The Things They Carried

by Tim O'Brien

They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated Bibles, each other.  And, if they made it home alive, they carried the unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that history is only beginning to absorb.  Since its first publication, The Things They Carried has become an unparalled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American Literature, and a profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart and soul.

...from the book jacket