Tim O’Brien, who the San Francisco Examiner called the “best American writer of his generation,” gets a lot of letters. They come from all corners of the nation, and they grow in number when our nation is at war.
The letter writers want O’Brien to know that the hardships he suffered in the Vietnam War, the burdens he shouldered – in fact, the things he carried – are today being lugged through distant deserts in the Middle East and back home in suburban neighborhoods by fresh-faced Americans who look a lot like he did 40 years ago.
These fresh-faced Americans, fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, are the letter writers’ sons, sisters, husbands, daughters or maybe even the letter writers themselves. They often want advice.
“The letters from these men and women, mostly men, all of these things are so similar to the war that I went through,” O’Brien said in a recent interview. “The wars are very similar.”
War closes people up, but O’Brien has spent decades opening up, emerging as one of the most distinct literary voices to recall the Vietnam era. The letters he receives frequently deal with war’s tendency to form a hard outer shell on its soldiers.
“What do I ask my sons or daughters about or what do I talk to them about?” O’Brien said the letters ask. “Why don’t they want to talk about it?”
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O’Brien won the National Book Award in 1979 for his novel “Going After Cacciato.” He is probably best known for his 1990 collection of Vietnam stories “The Things They Carried,” which is taught as essential reading in college-level fiction courses. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
As a man who has dedicated his life to storytelling and articulating the realities of war, O’Brien arrives in Kalispell with a clear message, if not a plea: please read. O’Brien is in town as part of the Flathead County Library’s celebration of The Big Read, a National Endowment of Arts program that is “designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.”
O’Brien is scheduled to give a presentation and answer questions on Oct. 21 at the Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building’s room 139 at 7 p.m. Then on Oct. 24 at the Museum at Central School from 4-6 p.m., veterans are invited to share their war experiences, followed by a similar gathering at Columbia Falls’ Glacier Discovery Square on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.
The Big Read cites a study stating that reading has rapidly declined among all age groups in the U.S., especially youth. The program’s aim is to “address this crisis squarely and effectively” through community events such as O’Brien’s appearance.
Referring to the diminished American interest in literature, O’Brien said “something has happened over the last 40 years; most of America tends to pick up the latest thriller.” He further lamented: “Reading in general has declined.”
“I don’t know what’s happened, but it’s definitely happened,” O’Brien said. “Especially teenagers are captivated by the computer, iPads and iPhones.”
For that reason, O’Brien considers programs such as The Big Read vital to America’s wellbeing.
“To get kids to care about reading, it may be a losing battle but I’m going to try,” he said. “I try to make them like it to where they come to these events. They feel something inside. They laugh. They feel sad. That’s the only way you can get them interested.”
O’Brien teaches courses at Texas State University-San Marcos and writes regularly throughout the year. He didn’t mention any pieces imminently ready for publication, but new work is always in progress. Other than a 1973 memoir, O’Brien’s writing is labeled as fiction, though it’s clearly autobiographical. He refers to himself as a storyteller, first and foremost.
With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, O’Brien said a new generation may relate to his Vietnam writing in a more palpable way. The letters he used to receive after Vietnam are pouring in again.
“Except for the draft, (the wars) are about the same,” he said. “Who do you trust? Who do you shoot at? Who are the enemies? There’s a bitterness that accompanies that.”
O’Brien’s writing doesn’t preach, but its sentiments shine through clearly. War leaves scars; it leaves victims even in those who survive. And it should be remembered for what it is, not pushed away to dark inner reaches. Only this way, O’Brien reminds, can lessons be learned.
“I’m an idealist; I want to reach people who are high school age, who may end up in Afghanistan,” O’Brien said. “There’s this mythology of glory, macho that surrounds (war), despite all the books from Hemingway to Catch-22 to Slaughterhouse 5 that try to show that it’s not all that. Yet that still burns bright for the youth.”
The Big Read kicks off on Oct. 12. For more information and a full schedule, log on to www.flatheadcountylibrary.org or call the library information department at (406) 758-5815.