing about this book is the transition from third person to first person narration. It took me a while and a few group discussions before I finally understood how everything was coming together and who was doing the talking. Also, O’Brien mentioned the soldier’s primary activity was to “hump” along with their burdens of war. “To carry something was to hump it”. I’m not really sure with this term is applying to. I can honestly say that I'm not fully awake during every chapter, or even feel a connection to the story explained above in every chapter. Not even close. But I do feel passionate about this book so far because it interests me, and I have a feeling it will expand my understanding of how war life was like and will change the way I think about the power good and bad conditions hold.
I couldn't agree more with you. like you said when he thoroughly goes through every segment of his life during the war, made this book interesting and was definitely heart wrenching at times. I also was a little confused at first about what it meant to "hump" but after talking to my group reading more of the book i understood what it meant a little better.
“Now, perhaps, you can understand why I’ve never told this story before. It’s not just the embarrassment of tears. That’s part of it, no doubt, but what embarrasses me much more, and always will, is the paralysis that took my heart, A moral freeze: I couldn’t decide, I couldn’t act, I couldn’t comport myself with even a pretense of modest human dignity” (O’Brien 57).
I found this paragraph very significant because it shows what O Brien’s feelings towards the war were, specifically and directly saying it. At the beginning of the chapter, the writer says he has never told this specific story before which immediately releases important information that is rare. He was awestruck and scared by what was going to happen, and tried to run away from the responsibility to serve in the war. The only thing stopping him from not being a part of the war is losing the respect of his family and friends back home. He makes this experience personal by addressing his feelings without hesitance.
I think it took O'Brien a lot of courage to admit that he was, at one point, considering crossing the border to avoid the draft. Canada was so close he could have done it. Then again, he would have faced the shame of his family, and that is what kept him from doing so.
The one thing I like about the book so far is how the author gets really in depth about his time in Vietnam. He tells story from his personal experience from war, and explains how they have shaped and changed his personality over time. One of the most interesting thing would be how O'Brien changes the story from first person to third person at times. This change really makes the story must more confusing, and hard to follow and understand. So up until our first group meeting I was a little bit confused about the plot. Another thing that was interesting was that they used hump as another word for walking. I thought that was a really weird that they used that specific word for walking. One thing that really confused me was the jumping around of time periods. One chapter he's in Vietnam than the next he's in the present day or is in Canada. So this made the story hard to focus on at certain points. Personally I'm some what hooked onto this book, but I'm also not as well. Because the layout of the story isn't that well played out for me. My attention can be completely off the plot, but then there's certain occasions that it is. Hopefully that will change, so then I could begin to truly appreciate the authors story.
I agree! The change of time periods was a major roadblock for me and I had to go back multiple times to fully understand how everything was coming together. Also, our group discussion about this confusion was a huge bonus to understanding things right on the spot.
"When she was nine, my daughter Kathleen asked if I had ever killed anyone. She knew about the war; she knew I'd been a solider. "You keep writing these war stores," she said, "so I guess you must've killed somebody." It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, "Of course not,"..." Page 131
I choose this specific quote because it showed how O'Briens life after the war is continuously reminded of his past. Even his nine year old daughter knows that her father war experience has truly impacted his life. So its pretty obvious that his personality is shaped from his experiences in Vietnam. I really like this quote because it shows who O'Brien is as a person. When his daughter asked if he has ever killed anyone before, since hes always writing war stories. Being the kind of father you expect anyone to be he says no, so that he wouldn't be seen as some kind of bad man to his daughter. I understand why he wouldn't tell her the truth because I don't think anyone would want to tell their nine year old daughter that. But then O'Brien begins to say he wish he could tell her the truth. At that point he goes into detail and creates a story surrounding the man he killed. He makes that experience give off a real sorrow feeling, so that its obvious that killing that man hasn't left his conscious.
