Notes – “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”: The allure of identity, of self-actualization, becomes a drug like no other. Rat tells the story of Mary Anne Bell, the sweetheart and non-combatant set loose in the jungles of Vietnam. The environment changes the person, and Mary Anne is no exception. Wanting, needing, craving, Mary […]

  Notes – “How to Tell a True War Story”: Beautifully, the writer explains his perception of the craft. How can any civilian ever begin to imagine what war is actually like, and especially what a true war story could possibly mean without ever having gone through the experience first-hand? The war story reflects the […]

  Notes – “On the Rainy River”: Decisions, decisions: To run, or to remain. On the path of no beginning and no end, O’Brien proceeds in the direction of his calling . . . whichever way it may be. With the reality of the pig slaughterhouse behind him, and the refuge of Canada just across […]

  Notes – “Love” and “Spin”: The narrator, Tim O’Brien, chooses to include the reader in the crafting of the stories by explaining that he is also a/the writer. By writing about writing, what writing is like, how to write, the narrator/author informs the reader of aspects of his life that otherwise may not be […]

  Notes – “The Things They Carried”: The things they carried were not merely things, but also persons, places and ideas. The missions, the memories, the superstitions, communal carrying, weight, pressure, gravity, all these things are the things people carry, and all these things are amplified by the circumstance of war.   Quotes – “The […]