The million-copy bestseller, which is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

'The Things They Carried' is, on its surface, a sequence of award-winning stories about the madness of the Vietnam War; at the same time it has the cumulative power and unity of a novel, with recurring characters and interwoven strands of plot and theme.

But while Vietnam is central to 'The Things They Carried', it is not simply a book about war. It is also a book about the human heart - about the terrible weight of those things we carry through our lives.

About the Author

Tim O'Brien received the National Book Award for Going After Cacciato. Among his books are The Things They Carried, Pulitzer Finalist and a New York Times Book of the Century, and In the Lake of the Woods, winner of the James Fenimore Cooper Prize. He was awarded the Pritzker Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military writing.

Reviews

'One of the best war books of this century, an unflinching attempt to illuminate both its obscene physical brutality and the terrible mental overload' Guardian

'A thrilling and beautiful distillation of everything that has been thought, felt, or said about the Vietnam War and its long afterburn. A heartbreaking and healing masterpiece; time will make it a classic' Michael Herr, author of Dispatches

'Essential...O'Brien captures the war's pulsating rhythms and nerve-racking dangers...a stunning performance. The overall effect of these original tales is devastating' New York Times

Book Information
ISBN 9780006543947
Author Tim O'Brien
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Fourth Estate Ltd
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 180g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 16mm