Mar/7 #7

This book was a great book and yes i did come away from it with a new view on truth. I realized that someone can tell you something completely untrue to help you find the truth in something else. This book is a true war story because it follows all the criteria to be one. Their are no morals, their is no point, and you can't believe what most of the stories say. So yes the book is a true war story. I would recommend this book to someone taking English 1102 because it tells great stories and you can get a good look at the Vietnam War through stories that aren't even true. Also the characters are very real and you feel sad when several of them die and others have to make painful decisions.

Mar/7

In "On The Rainy River" the author/soldier runs away to Canada to escape getting drafted. He ends up staying with a man named Elroy Berdahl at a small resort. Elroy seems like he was in the boys shes at one time in his life. He kept trying to give the boy extra money. He was never trying to pressure the boy into leaving. Finally he always steered clear of the topic oh why he was there. It was also possible Elroy didn't even really work or live at the resort. When the author goes to say goodbye Elroy is gone and his pickup truck was missing. The author says "I went inside and waited for a while, but i felt a bone certainty that he wouldn't be back. In a way, I thought, it was appropriate". Maybe the man just happened to be there and he decided he should help the boy out. Finally the author indicates that the reason of him going to war would bother him forever. He said he was a coward and basically he was going to war so people wouldn't talk and he wouldn't embarrass his family. In the story "The Ghost Soldiers" the narrator has changed a lot and now he is consumed with getting a guy named Bobby Jorgenson back for almost letting him die.The narrator will always hold grudges because oh how adamant he was to get Jorgenson back and because now he wants to get Azar back for kicking him. The narrator and bobby will become good friends because know they both know how the other feels. They shake hands and then agree to get Azar back Finally the narrator will always remember Azar as a cruel person because Azar just didn't want to stop taunting Bobby even when O'Brien said that was enough. Also Azar calls him pathetic and then kicks him in the head because he wanted to stop hurting Bobby. The narrator Tim O'Brien changes a lot from the first story to the second one.He goes from being a coward and scared of war to embracing it and not being so scared of everything. O'Brien also went from a educated polished young man to one who is filled with anger and revenge for other people.

Mar/2

My favorite story was "Sweetheart of The Song Tra Bong". I liked it because it showed what happens when you bring a young girl to the war and how it effects her and her relationship with her boyfriend. It had romance and a little action to it which is a great mix. It was weird to see how she ended up, but it also left me in suspense, because it never told what really became of her because she was just MIA. My least favorite story was "On The Rainy River" because it was just way to long and all he talked about was how he didn't want to go to war and why he didn't want to. It wasn't a total wasted story but it was still pretty boring to me. The character I can mostly relate to is probably Jimmy Cross because I would have the same problems when I went to war. I wouldn't think about it and I would let my attention get caught on things it should be, and I wouldn't be able to control the men in my platoon. The character I didn't like the most was Azar because he was just to apathetic and rude. He had no heart and I especially don't like how he made fun of Kiowa after he died.

Mar/2

If I was explaining what to keep an eye on in the book to a second session student I would say first off pay close attention to each individual part in each story because, one minute O'Brien will say on thing, and two pages later he will totally contradict it. I would also tell the student to keep an open mind about each story, and not write it off as a total lie, because if he or she can understand the message behind the story then they will greatly appreciate the book a whole lot more. Also i would say that they need to pay attention to the struggles of each character and their positions in the platoon. Those positions really help to understand the stories some of the men tell. The semi-truths would be hard to explain but I would basically say he is lying to you to help you understand the story so pay attention.

March/1

A movie I really like is called "Facing The Giants". Its a great Christian movie about a coach and his football team at a Christian school, and how they go from losing all there games and having no faith in God, to putting their faith in him and turn their season around and beat the big team the Giants. It was a great movie and it was very encouraging, so much so i went out and bought a copy of it. It is an all around fantastic movie that has romance, action, and a some comedy. I would recommend it to anyone. It being based on a true story that happened right hear in Georgia made me believe it a whole lot more and helped my faith. It made it seem more real and showed that anything can happen.