I read Tim O’Brien’s powerful novel The Things They Carried, my favorite Viet Nam story, about ten years ago and finally got around to reading If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, his memoir on his time just before and during his term in Viet Nam. If I Die in a Combat Zone is told in a straightforward, linear fashion starting with O’Brien in college, knowing he could be drafted, contemplating heading to Canada as a conscientious objector, giving in to the Midwestern American culture that propagated the myth that “real men” must serve their county, continuing through his time in ’Nam and his return home. 

This is a very personal account that explores a foot soldier’s life in Viet Nam, including the My Lai massacre, the tunnels dug by the Viet Cong, and other hard truths of that war. O’Brien describes in clear, precise language the tedious days of doing nothing, interrupted by intermittent adrenaline-fueled, fear-filled intense action the average solder experiences. He is frustrated with not being able to differentiate the enemy from the locals. O’Brien also wonders how America’s intervention in Vietnam can protect an American’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He questions what makes a man and the morality of the war in a gut-wrenching exploration of war, manliness, courage, and cowardice.

Unlike If I Die in a Combat Zone, The Things They Carried is nonlinear novel with a touch of magical realism, and somehow, the storytelling rises above the factual into the universal and seems to tell more truth than O’Brien’s more factual account. 

********************

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (Crown, August 24, 2011) is available through:

Your local independent bookseller     |     Amazon     |     Barnes & Noble

********************

This post contains affiliate links to third party sites. These can help you visually identify books I recommend. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you. This offsets some of the cost of maintaining this blog.