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There are many books about the Vietnam War. Most focus on technical jargon and tangible actions. This book exposes the internal world of the soldier, and the machinations of the mind itself. Parts of the book are a little shocking to our sanitized sensibilities as civilians, but even these few references are just flashes of truth which briefly illuminate more than we wanted to see.

O'Brien allows us to examine the surprisingly nebulous world of truth, honesty, and the power of stories. The use of dark gallows humor is a strategy to keep sane. Details can be more important than what really happened, depending on how much they help the hearers of the stories construct a reality they can lean on. It's vital to the platoon's survival that each of them understands how not to necessarily blunt their emotions, but to redirect them, channel their reactions and feelings into a different place.

The connected stories are very effective in helping the reader feel the experience, not just of sucking mud, relentless rain, and the fatigue of constant alertness, but also what's harder to name: the ghostly and unnerving effects of enveloping fog, blinding darkness, rushing silence, and unnatural noises which may be tricks of a mind which is aching to sense something, anything.

The book's point of view is one of reflection, but the war stories are written in a way which makes the reader feel present, rather than looking back. This is an essential Vietnam War book.