Tim O’ Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried” encouraged me to start my own “journal” and free-write whatever experience I go through that leaves a footprint in my life, good and bad. This book is based on the narrator’s real-life experiences during the Vietnam War. O’Brien has no other choice but to join the war, and literally has to pause his life for a second to fight in the war whether he supports it or not. One thing I liked about this book is the significance of the title and how it contributes to not only the physical burdens (equipment) the soldiers had to carry, but mostly non-physical burdens they carry along with them. Examples of things they carried are precisely on page 7, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried”. One thing I didn’t like about the book is the violence that was inflicted upon innocent animals and people, and how the author managed to describe every heroic scene in detail. An example is when they killed the baby buffalo; O’Brien portrayed the scene as sad because the war was tearing them apart which led to their monstrous behavior. Even though this novel is fictional the characters’ background of their life couldn’t seem more realistic when the author provided information about what each individual cherished most and kept them going. My first impression about the book was thinking it would be really boring and similar to other war stories, until I realized that this was no ordinary story about one’s experience in the war. I would definitely recommend this book to others, mostly people who enjoy unsolved mystery or adventure stories because readers can get an idea of what it’s like to read a novel based on honesty and courage. O’Brien hides nothing. This novel was published in 1990. Even though this book is fiction, the author believes that “storytelling truth is often truer than the “real” truth and that people create and live their lives with the help of memory and imagination”. That is what makes this book readable and special.
Why did you enjoy this book? i thought it was boring and pointless. The author did make some good points, and tell a detailed story, but i think the author got a little too-in-depth with detail and drug the book out, making it boring.
I agree with you about how they treated the animals. it was horrific and extremely graphic, but i think that it made the book more interesting because hes going to such good detail on all wired and strange things that they did when they were there.
One ting I like about this book is that it’s based in the Vietnam War era. I like the way O’Brien describes his experience there in really graphic details. The specific stories that he tells of himself and his group is fascinating, and interesting. Overall this book is boring and hard to get into at first but then it becomes more interesting and easy to get into as you read further. As you hear more of O’Brien’s stories you find the things they do or did really interesting and wired and you want to read more and find out what other wired or abnormal things they did. For example they found this baby water buffalo and one guy went crazy and started shooting it but did in a way were the animal would still be alive and wouldn’t die. I found this to be wired and interesting because, of the way it happened and how it happened and it made me want to continue reading the book and see what other wired things they have done. A lot of events happen in this book that you would not expect to happen or think of happening during the Vietnam War, or in any war and after reading some of things that had happened it makes you think twice on what really happens during a war.
My own personal view of censorship in today’s world is a mixture of, “yes banning books is good because it indicates that there is obviously something inappropriate about the book, giving it a good ‘warning’ to the innocent individuals before they get themselves into something hectic and censured” but then also pointless because every person has every right not to read a book if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Banning books from a school library on the other hand is something else, we’re talking about young adolescents here and how most of them intend to indulge what they read into their daily lives. It is true that every person should have the freedom to read whatever they want but to an extent, depending on age and the level of maturity one can obtain. A student’s role when a library book is banned is to research background information on why it was banned in order to get an idea of what the book is about. They can decide whether or not it’s too much for them from then on, and the student will then be aware of what they’ll be getting themselves into and how it will impact their life. I think it is reasonable and fair to ban a library book at Centennial if it’s too violent or offensive to not just one or two people but a larger amount of people that are concerned. “The Things They Carried” was banned because of “offensive language, disrespect for adult and political authority, and emotionally disturbing scenes including war-time violence, death and cruelty.” I honestly don’t see anything wrong about this book. If reading about violence affects someone that much then I’m not sure how they handle hearing outrageous/explicit news in person.
“The war wasn’t all terror and violence; sometimes things could almost be sweet.”-chapter 3, Pg: 31 I find this quote do be important, because I believe that war isn’t always bad. I believe that it can be good at times. I understand that when you normally here the word war you usually think fighting, guns, military, violence. But sometimes in war sweet things happen. For example when a soldier sees a mother and child who lost their home recently from acts of war standing there on the side of the road hungry a soldier may give her there c-rations to try and help them. So I specifically find this quote important because, I believe that it’s a true statement. I like this quote a lot as well because it defies what most people would think about war, which I think most people need to understand. I chose this quote because I want other people to understand that even war is bad that some good does come out of it. Yes there may be bad things that happen. Sometime more bad then good, but there is still some good in war.
