Spring Break
Prestigious author to present novel in Bryan
By: Amanda Grosgebauer
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: News
The English department arranged for Tim O'Brien, the 2008 Brazos Valley Reads author, to speak Thursday night at the Bryan Civic Auditorium.
Brazos Valley Reads is an outreach effort sponsored by the Texas A&M English department. It selects one book each semester to be read in participating book clubs, high schools and the community, then requests the author of the book to give a public reading.
This semester's novel, The Things They Carried, is a collection of interwoven stories focusing on one platoon during and after the Vietnam War. The novel won much praise for its honesty and insight into war and its effect on those involved.
O'Brien is the author of several novels, stories and a memoir, many of which relate to his experiences in the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
English assistant professor Angie Cruz worked to organize O'Brien's reading and said she believes that it is an important book to be read since it can help bring new insight about war to its readers.
"Through his characters, we can begin to understand what it means to go to war and even more, what soldiers carry with them when they return home," Cruz said.
Cruz attended a talk at the public library in College Station earlier in the week on O'Brien's novel and said there was emotional discussion about the themes of the book that caused many people to have a new view about the war.
Cruz said past events have brought more than 1,000 people to the readings, and she hopes Thursday's event will too.
O'Brien will be introduced by critically acclaimed author and A&M professor of creative writing Larry Heinemann. In 1987, Heinemann's novel Paco's Story, about a traumatized Vietnam soldier, won the National Book Award.
"To have them both in one room is a very special, if not historical, occasion," Cruz said.
Brazos Valley Reads is an outreach effort sponsored by the Texas A&M English department. It selects one book each semester to be read in participating book clubs, high schools and the community, then requests the author of the book to give a public reading.
This semester's novel, The Things They Carried, is a collection of interwoven stories focusing on one platoon during and after the Vietnam War. The novel won much praise for its honesty and insight into war and its effect on those involved.
O'Brien is the author of several novels, stories and a memoir, many of which relate to his experiences in the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
English assistant professor Angie Cruz worked to organize O'Brien's reading and said she believes that it is an important book to be read since it can help bring new insight about war to its readers.
"Through his characters, we can begin to understand what it means to go to war and even more, what soldiers carry with them when they return home," Cruz said.
Cruz attended a talk at the public library in College Station earlier in the week on O'Brien's novel and said there was emotional discussion about the themes of the book that caused many people to have a new view about the war.
Cruz said past events have brought more than 1,000 people to the readings, and she hopes Thursday's event will too.
O'Brien will be introduced by critically acclaimed author and A&M professor of creative writing Larry Heinemann. In 1987, Heinemann's novel Paco's Story, about a traumatized Vietnam soldier, won the National Book Award.
"To have them both in one room is a very special, if not historical, occasion," Cruz said.
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