"Cigarettes were the Agent Orange you paid for.”-Sully, Hearts in Atlantis
The Things They Carried is widely hailed as one of the finest books about the Vietnam war. Sometimes poignant war stories sneak up on you, where you least expect them. Though it seems unlikely to say so now, I began reading Stephen King’s Hearts in Atlantis while preparing for The Big Read, not because of The Big Read.
I picked up Hearts due to a recommendation I heard months ago, from none other than Seattle’s favorite reader, Nancy Pearl. I remembered her saying that Hearts is terrifying because of the way its terror slowly reveals itself. Though I had previously really enjoyed King’s books, I hadn’t read one in years. Pearl’s description made me want to check in with King again.
Lo and behold, Hearts is a book that, strangely, complements O’Brien’s Things. In these two books, King and O’Brien are telling a story of survival, lost innocence, and the war’s interminable legacy. And in their own way, both books are a little fantastical. In Hearts, King brings in his penchant for terror early in his protagonists’ lives, long before they ever get to war; he uses that terror to explore the reasons why some became anti-war activists and why others became soldiers.
You won’t find Hearts in Atlantis on any “read-alike” list for The Things They Carried. There are many outstanding books about war, or that use war as a metaphor. What I enjoyed most about reading Hearts in Atlantis was not so much the book itself, but the transcendence of Pearl’s recommendation, the way the book unexpectedly balanced my reading of O’Brien’s Things. To me, this is what programs like The Big Read are all about!
The Everett Public Library currently owns 57 titles with the Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Fiction subject heading, and even more under Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Fiction. Go forth and read!
Kate
Everett Public Library
The Things They Carried is widely hailed as one of the finest books about the Vietnam war. Sometimes poignant war stories sneak up on you, where you least expect them. Though it seems unlikely to say so now, I began reading Stephen King’s Hearts in Atlantis while preparing for The Big Read, not because of The Big Read.
I picked up Hearts due to a recommendation I heard months ago, from none other than Seattle’s favorite reader, Nancy Pearl
Lo and behold, Hearts is a book that, strangely, complements O’Brien’s Things. In these two books, King and O’Brien are telling a story of survival, lost innocence, and the war’s interminable legacy. And in their own way, both books are a little fantastical. In Hearts, King brings in his penchant for terror early in his protagonists’ lives, long before they ever get to war; he uses that terror to explore the reasons why some became anti-war activists and why others became soldiers.
You won’t find Hearts in Atlantis on any “read-alike” list for The Things They Carried. There are many outstanding books about war, or that use war as a metaphor. What I enjoyed most about reading Hearts in Atlantis was not so much the book itself, but the transcendence of Pearl’s recommendation, the way the book unexpectedly balanced my reading of O’Brien’s Things. To me, this is what programs like The Big Read are all about!
The Everett Public Library currently owns 57 titles with the Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Fiction
Kate
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