Carrying the past

I came across Tim O'Brien by accident. I've recently been watching a series on BBC Four about the Vietnam War. Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, it's been an enthralling documentary, which reminded me of one of the other great history documentaries series, The world at war. The Vietnam war included interviews with people caught up on both sides of the conflict - the soldiers on both sides, the civilians whose lives were impacted by the war, along with reportage of the period, an iconic soundtrack, and a history that didn't just examine the war but also its long roots in French colonial history, and the current relationship between the old enemies.

Vietnam is a war that I both know about, and also one that I actually know very little. I was born in the mid-sixties, and when I think back to the news that I saw as a child, two things predominate - the excitement of the space race, and the incomprehensible savagery of Vietnam. I have odd blurred images from the late '60's, and then a few more distinct images of the fall of Saigon. This documentary did a wonderful job of filling the gaps in my knowledge, although I still think (with the greatest of respect for those who fought bravely there) that it must rate as one of the most pointless bloodiest wars ever. Which brings me to Tim O'Brien.

O'Brien was one of the Vietnam veterans, who was interviewed for the documentary. I knew I knew his name from somewhere, and finally realised as he read from his book The things they carried, that he was a writer. Not only is he a writer, he is a writer of great beauty, which makes a stunning contrast to his subject matter. The things they carried can be read as a set of short stories on a shared subject, or as a somewhat disjointed novel. Semi-autobiographical, it follows a company of men in the US army fighting in Vietnam, and the subsequent lives and impact of the war on those who survived - one of them happens to be called Tim O'Brien.

This is no glorification of war, The things they carried is, at times, incomprehensibly brutal. The savagery and evil of war has seldom been as well described, but O'Brien is also a writer of great beauty, and through his words, humanity also shines through along with moments of the blackest inhumanity.

This isn't just a book about war though, it's also a book about the power of writing and literature. The way in which through the work of an author that moment can be changed, that life resurrected, a point in time changed forever to what you would have liked it to have been, if only....

O'Brien takes his reader to an unforgettable place. A place that would show the extremes of human nature. It's a memoir of the worst side of human nature, and the dangers of seeing your fellow man as "other". But it's also a story of comradeship, redemption and love. And of the power of human beings to build bridges across divides in the most unlikely places. Most of all it's about the magical power of literature which brings the dead to life.