I don't read military fiction nearly as much as I read military nonfiction, but I had to read a "classic" American novel for 11th-grade English class this year, and the plot sounded interesting, so I gave this a try.

So, the book is divided into two parts, there is vignettes of real combat scene's that the platoon is involved in and then there is the ' magic' scenes where they walk through countries and experience lots of things that are metaphors for what's happening in the world.

Tim O'Brien uses an elaborate three-part structure to tell the story of Paul Berlin, whereby three intertwined arcs combine to tell a soldier's story. The first arc is the most literal, where Paul Berlin is on night watch in a guard tower while his squad mates sleep. Berlin makes a small yet monumental choice: rather than wake his squad mates to perform their shift, he takes the entire night to keep the watch himself and dreams his story about the road to Paris. This second arc, the Road to Paris, takes place mostly in Berlin's mind--but intentionally begs the question, `what is real and what is imagined.' It begins with a real event, Cacciato's desertion, but after a perfunctory chase that concludes with his lieutenant informing headquarters that Cacciato is missing in action, the events of this narrative take place in Berlin's mind.

Shortly after midnight, Berlin wades into the sea and contemplates his guard tower: "an observation post with nothing to observe." What is really under observation is Paul Berlin's experience in the Vietnam War, both how it happened and how it might have happened. Control is a constant motif throughout the novel, whether exerted by Lieutenant Martin ordering the soldiers to certain death in the tunnels, seeking control by chasing Cacciato to return him to the ordered existence of Army life, or the control of Berlin's story.

The synopsis says that Tim O'Brien's novels blur the line between reality and fantasy. No line exists in this endeavor. With a few paragraphs at the beginning and a few paragraphs at the end of "Going After Cacciato", the story is entirely a quixotic landscape suspended and book-ended between the fragile (bordering on the shallow) vault of the imagination and the imagination. There are repetitive spelling errors, mainly Vietnamese words (Li Van Ngoc not Li Van Hgoc) and Vietnamese phrases (Mau len not man len), but the rest of the writing flows fluidly, like walking into a dream. Because it is a fictional account (even if it is not fictionalized) of the war, the detailed accounts of the war seem superficial, poorly fleshed out. Insert rice paddy here, a few Vietnamese provinces there, and a M-60, and it would be a cookie cutter account of any war taken in any parts of Asia. I do not think it deserves the National Book Award. Dialogues are definitely the book's strength, but writing on the language level is at best pedestrian. I think a 4 is being generous. Throughout the book I kept on comparing this book strangely to the movie "Harold and Kumar: Go to White Castle." Replace Castle for Paris. Where fantasy instead of bordering on fantasy-- it borders on silly absurdities and tacky weirdness.

The book is quite hilarious at times, other times so hallucinatory and dreamlike that portions just barely make sense, but still, a fine read.

Going After Cacciato is tremendous. As it is described in the Afterword, this is not a war novel; it’s a peace novel. It took me a while to realize that and for fear of missing other messages O’Brien was trying to convey I will have to re-read this sometime soon.

Beautifully written, as expected, and only increases my desire to read more from O’Brien.


***
Instead of waiting a little while before giving this a second read I decided to immediately start it again. This time I had the added knowledge and necessary context of the Vietnam war due to watching the incredible Ken Burns docu-series more or less at the same time as I was re-reading Cacciato. And this really did help. References in the book to "fragging", which was somewhat common during the war, and the peace talks between American and North Vietnamese diplomats triggered light bulbs in my head the second time around. Those moments were honestly fun for me but what I really love most about this book is that it forces the reader to see the imaginative mind of the soldier. You get a sense in this book that O'Brien wants us to understand that imagination - really just daydreaming - is a survival tactic, it's not just for passing time in Geometry class. And I love this book for that.

Anyways, I really think Tim O'Brien is my guy.

I deeply admire Tim O'Brien's ability to structure this book, weaving events and imagined events together -- at first imperceptibly, causing the reader to wonder and suspect, and then more openly. He makes the point that no one witness to events can accurately describe what happened, in that perceptions differ. Personally, I am uncomfortable with books that deal with war, and the Vietnam War is especially difficult because I am from that era and have friends who were there. If the imagined sequences hadn't been part of the book, I might not have finished it. I give it only a 3 because of my personal reading preferences, but I have great respect for Tim O'Brien's writing and its importance.