This book takes place during the Vietnam War era, and is explained through the eyes of Tim O’Brien. After reading this book I do have to say it is a pretty good book. I would definitely recommend people to read it. It may be slow and a little boring during the beginning, but as you read on it gets better. They way O’Brien explains all the things that happened in such good detail makes it really easy to get interested in this book. When you read about all the wired and interesting things that you don’t expect or imagine happening in a war, makes you want to continue reading on and on to see what others things they did. this book may be confusing at times though, because as O’Brien tells these different stories he tries to explain how to tell whether a war story is true or not. He also sometimes jumps from story quickly which makes it a little hard to understand what’s happening but it also keeps you on your toes. The other of this book is the same guy in the book. Most of what happened are true stories and things that he’s experienced during the war. He’s written quite a few other books about his experiences and stuff which after reading this book I would definitely like to try and check out his other stories. Overall I think that this is a good book if your interested in the strange and wired things that happen in war.
I believe that censorship may be a good thing in some ways. Censorship protects people from seeing or reading things that are not meant for them because they are too young. I do agree that if a book is really bad is should be banned. I also think though that it’s a person’s choice to read that book or not and decide if they should read it or not. in my opinion I think some books are getting banned when they shouldn’t. After t listening to all the other groups talk about their book the stuff I hear happening is are things that we hear and see every day, so I don’t see the point in banning them because it won’t make a difference if you do. But if a book has things that are no commonly heard a lot or seen and has extremely graphic and horrific things then yes it should be banned from schools at the very least. The book I was reading “the things they carried” may have had some violence and some graphic and horrific things but they are facts which I don’t think facts should get banned, plus I most people have seen and heard a lot worse things. So in my honest opinion I don’t see any reason why my book should be banned.
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ReplyDeleteNaomi
ReplyDeleteAssignment #1
One thing I like about this book so far is how the author thoroughly goes through every segment of how life was like during his experiences during the war. I like how he creates a heart wrenching, brilliant and beautiful atmosphere in certain scenes yet violent, devastating and sad when he experiences the loss of loved ones. O’Brien makes you feel like you’re right there, in the middle of the war and doesn’t hesitate to explain his feelings straight up. Something really interesting and confusing about this book is the transition from third person to first person narration. It took me a while and a few group discussions before I finally understood how everything was coming together and who was doing the talking. Also, O’Brien mentioned the soldier’s primary activity was to “hump” along with their burdens of war. “To carry something was to hump it”. I’m not really sure with this term is applying to. I can honestly say that I'm not fully awake during every chapter, or even feel a connection to the story explained above in every chapter. Not even close. But I do feel passionate about this book so far because it interests me, and I have a feeling it will expand my understanding of how war life was like and will change the way I think about the power good and bad conditions hold.
I couldn't agree more with you. like you said when he thoroughly goes through every segment of his life during the war, made this book interesting and was definitely heart wrenching at times. I also was a little confused at first about what it meant to "hump" but after talking to my group reading more of the book i understood what it meant a little better.
DeleteNaomi
ReplyDeleteAssignment #2
“Now, perhaps, you can understand why I’ve never told this story before. It’s not just the embarrassment of tears. That’s part of it, no doubt, but what embarrasses me much more, and always will, is the paralysis that took my heart, A moral freeze: I couldn’t decide, I couldn’t act, I couldn’t comport myself with even a pretense of modest human dignity” (O’Brien 57).
I found this paragraph very significant because it shows what O Brien’s feelings towards the war were, specifically and directly saying it. At the beginning of the chapter, the writer says he has never told this specific story before which immediately releases important information that is rare. He was awestruck and scared by what was going to happen, and tried to run away from the responsibility to serve in the war. The only thing stopping him from not being a part of the war is losing the respect of his family and friends back home. He makes this experience personal by addressing his feelings without hesitance.
I think it took O'Brien a lot of courage to admit that he was, at one point, considering crossing the border to avoid the draft. Canada was so close he could have done it. Then again, he would have faced the shame of his family, and that is what kept him from doing so.
