It's fictionalized truth. He tells stories, which is his way of dealing with his memories and sorting out the truth and the humanity of himself and of everyone else involved in the war. He'll tell a story, then will talk about how much of it is true and how much is fiction, then will tell more about the same story. The reader never knows exactly how much is actual fact. It doesn't matter.. in the act of story telling, the war becomes manageable and real for O'Brien, and certainly for the reader.
It is a war story; however, even the gory parts are so well crafted that I didn't feel turned off; it's very touching and well-told.
2 comments:
Hi Carol,
I try to keep up with what my grandchildren are reading for school. When a granddaughter in the U.S. gave me her list of books, I decided to buy them for her and read them before her. This book was on that list. As I was reading, I often questioned the choice but in the end, I decided that children really need to know the whole story of war. It is often glamourized. This book was so well written that I ended up feeling that all teenagers should read it.
Interesting perspective, Betty. How nice that you bought and read all her books. Something great to share.
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