Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien (1946-present)
Born on October 1, 1946 in Austin, Minnesota, O’Brien grew up in Worthington. The location modeled for a number of stories in The Things They Carried. He attended Macalester College and earned his bachelor‘s degree in Political Science in 1968. In fact, he was elected for Presidency of Student Body during college years. Although he was against war, he was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Vietnam where he served for two years. Returning from war, he was struck by a shrapnel by a grenade, wounded and earned the Purple Heart Award. As soon as he returned from the military service he resumed his studies. He graduated from Harvard University and briefly interned as a reporter at the Washington Post. He started off his writing career in 1973. His war experience inspired his first publication, titled “If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home”. His memoir strongly reflects depression and misery wreaked on soldiers by Vietnam War. In fact his literary work, The Things They Carried is a blend of memoir and fictional stories. He employed the philosophical concept of Verisimilitude in his works, which is a mix between two literary elements; fact and fiction. In one of the chapters of The Things They Carried, O’Brien discussed and drew out two kinds of truths; “story-truth” and “happening-truth”. According to him, sometimes the fictional truth is more realistic than factual one. Beside his memoir, O’Brien wrote a number of novels based on his war experience. He earned the 1979 National Book Award for his works, Northern Lights (1975) and Going After Cacciato (1978). He was highly influenced by the works of Joseph Conrad. He adapted Conrad’s concept of human capacity for good and evil in his works. O’Brien believed in the idea that the literary works must not only focus on the current affair but foresee what future holds for humanity. His works also reflected on the influence of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.
Born on October 1, 1946 in Austin, Minnesota, O’Brien grew up in Worthington. The location modeled for a number of stories in The Things They Carried. He attended Macalester College and earned his bachelor‘s degree in Political Science in 1968. In fact, he was elected for Presidency of Student Body during college years. Although he was against war, he was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Vietnam where he served for two years. Returning from war, he was struck by a shrapnel by a grenade, wounded and earned the Purple Heart Award. As soon as he returned from the military service he resumed his studies. He graduated from Harvard University and briefly interned as a reporter at the Washington Post. He started off his writing career in 1973. His war experience inspired his first publication, titled “If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home”. His memoir strongly reflects depression and misery wreaked on soldiers by Vietnam War. In fact his literary work, The Things They Carried is a blend of memoir and fictional stories. He employed the philosophical concept of Verisimilitude in his works, which is a mix between two literary elements; fact and fiction. In one of the chapters of The Things They Carried, O’Brien discussed and drew out two kinds of truths; “story-truth” and “happening-truth”. According to him, sometimes the fictional truth is more realistic than factual one. Beside his memoir, O’Brien wrote a number of novels based on his war experience. He earned the 1979 National Book Award for his works, Northern Lights (1975) and Going After Cacciato (1978). He was highly influenced by the works of Joseph Conrad. He adapted Conrad’s concept of human capacity for good and evil in his works. O’Brien believed in the idea that the literary works must not only focus on the current affair but foresee what future holds for humanity. His works also reflected on the influence of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.
