Military Novels

I started to read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien for next semester. I don't actually know the plot thus far, but so far it is about a guy in Vietnam along with his company, explaining all of the things they carried with them.

I've not read many military books, though I did read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. One of the major criticisms of the book is that the characters are bland with no development and not very deep.



Within the first seven pages of The Things They Carried, not much is said about the characters, or where the plot may be. It reads like a military manual for what is standard to carry while in combat. Much like Haldeman, O'Brien also served in the Vietnam War and since writes military novels.

The military as a whole strips down individualism and attempts to create a fierce killing machine. When translated to fiction, military and war, especially written by veterans, does not read well. Perhaps they write for themselves, or their fellow servicemen, but in terms of storytelling, this type of military fiction is bland. You can get the same amount of excitement out of reading a phone book or the instruction manual for a desk.

While I did enjoy reading The Forever War, I read it with the understanding of where it came from. The spin of an alternate history and futuristic sci-fi may have helped a bit too. However, O'Brien's work is contemporary and not well written. It does nothing to bring the reader in, and if it were not required reading, I would not continue this book past the seventh page.