Tim O'Brien Reading

While I've only read two books by Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods, I was really impressed by both. My academic speciality is in Writing Studies and Rhetoric, but I like reading a good selection of short stories, a book of poetry, and even a novel from time to time even though most of what I typically read is non-fiction.

O'Brien was at EIU for the annual James Jones Lecture, and he was impressive.

Since the lecture is associated with the James Jones Literary Society and that Chairship in WWII Studies shared by the English and History departments here, much of what he talked about was war-related. He talked a great deal about one of his stories in The Things They Carried where a young man who is going to be drafted spends a week in International Falls, MN contemplating going over the border to Canada.

The salient message of his talk was the power of the story to approximate the complexity and truths of our lives but to also be wary of those profess to know the "truth."

That message is one that doesn't necessarily have to relate to fiction writing, but our lives.