Comments on: Tim O’Brien: “How to Tell a True War Story”

By: Uncertain Principles

Uncertain Principles — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 01:32:46 +0000

How to Tell a True Lab Story

A true lab story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper scientific practice, nor restrain graduate students from doing the things that graduate students have always done. If a story seems moral, do not …

By: 7amood

7amood — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 04:31:37 +0000

i thinkk that this bouk is trooly amayzing. Oh’brian goze into extreem deetayl of the war. We anisipayt what he is trying to say by licking his balls. thank you

By: gch

gch — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 01:52:40 +0000

To no name- up yours on the “feel sorry for me” comment. O’Brien isn’t writing for sympathy. He’s telling how it was. His point isn’t about what he went through. It’s about what people go through. To bring and understanding to those not involved. Unfortunately, to people like yourself, who rush to conclusions without the whole story or with intellect too low to comprehend anything complex miss out on his real point. You might also consider that as far as the WWII vets, they may have believed in their cause. Its much easier to not be bitter about that kind of situation, unlike the BS of Vietnam.

By: md

md — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 20:48:34 +0000

I agree with HWS. I read it a long time ago when I was a teenager and anti-war as all get out. It changed my mind about a lot of things. I think I need to read it again, twelve years later, now that my politics have done a 180. Maybe it will change me again.

By: HWS

HWS — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 20:04:14 +0000

If you think The Things They Carried is Anti-War, even Anti-Vietnam, you miss the point. His book is a marvelous illustration of what men go through in war and their desparate attempts to hold on to a shred of humanity when they have to become inhuman to get the job done. More importantly, it’s about the process of memory and time and how it affects our lives and our experiences. O’Brien is a man desparate to hang on to what he became in Vietnam yet at the same time desparate to let it go and finding he can do neither. So he wrote a book…he told a true war story. Don’t generalize about this important book. Try reading it.

By: evilone

evilone — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 18:57:01 +0000

After taking all that time and trouble to kill the little water buffalo, you’d think they would eat it.

I agree with no name. This guy sounds like a liberal hippy that is moaning about a war that is long over. You don’t hear the WWII vets whimpering about how tough it was.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 18:09:26 +0000

Hey No name- You said “He is shouting, “everyone, look at me, pity me, I was in the war and you didn’t love me for it.”

And then all you do for the rest of your post is try to talk about how war is crazy and unbelievable and …. If he can’t describe his stories, then you should also keep quiet.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 13:22:36 +0000

A romanticized version of a short period of time during one long nightmare. Whoopi! I hate it when assholes like this get published. He is shouting, “everyone, look at me, pity me, I was in the war and you didn’t love me for it.”

What he didn’t tell you was when that explosion went off, he probably pissed his pants and started shooting randomly into the bush. It was total chaos for ten minutes. When they were pulling parts down from the tree, someone was off to the side wretching thier guts out. They all argued about who was going to have to give up thier poncho to carry the body. Somebody decided to take advantage of the time it took to gather the guy up and took a nap, or had some food, or masturbated.

He’s trying to humanize something totally inhumane – war. There’s nothing inhumane about torturing an animal when you’ve seen a man crawl twenty yards to collect his leg, just in case they can reattach it…or shot a child because some little prick gave her a grenade and told her to take it to you…or marveled that the man next to you got vaporized by a mortar round and you didn’t even get blood splattered on you…or stitched your own hand that you cut on a piece of shrapnel while shoving some guys bowels back into his stomache.

Don’t buy into the emotions he trys to make you feel. There is fear, pain, anger and guilt…and, overwhelming desire to be any place but where you are.

By: Jim M

Jim M — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 11:20:04 +0000

Good war stories always start:

“There I was. No shit! Knee deep in hand grenade pins….”