The Things They Carried
Well, right off the bat I'd like to state that this first chapter is more engaging and entertaining than all of The Sun Also Rises (TSAR) combined or in any particular part.
First what struck me is the seeming never-ending list of items this regiment carries. At first I sympathized, saying well, sure that's not so fun, but it's not awful. Pound after pound, though, the items kept piling up. Some were objects that everyone had (C-rations, a weapon) and some where specific to a job or a personal item (a medical kit, a picture), yet all were accounted for in weight. This whole chapter, contrary to TSAR, seemed very fluid. Hemingway, it seems to me, is a details kind of guy. There's nothing wrong with that, but the way O'Brien delivers his prose makes it come off as a much more emotional experience, though granted a war story would probably be more emotionally charged than a gang of malcontents eating their brains out. Isn't that a delicious picture?
You know how there's a new version of Pride and Prejudice called Pride and Prejudice and the Zombies? (...which I happen to own but haven't read)
ReplyDeleteThey should make a The Sun Also Rises (for Zombies). Maybe it would be better with literal brain-eating.
...maybe not.
I saw that at Barnes and Noble! It looked intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you call Hemingway a details guy, in contrast to O'Brien, while O'Brien's first chapter might be more detailed than any of Hemingway's writing. I think the key difference, though, is that O'Brien's details add to the tone and mood and several other fancy literary terms of the story, whereas Hemingway's details seem to serve no other purpose than to take up space.
ReplyDeletecheck
ReplyDelete