How to Tell a True War Story | Suggested Reading

How to Tell a True War Story What Do I Read Next?

The Sorrow of War (1995), by Bao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier, offers a look at the Vietnam War from the North Vietnamese perspective. This novel uses many of the same literary techniques found in The Things They Carried.

In the Lake of the Woods (1994), by Tim O'Brien, is a deeply troubling novel about the return to the United States of one Vietnam veteran and his inability to adjust to civilian life. The story is told with many metafictional devices. Although challenging to read, it is an important book for students of the Vietnam War.

Song of Napalm (1988), by Bruce Weigl, is a collection of Vietnam War poetry. Weigl, along with Yusef Komunyakaa, John Balaban, and W. D. Earhart, is one of the most studied Vietnam War poets.

Poems from Captured Documents (1994), selected and translated by Thanh T. Nguyen and Bruce Weigl, offers...
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