The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
★ Top 10 book of 1990 · #6 on Best Books of 1990
These linked short stories follow a platoon of American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. The author draws on his own time as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division.
Best for: Readers drawn to war fiction told through connected short stories
The Things They Carried is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Things They Carried is about
Tim O'Brien's linked stories follow a platoon of American soldiers on the ground in the Vietnam War. Drawing on his own time as a soldier in the 23rd Infantry Division, he writes about the burdens men carry, both physical and emotional, and about how war is remembered and told afterward. Many characters resemble people from his memoir, and he even places himself in the book as its protagonist, using real place names so that the line between fiction and fact grows deliberately hazy.
O'Brien avoids political debate and keeps his focus on the soldiers themselves. He has said he was dismayed by how little people back in his home town understood the war, which partly prompted the book. Haunting and reflective, it is dedicated to the fictional men of Alpha Company, and it reads like a war memoir. It speaks to anyone interested in memory, storytelling and the question of what makes a story true.
The Things They Carried on the Best Books of 1990
The Things They Carried came out in 1990. Of the 39 books first published in 1990 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #6 on our Best Books of 1990 list.
Why it made the list: 393 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (42 ratings); 21 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 1990 list
- The Witching Hour Anne Rice, #4
- Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #5
- Little Girl Lost Drew Barrymore, #7
- The Great Hunt (the Wheel of Time Book 2) Robert Jordan, #8
See all Best Books of 1990 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1991.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 298 want to read it, 21 are reading it now and 74 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 42 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 79 | 55% |
| Reader love | 95 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 72 | 20% |
Questions about The Things They Carried
When was The Things They Carried published?
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was first published in 1990.
Was The Things They Carried one of the best books of 1990?
The Things They Carried is #6 on BookWard's Best Books of 1990, out of 39 1990 books that cleared our data bar. 393 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (42 ratings); 21 are reading it right now.
Why is The Things They Carried on the Best Books of 1990 list?
393 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (42 ratings); 21 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 1990
- Good Omens Terry Pratchett, #1
- Jurassic Park Michael Crichton, #2
- The Eye of the World Robert Jordan, #3
- The Witching Hour Anne Rice, #4
- Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #5
- Little Girl Lost Drew Barrymore, #7
See the full Best Books of 1990, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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