Author to speak on similarities of Vietnam War to Iraq and Afghanistan
Published: October 20, 2009
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
e-mail this
share this
Author Tim O'Brien will discuss his book, "The Things They Carried," Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Marywood University's Sette LaVerghetta Center for the Performing Arts.
As a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, Tim O'Brien said he sees a number of similarities between that war and the current one on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The uncanny similarity is, as a soldier, you don't know who your enemy is. You don't know who you are supposed to shoot at," said Mr. O'Brien, whose book, "The Things They Carried," is the subject of this year's Scranton Reads: One City, One Book program.
The eighth annual event encourages local residents to read and discuss various classic books.
Called "The Big Read," the program is run by the National Endowment for the Arts, which distributes grants to cities to participate across the country.
Scranton Public Library is one of 117 organizations in the country to receive grants. This year's local grant is being used to sponsor Mr. O'Brien's appearance, book discussions, a film festival and many other events related to the book.
A 1990 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, Mr. O'Brien will be the featured speaker Oct. 29 at Marywood University's Sette LaVerghetta Center for the Performing Arts.
Autobiographical tale
"The Things They Carried" depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and, of course, the character Tim O'Brien, loosely based on the author. The book covers not only the wartime experiences and survival of his tour in Vietnam but also his post-war story of becoming a father and later a writer at the age of 43.
Mr. O'Brien, now 62, said he was "too young to remember" how old he was when he was called to duty.
"What I do know is that I was right out of college and I was thinking 'why me?,'" he said.
He said he was fortunate to be released early from his tour of duty. "They had an early release program at the time, so I took advantage of that," he said.
The book highlights the relationships of soldiers and how many of them were isolated and lonely, Mr. O'Brien said.
"Mostly, by reading the book, you get insight and you get to be as close as you can to the soldiers," he said.
"You get to hear their voices as they miss their girlfriends and buddies back home. You get to understand their rage and fear and you get to hear the stories they tell of themselves."
Told as fiction
Mr. O'Brien said his scheduled speech at Marywood will address how he came up with the idea to write the book and why he chose to pen it as a work of fiction, although it is loosely based on his tour of duty during the Vietnam war.
"Vietnam is constantly referred to in the political rhetoric in what we're doing in Iraq and Afghanistan," Mr. O'Brien said. "The thing that strikes me now is that the soldiers today are just like we were in Vietnam. They have a frustration because there is no front or rear, no visible enemy, but lots of land-mine casualties. On occasion, there is a firefight but, largely, the soldiers don't know who they are fighting against."
He explains that, as in Vietnam, soldiers are mostly fighting "the idea of an enemy more than they are a physical enemy."
With that in mind, Mr. O'Brien said his speech also will address the psychology of being in the middle of an unconventional war and the dangers that accompany it.
CONTACT THE WRITER: sbrown@timesshamrock.com If you go
What: Scranton Reads: One City, One Book presents an Evening with Tim O'Brien.
Where: Marywood University, Sette LaVerghetta Center for the Performing Arts
When: Oct. 29, 7 p.m.
Details: Author Tim O'Brien will discuss his book, "The Things They Carried," as part of Scranton Reads: One City, One Book program. Tickets are free and available at the Albright Memorial Library, Marywood University, Penn State Worthington Scranton Library and the University of Scranton's Weinberg Memorial Library. For more information, call 348-3000.
3 posted comments