“This novel - about the experiences of a group of soldiers before, during and after the Vietnam War - is a mass of contradictions. But please don't let that stop you from reading it!
It's very well written (won several awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer), and yet confusing. The stories are not told in a neat linear timeline. Some of the stories carry a dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish quality. And we all know that dreams don't always make sense!
It reads like a memoir told in the form of short stories. But it's really fiction. Or is it? O'Brien plays with the truth in this book. He WAS a soldier in Vietnam, but these aren't his memoirs. I'm sure that the stories contained in this book were inspired by his time in Vietnam, and perhaps by stories that he heard from other soldiers and vets.
It's hard to read, and yet fascinating and ultimately unforgettable. By hard to read, I mean both somtimes difficult intellectually (because of the aforementioned confusing aspect of the stories), and also difficult emotionally. These men went through Hell on Earth, and when you read these stories you live that with them. But as you read these stories, you bond with the men, just as they bonded with each other. You listen not only to their nightmares, but also stories about their families, their sweethearts, their feelings and their dreams.
The Vietnam War was fought over 30 years ago. But if you read this book, you'll feel like it was yesterday and you were THERE.”