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Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien

Source: Purchased
Paperback, 336 pgs
On Amazon and on Kobo

Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien, which was the final read-a-long for the 2014 War Through the Generations challenge, is the story of soldiers in Vietnam as they struggle with courage and honor and fate.  Paul Berlin appears to break from reality and is the daydreamer of the group, but he latches onto the dream of Cacciato, who claims you can walk out of the Vietnam War, across Asia and into Europe, all the way to Paris.  In a series of chapters that alternate from reality to fantasy and back again, O’Brien examines what it means to be a soldier in war, struggling to process all the dangers and lulls in danger around them.  Berlin is an observer, but he is quaking in his boots when he arrives.  However, he has a plan, stay on the outside of everything, don’t get attached, and he’ll make it through.

“They were all among the dead.  The rain fed fungus that grew in the men’s boots and socks, and their socks rotted, and their feet turned white and soft so that the skin could be scraped off with a fingernail, and Stink Harris woke up screaming one night with a leech on his tongue.  When it was not raining, a low mist moved across the paddies, blending the elements into a single gray element, and the war was cold and pasty and rotten.”  (page 1)

As O’Brien blends reality and fantasy, readers will want to believe in the fantasies to cling to the adventure story, which also perilous seems less dire than trudging through rice paddies and jungles in search of the enemy.  There is that pervasive feeling throughout the book of being caught — a hopelessness of the situation and a desire to escape it by any means necessary.  When the only purpose to war is the winning of it, morale gets bogged down in the failures and the confusion, at least this is the case for Berlin and his squad members.

Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien is O’Brien at his best, using magical realism to bring forth the realities of the war for soldiers and their internal struggles.  A complex novel with a great deal for book clubs to discuss about duty, honor, courage, and self-preservation.  O’Brien is considered one of the best novelists writing about the Vietnam War and this book proves his skill and compassion.

About the Author:

Tim O’Brien was born in 1946 in Austin, Minnesota, and spent most of his youth in the small town of Worthington, Minnesota. He graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College in 1968. From February 1969 to March 1970 he served as infantryman with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, after which he pursued graduate studies in government at Harvard University. He worked as a national affairs reporter for The Washington Post from 1973 to 1974.

34th book (Vietnam War) for the 2014 War Challenge With a Twist.

Read-a-Long of Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien

In the final read-a-long for the 2014 War Through the Generations, we will return to a favorite author of mine — Tim O’Brien.

We’ll be reading Going After Cacciato, which I haven’t read since sometime shortly after college.  It will be only the second time I’ve read it, and I hope that some of you will join us for your first reading of this novel about the Vietnam War.

Since the holidays are approaching for many of us, we’ve split the book into two parts for the read-a-long to make it easier.

Discussion questions will be posted on Fridays for the designated chapters.  Here’s the reading schedule and discussion dates:

  • Friday, Dec. 12: Discussion of Chapters 1-24
  • Friday, Dec. 19: Discussion of Chapter 25-the end

We’re wrapping up another year at War Through the Generations, and we’re hoping that you’ll join us for the final read-a-long.

Join Us for the Going After Cacciato Read-a-Long

As part of the War Through The Generations 2014 Reading Challenge with a Twist, we’ll be hosting our final read-a-long in December for the Vietnam War.

For December, we’ll be reading Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien.

Discussion questions will be posted on Friday for the designated chapters. Here’s the reading schedule and discussion dates:

  • Friday, Dec. 12: Discussion of Chapters 1-24
  • Friday, Dec. 19: Discussion of Chapter 25-the end

We’re breaking up the book into just two weeks given the holidays at the end of the month, and we hope that you’ll carve out some time to read along with us.

Giveaway: Newly Reissued Tim O’Brien Books

Tim O’Brien is my go-to writer for Vietnam War-related literature, but even for those who are not interested in war literature, he’s a fantastic story-teller.  You can get lost in his books, totally taken in by his prose and his damaged characters.

I have read everyone of his books, except Going After Cacciato, which Anna and I will be doing later this year in a read-a-long at War Through the Generations in December.

Random House has kindly offered a prize pack of Tim O’Brien books (those 4 books pictured above) for one of my U.S.-based or Canada-based readers.

Giveaway will run through June 6, 2014, at 11:59 PM EST  Use the form.

2014 War Through the Generations Read-a-Longs

Here’s the schedule of read-a-longs for the 2014 War Through the Generations Reading Challenge With a Twist.

  • February: Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers for the Gulf Wars (this one is about Operation Iraqi Freedom).
  • April: I Am Regina by Sally M. Keehn for the French and Indian War.
  • June: War Babies by Frederick Busch for the Korean War
  • August: Stella Bain by Antia Shreve for the 100th anniversary of WWI.
  • October: The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter for WWII.
  • December: Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien for the Vietnam War.

We hope that you’ll be joining us for at least one or more of these read-a-longs in 2014.

Join the 2014 War Through the Generations With a Twist Read-a-Longs

Since readers can read any of the war categories throughout the year, we thought it would be additional fun to host several read-a-longs.  Check out the rest of the challenge details.

In February, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long for Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers for the Gulf Wars (this one is about Operation Iraqi Freedom). SCHEDULE TBD SOON.

In April, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long for the French and Indian War; Book TBD.

In June, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long for the Korean War. Book TBD.

In August for the 100th anniversary of WWI, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long of Stella Bain by Antia Shreve.

In October, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long of The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter for WWII.

In December, for the Vietnam War, we’ll be hosting a read-a-long for Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien.

We hope that you’ll be joining us for at least one or more of these read-a-longs in 2014. 

If you have suggestions for the Korean War or the French and Indian War, please feel free to leave the titles in the comments.