I thought I reviewed this book before, but I'm not seeing a post for it, so I will do it again. This is a loosely connected collection of short stories about soldiers and their experience in the Vietnam War. The first story tells of O'Brien and the Alpha company and the things they carry in the war. Some are intangible, like guilt and love, and some are physical objects. These things they carry are occasionally referred to in later stories as well. This first story was one of my favorites because it gave such a variety of views of the war in such a quick, concise way. I also really liked "On the Rainy River" when O'Brien considers escaping the draft in Canada because of his political views. Some of the stories are told from the viewpoint of 20 years after the war.
I really enjoyed this book, which suprised me, because I am not necessarily a big fan of realistic war stories. It had a good balance in the collection. It is written very well and reads easily. You can fit a short story in any time, which is one of my favorite things about short story collections. This book is definitely worth your time.
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