Comments on: Tim O’Brien

By: Timmy Riordan

Timmy Riordan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:16:27 +0000

One of the finest books I’ve ever read. The prose is simple, graceful and understated. Tim’s been a huge influence on how I approach storytelling and songwriting. I feel like every time I read the book I learn something new about the characters. I’ve kept a copy on my bookshelf on and off for years, letting folks borrow it, giving it away and buying a new copy when it seems to be the right time. It may be time to buy a new copy.

By: Angela Whitacre

Angela Whitacre — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:10:19 +0000

I read Tim O’Brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried,” in a college writing class recently. The teacher called it a tour de force, which is probably an understatement. It’s a story I will never forget. The instructor described it as a story told through a sort of inventory of stuff that these American soldiers in Vietnam carried. I suppose that’s a simple way of putting it. It reminded me that our own stories can be told through the things we carry, the relics of our lives, the artifacts of our own existence. If you’ve ever had to go through the possessions of a loved one who has passed on, then you know. And it always makes me wonder what kind of story will be put together from my things when I pass on, how much will be true and how much will be fiction.

One of the students brought the story home to her dad, who is a Vietnam Veteran, and it brought him to tears and opened up a dialogue between them that had never existed before. To me, that is storytelling at its finest.

Thanks, Mr. Pressfield, for sharing this interview. I’m so glad to know Mr. O’Brien has a book-length version of the story. I will have to find a copy.

By: Darrelyn Saloom

Darrelyn Saloom — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:08:59 +0000

Great interview, Steven. I, too, have been recommending O’Brien’s short story collection for years. I gave it to my three sons to read. One son choose to write a term paper on it in college, and I was so proud of the result. But a good paper is easy to write when the material is as well-written and profound as The Things They Carried.

By: Alexa Ispas

Alexa Ispas — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:21:37 +0000

Hi Steven, many thanks for posting this interview – I will definitely try to get hold of a copy of ‘The Things They Carried’.

I found it particularly revealing that Tim would talk about Resistance coming in the form of, for example, ‘a truculent phrase, a noun that will not disclose itself’ – it shows a writer who is not only paying attention to the story, the big picture, but also to the minutest of details in the telling of that story. I think unpublished writers like myself would do well to start realising the importance of such details in the way in which our writing impacts on our readers.

I also like Tim’s solution to hitting a plateau – namely, heading for the central human drama of the piece, the human mystery. I happen to be in a rut at the moment with a play I’m writing, and I’m now wondering whether this answer might hold the key to getting out of it.

Once again, many thanks for conducting and posting this interview – as always, your input into the writing community is a breath of fresh air.