Reflection

For my final blog over The Things They Carried, I want to reflect over the novel as a whole. I was greatly surprised because I found myself actually enjoying the book. For me, it was a fast and easy read; I felt as if I were in the Vietnam War recalling memories with the author. I have never been the type to like reading war novels, but this did not seem to be as focused on the fighting. It was more focused on the relationships and stories of the Vietnam War, which was much more interesting to me. The friendships in Vietnam were formed quickly and rapidly and remained strong for the entire war; after the war, the bonds were just as strong because of the shared experiences.
Just like any novel, though, there were certain things I didn't really like. The major thing that bothered me that wasn't truly a large part of the novel was the Jimmy Cross/Martha love connection. It truly annoyed me that O'Brien opened the novel with their unrequited love story, but he never ended it. The audience never found out what happened to Martha. An additional thing that I did not like that was more of an overall thing about the novel was the choppiness of the author's writing. I felt that the author jumped around and wrote whatever popped into his head, especially toward the end of the novel. For me this was pretty confusing and tough to understand at times.
Yet overall, I did enjoy reading this book. I learned many things about life from a different point of view. I understood more about the Vietnam War and I understood more about the lives of soldiers. I am thoroughly glad that this was one of the two novels chosen for us to read this summer.