![]() ![]() You're not a violent guy and you couldn't have pulled the trigger." And I know I did. I'll sometimes look at my hands and think, "God, these hands were in a war. ![]() You're not a soldier." There's this constant sense that the war didn't feel real to me, even as it was happening, and that's been compounded now that it's over. for my whole life, it felt like it wasn't real, even in Vietnam. I certainly, in my waking life, don't think about it a lot. And I know I was violent, that I shot at people and it just doesn't feel real. You're not a violent guy and you couldn't have pulled the trigger.' And I know I did. I'll sometimes look at my hands and think, 'God, these hands were in a war. It's a mystery to me, as so much of my life is a mystery to me. I'm not completely sure he ever read them all the way through. He never discussed with me the content of the books, the events that happened in the books. He never expressed himself on the issue one way or the other verbally to me. Jealousy was one component of his attitude toward it. On how his father, who wanted to be a writer, felt about his son's books And I feared that I may have inherited whatever chromosome caused that, and I did not want to be a bad father. He was a great man in many ways - he was funny, he was fun to be around when he was sober, but when he was not, life was hard. My dad was an alcoholic and sometimes he wasn't physically present, but he also was not emotionally present much of the time. His 2019 book, Dad's Maybe Book, was his first since his sons were born.Īuthor Interviews 'Anything That Moves': Civilians And The Vietnam War But eventually O'Brien started up again - this time focusing on fatherhood. Having children made him want to step away from writing, which he did for many years. And I thought that with a child in the house - and then two children in the house - that would end." "That's what I wanted to be and do and that's what I valued - making graceful sentences. "I always identified myself as a writer even from the time I was a little boy," he says. He says he was initially worried that having children would curtail his ability to write. Now 74, O'Brien didn't become a father until his late 50s. But he says he'd give up every book he's written if it meant more time on earth with his two young sons. National Book Award-winning author Tim O'Brien is best known for his stories about the Vietnam War, including the 1990 novel, The Things They Carried. "I thought I was doing the wrong thing by being there." "The problem for me really is that I questioned the rectitude of the war," he says. Tim O'Brien was a foot soldier during the Vietnam War. ![]()
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