I feel like Tim O'Brien grew up even more while writing this book. I haven't read his other books, but I imagine by getting his words out there, he has grown up every time. He also has lifted a weight off of his chest.
"Yet when I received Norman Bowker's letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. By telling stories, you objectify your own experience," [152].
O'Brien objectified his own experience through this book. I think he needed to tell his stories so that he could prove to himself that he actually went through these things. When something crazy happens to me, it doesn't feel real unless I tell someone about it. Even then it doesn't sound real.
When I went on SFS, I climbed a mountain. It was the hardest, most amazing thing I have ever done in my life, and I will never do it again. Even if I get the opportunity, I don't think I will take it. When I finished climbing that Mount Sneffles, a.k.a. Mount Mega Death, it felt like I had never even begun. It's so out of the ordinary, why would I think of myself as a mountain climber? Well, I did it. I even brought home a rock to prove it. :] My experience was not complete though until I called my parents back at the campsite, slightly sobbing from relief. Once I told them, it became more real to me.
Whoa. I climbed a mountain.
What'd you do this summer? haha
"Yet when I received Norman Bowker's letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. By telling stories, you objectify your own experience," [152].
O'Brien objectified his own experience through this book. I think he needed to tell his stories so that he could prove to himself that he actually went through these things. When something crazy happens to me, it doesn't feel real unless I tell someone about it. Even then it doesn't sound real.
When I went on SFS, I climbed a mountain. It was the hardest, most amazing thing I have ever done in my life, and I will never do it again. Even if I get the opportunity, I don't think I will take it. When I finished climbing that Mount Sneffles, a.k.a. Mount Mega Death, it felt like I had never even begun. It's so out of the ordinary, why would I think of myself as a mountain climber? Well, I did it. I even brought home a rock to prove it. :] My experience was not complete though until I called my parents back at the campsite, slightly sobbing from relief. Once I told them, it became more real to me.
Whoa. I climbed a mountain.
What'd you do this summer? haha
July 7, 2010 at 10:34 PM
Maybe you should write about it!