DeleteThe one thing I like about the book so far is how the author gets really in depth about his time in Vietnam. He tells story from his personal experience from war, and explains how they have shaped and changed his personality over time. One of the most interesting thing would be how O'Brien changes the story from first person to third person at times. This change really makes the story must more confusing, and hard to follow and understand. So up until our first group meeting I was a little bit confused about the plot. Another thing that was interesting was that they used hump as another word for walking. I thought that was a really weird that they used that specific word for walking. One thing that really confused me was the jumping around of time periods. One chapter he's in Vietnam than the next he's in the present day or is in Canada. So this made the story hard to focus on at certain points. Personally I'm some what hooked onto this book, but I'm also not as well. Because the layout of the story isn't that well played out for me. My attention can be completely off the plot, but then there's certain occasions that it is. Hopefully that will change, so then I could begin to truly appreciate the authors story.
ReplyDelete-Javontae
Assignment #1
I agree! The change of time periods was a major roadblock for me and I had to go back multiple times to fully understand how everything was coming together. Also, our group discussion about this confusion was a huge bonus to understanding things right on the spot.
Delete"When she was nine, my daughter Kathleen asked if I had ever killed anyone. She knew about the war; she knew I'd been a solider. "You keep writing these war stores," she said, "so I guess you must've killed somebody." It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, "Of course not,"..." Page 131
ReplyDeleteI choose this specific quote because it showed how O'Briens life after the war is continuously reminded of his past. Even his nine year old daughter knows that her father war experience has truly impacted his life. So its pretty obvious that his personality is shaped from his experiences in Vietnam. I really like this quote because it shows who O'Brien is as a person. When his daughter asked if he has ever killed anyone before, since hes always writing war stories. Being the kind of father you expect anyone to be he says no, so that he wouldn't be seen as some kind of bad man to his daughter. I understand why he wouldn't tell her the truth because I don't think anyone would want to tell their nine year old daughter that. But then O'Brien begins to say he wish he could tell her the truth. At that point he goes into detail and creates a story surrounding the man he killed. He makes that experience give off a real sorrow feeling, so that its obvious that killing that man hasn't left his conscious.
-Javontae
Assignment#2
Naomi
ReplyDeleteAssignment #3
Tim O’ Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried” encouraged me to start my own “journal” and free-write whatever experience I go through that leaves a footprint in my life, good and bad. This book is based on the narrator’s real-life experiences during the Vietnam War. O’Brien has no other choice but to join the war, and literally has to pause his life for a second to fight in the war whether he supports it or not. One thing I liked about this book is the significance of the title and how it contributes to not only the physical burdens (equipment) the soldiers had to carry, but mostly non-physical burdens they carry along with them. Examples of things they carried are precisely on page 7, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried”. One thing I didn’t like about the book is the violence that was inflicted upon innocent animals and people, and how the author managed to describe every heroic scene in detail. An example is when they killed the baby buffalo; O’Brien portrayed the scene as sad because the war was tearing them apart which led to their monstrous behavior. Even though this novel is fictional the characters’ background of their life couldn’t seem more realistic when the author provided information about what each individual cherished most and kept them going. My first impression about the book was thinking it would be really boring and similar to other war stories, until I realized that this was no ordinary story about one’s experience in the war. I would definitely recommend this book to others, mostly people who enjoy unsolved mystery or adventure stories because readers can get an idea of what it’s like to read a novel based on honesty and courage. O’Brien hides nothing. This novel was published in 1990. Even though this book is fiction, the author believes that “storytelling truth is often truer than the “real” truth and that people create and live their lives with the help of memory and imagination”. That is what makes this book readable and special.
Why did you enjoy this book? i thought it was boring and pointless. The author did make some good points, and tell a detailed story, but i think the author got a little too-in-depth with detail and drug the book out, making it boring.
DeleteJordan Dennis Assignment 3 Part 2
I agree with you about how they treated the animals. it was horrific and extremely graphic, but i think that it made the book more interesting because hes going to such good detail on all wired and strange things that they did when they were there.
DeleteAustin Patton Assignment#3 part 2
Austin
ReplyDeleteAssignment#1
One ting I like about this book is that it’s based in the Vietnam War era. I like the way O’Brien describes his experience there in really graphic details. The specific stories that he tells of himself and his group is fascinating, and interesting. Overall this book is boring and hard to get into at first but then it becomes more interesting and easy to get into as you read further. As you hear more of O’Brien’s stories you find the things they do or did really interesting and wired and you want to read more and find out what other wired or abnormal things they did. For example they found this baby water buffalo and one guy went crazy and started shooting it but did in a way were the animal would still be alive and wouldn’t die. I found this to be wired and interesting because, of the way it happened and how it happened and it made me want to continue reading the book and see what other wired things they have done. A lot of events happen in this book that you would not expect to happen or think of happening during the Vietnam War, or in any war and after reading some of things that had happened it makes you think twice on what really happens during a war.
