Why people recommend it
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is a powerful collection of interrelated semi-autobiographical stories about American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, exploring the psychological weight of combat, memory, and storytelling. David Wyatt discussed the book on EconTalk while analyzing Hemingway's lasting literary influence, noting its status as a widely anthologized 20th-century work. Ben Bowlin brought up the book on Stuff They Don't Want You To Know to highlight the critical debate over whether the text should be classified as a cohesive novel or a collection of short stories. Reginald Dwayne Betts mentioned including the work in the Freedom Reads collection on People I (Mostly) Admire. Margaret MacMillan, Greg Cowles, and Pamela Paul discussed the novel on The Book Review, noting how it vividly captured the reality of the Vietnam War, complemented discussions of war literature, and explored themes of dark humor and human exaggeration, which was also echoed by a listener on No Stupid Questions.
Who recommended it
- Ben Bowlin Discussed
- Reginald Dwayne Betts Discussed
- David Wyatt Discussed
- Margaret MacMillan Discussed
- Greg Cowles Discussed
- Pamela Paul Discussed
Ben Bowlin — 2 mentions
“for instance uh you know a great a great debate uh covering the things they carry is whether that should be evaluated as a cohesive novel or whether it's a series of interrelated short stories”
“For instance uh you know a great a great debate uh covering the things they carry is whether that should be evaluated as a cohesive novel or whether it's a series of interrelated short stories”
Reginald Dwayne Betts — 2 mentions
“yesterday actually I was having lunch with somebody and he said the things they carry and I was like of course we have Tim O'Brien in the collection”
“yesterday actually I was having lunch with somebody and he said the things they carry and I was like of course we have Tim O'Brien in the collection”
David Wyatt — 1 mention
“I just read a biography of Tim O'Brien, you know, the author of The Things They Carried. Who is probably that story? The Things They Carried is the most anthologized reprinted story I think written in the 20th century.”
Margaret MacMillan — 1 mention
“I mean I felt I learned a lot about the Vietnam War for example when I read Tim O'Brien's extraordinary novel The Things They Carried which gave me a sense of what it was like”
Greg Cowles — 1 mention
“Greg the whole time that you're talking about this I'm thinking of Tim O'Brien The Things They carry which came out far later”
Pamela Paul — 1 mention
“even like uh The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien which I don't think anyone would call that a funny book”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“the best summary on the apparent human need to exaggerate I have heard comes from the short story sweetheart of the song trong which is part of Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried so I thought I would share a short quote with you among the men in Alpha Company rat had a reputation for exaggeration and overstatement”