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The Things They Carried
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Narrated by:
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Bryan Cranston
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Written by:
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Tim O'Brien
About this listen
This modern classic and New York Times best seller was a finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award and has become a staple of American classrooms. Hailed by The New York Times as "a marvel of storytelling", The Things They Carried’s portrayal of the boots-on-the-ground experience of soldiers in the Vietnam War is a landmark in war writing. Now, three-time Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston, star of the hit TV series Breaking Bad, delivers an electrifying performance that walks the book’s hallucinatory line between reality and fiction and highlights the emotional power of the spoken word.
The soldiers in this collection of stories carried M-16 rifles, M-60 machine guns, and M-79 grenade launchers. They carried plastic explosives, hand grenades, flak jackets, and landmines. But they also carried letters from home, illustrated Bibles, and pictures of their loved ones. Some of them carried extra food or comic books or drugs. Every man carried what he needed to survive, and those who did carried their shattering stories away from the jungle and back to a nation that would never understand.
This audiobook also includes an exclusive recording “The Vietnam in Me,” a recount of the author’s trip back to Vietnam in 1994, revisiting his experience there as a soldier 25 years before, read by Tim O’Brien himself.
The Things They Carried was produced by Audible Studios in partnership with Playtone, the celebrated film and television production company founded by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and producer of the award-winning series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change.
©1990 Tim O'Brien (P)2013 Audible, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
What listeners say about The Things They Carried
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- John Galt
- 2022-04-16
Haunting and Inspiring
First, and most importantly, I am a Canadian, and I’ve not earned the right to know or understand what an American soldier felt in Vietnam, but I was 18 years old in 1972 and, but for the grace of God, this could have been my story. This is the best first hand account I’ve ever read, and as a confused teenager during this era, I’ve read many accounts.
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- Louise
- 2018-10-27
Raw and compelling
The story really provides insight into a place and time. It is raw and I appreciated the author putting everything out there.
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- Phil Canning
- 2018-08-27
Captivatingly sensational
entering the intimate impact of Vietnam on a human soul. Walk, see hear and feel closely the confusion and anguish of a soul in pain
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- ken l.
- 2020-01-21
Chilling, Remorseful Story
Every word from Brian Cranston's mouth transports you back to the time of national identity crisis, a pointless war, and the regret it leaves behind. This book will leave you in silent reflection and hopefully a deeper understanding of what the men and women went through during that time.
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1 person found this helpful
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- tox
- 2018-04-19
Humping more then gear
I did enjoy this book, it's a retelling of how soldiers go off and soldiers come back and while the war can end the social baggage never disappears and how it is a eternal and all too heavy stigma that a soldier is a soldier from birth till death and that they shall always carry with them the weight of the world that is laid upon them
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- Patrick B.
- 2018-01-22
my best Audible experience so far!
This book makes you understand that war is everything but romantic. this is really well writen.
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- Here
- 2018-09-18
Seat gripper
Some Of the stories will have you gripping your
Seat. I love that you can read the chapters(stories ) in any particular order you would like. #audible1
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- K. V. Horst
- 2019-12-22
poetic, poignant, and profound
a great listen. unvarnished in its truth telling. deglorifies war and relays its horror with a simple and sobering vulnerability. thanks Tim O'Brien for writing, availing your work, and reading the postscript.
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- Happy Camper
- 2019-10-26
An excellent read/listen. Thanks Brian
Mr Cranston is so engaging. He is Tim. Also hearing Tim's own words was amazing especially his stories and truth about the American massacre. Thank you so much for writing and speaking to me. 'A coward'. Says it all about fighting in the war. I am truly moved by this book
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- T. Shayna
- 2020-05-12
Not for me
I didn't care for the plot. Bryan Cranston did a good job reading it though
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