4th Estate

The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien

‘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.

Reviews of The Things They Carried

‘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