Naomi
ReplyDeleteAssignment #4
My own personal view of censorship in today’s world is a mixture of, “yes banning books is good because it indicates that there is obviously something inappropriate about the book, giving it a good ‘warning’ to the innocent individuals before they get themselves into something hectic and censured” but then also pointless because every person has every right not to read a book if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Banning books from a school library on the other hand is something else, we’re talking about young adolescents here and how most of them intend to indulge what they read into their daily lives. It is true that every person should have the freedom to read whatever they want but to an extent, depending on age and the level of maturity one can obtain. A student’s role when a library book is banned is to research background information on why it was banned in order to get an idea of what the book is about. They can decide whether or not it’s too much for them from then on, and the student will then be aware of what they’ll be getting themselves into and how it will impact their life. I think it is reasonable and fair to ban a library book at Centennial if it’s too violent or offensive to not just one or two people but a larger amount of people that are concerned. “The Things They Carried” was banned because of “offensive language, disrespect for adult and political authority, and emotionally disturbing scenes including war-time violence, death and cruelty.” I honestly don’t see anything wrong about this book. If reading about violence affects someone that much then I’m not sure how they handle hearing outrageous/explicit news in person.
“The war wasn’t all terror and violence; sometimes things could almost be sweet.”-chapter 3, Pg: 31
ReplyDeleteI find this quote do be important, because I believe that war isn’t always bad. I believe that it can be good at times. I understand that when you normally here the word war you usually think fighting, guns, military, violence. But sometimes in war sweet things happen. For example when a soldier sees a mother and child who lost their home recently from acts of war standing there on the side of the road hungry a soldier may give her there c-rations to try and help them. So I specifically find this quote important because, I believe that it’s a true statement. I like this quote a lot as well because it defies what most people would think about war, which I think most people need to understand. I chose this quote because I want other people to understand that even war is bad that some good does come out of it. Yes there may be bad things that happen. Sometime more bad then good, but there is still some good in war.
Assignment - 2
This book takes place during the Vietnam War era, and is explained through the eyes of Tim O’Brien. After reading this book I do have to say it is a pretty good book. I would definitely recommend people to read it. It may be slow and a little boring during the beginning, but as you read on it gets better. They way O’Brien explains all the things that happened in such good detail makes it really easy to get interested in this book. When you read about all the wired and interesting things that you don’t expect or imagine happening in a war, makes you want to continue reading on and on to see what others things they did. this book may be confusing at times though, because as O’Brien tells these different stories he tries to explain how to tell whether a war story is true or not. He also sometimes jumps from story quickly which makes it a little hard to understand what’s happening but it also keeps you on your toes. The other of this book is the same guy in the book. Most of what happened are true stories and things that he’s experienced during the war. He’s written quite a few other books about his experiences and stuff which after reading this book I would definitely like to try and check out his other stories. Overall I think that this is a good book if your interested in the strange and wired things that happen in war.
ReplyDeleteAssignment- 3
I believe that censorship may be a good thing in some ways. Censorship protects people from seeing or reading things that are not meant for them because they are too young. I do agree that if a book is really bad is should be banned. I also think though that it’s a person’s choice to read that book or not and decide if they should read it or not. in my opinion I think some books are getting banned when they shouldn’t. After t listening to all the other groups talk about their book the stuff I hear happening is are things that we hear and see every day, so I don’t see the point in banning them because it won’t make a difference if you do. But if a book has things that are no commonly heard a lot or seen and has extremely graphic and horrific things then yes it should be banned from schools at the very least. The book I was reading “the things they carried” may have had some violence and some graphic and horrific things but they are facts which I don’t think facts should get banned, plus I most people have seen and heard a lot worse things. So in my honest opinion I don’t see any reason why my book should be banned.
ReplyDeleteAssignment#4