Amazing, painful, heartbreaking.

Realisme màgic. No dic més.

Personal Response:
I read the book, Going After Cacciato, by Tim O'Brien. I thought it was a very exciting book and well written. I enjoyed reading it, because it was interesting to learn about some war stories from Vietnam.

Plot:
There were many different stories that took place in the plot. In the beginning of the book, Cacciato decided to leave his unit. He planned his trip all out and he started walking to Paris from Vietnam. When their lieutenant found out that Cacciato left, he ordered his unit to follow him. The unit consisted of Lieutenant Corson, Paul Berlin, Doc Perret, Oscar Johnson, Stink Harris, Eddie, and Harold Murphy. In the military deserting is a very serious crime. They began their journey by walking through the jungle of Vietnam. There was not much action in this country, because they were so far inland that the war was not there. They found Cacciato’s wrappers and other things he would leave behind. One day, they were following Cacciato’s trail and they ran into a tripwire. They knew as soon as they walked into it, and they immediately dropped to the ground. They believed that they were going to be blown up and one man even pooped his pants. They were not blown up because it was only a smoke grenade that Cacciato rigged himself. When the arrived at the border of Vietnam Harold Murphy suggested they turned around. He said there was not a mission and they were simply deserting. The unit voted on to keep following Cacciato, but the next morning Harold Murphy went back by himself. One day they were surprised by two elder woman, a young women, and two water buffalo passing by. Oscar immediately started shooting and he didn't stop. He did not shoot any of the women but he killed one of the water buffalo. The elder women were very sad. The Lieutenant tried to apologize but they just cried and cried. The unit decided to pack their stuff up on the buffalo and follow the trail with the three women. The young women, Sarkin Aung Wan, told the unit that they were refugees and their village was destroyed. Sarkin Aung Wan was very interested in the soldiers especially Paul Berlin. Berlin thought she was beautiful and they grew very close. One day when they were marching on the road, the road gave out. They fell deep down into a underground tunnel system. They went through the tunnels and met a VC Lieutenant down there by himself. He told the unit that he was down there because he was sent to 15 years of exile. When the unit asked how to leave, he told them they couldn’t. He said, “There is absolutely no way to leave the tunnels.” They decided to try to leave the way the came in with Sarkin Aung Wan as there guide. The next event that happened was when they entered Mandalay. While they were there they spent the days roaming the streets looking for Cacciato. After Mandalay, they went to Delhi. In Delhi, they met a woman named Jolly. She told them she spent two years studying in Baltimore and that she loved the American culture. The Lieutenant grew very fond of this woman. He fell in love with her despite the fact she was married. He would spend all day with her relaxing and drinking. One day, Oscar found out there was a train leaving Delhi to Kabul, Afghanistan. He knew Cacciato would be on this train. He told the Lieutenant but the Lieutenant said he wouldn't go. He said he was tired and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jolly. The unit drugged their leader and put him on the train. After Kabul, they traveled to Tehran. In Tehran, they first witnessed a beheading and the they were arrested for being drunk. Captain Rhallon questioned the unit on why they had no passports and why they had so many guns and weapons. Doc Perret told him they were traveling on a fake “Geneva Codes” he made up. They were released but were later arrested again. This time they were put in jail and were prepared to be executed for all of their crimes. Luckily, Cacciato saved them by breaking into the jail and giving the a M16. The made a daring escape and then continued to Paris. Once they arrived in Paris, they continued the search for Cacciato. In the end of the story, they did find Cacciato but never could catch him. They packed up their things and decided to walk back to Vietnam.

Characterization:
The main character in this book was Paul Berlin. He was a soldier in the Vietnam war. Paul was a soldier who was very scared of the war. He does not understand why they were fighting. He has no will to kill because the enemy never did anything to him. He fantasizes about running away, deserting, to Paris to have a good life. Lieutenant Corson was also a main character in this book. Corson is a 50-60 year old man who was in charge of Paul’s unit. Corson was once a captain in the Korean war, but he was demoted because of his drinking habits. He was sick throughout the book because he had no purpose. He was sick of the war as many soldiers were during this time period.

Setting:
This book takes place in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. This is important to the story, because the entire book is about the war. It also takes place in the countries along the way to Paris. It takes place in Iran, Greece, France and a plethora of other countries along the way. This is important because it teaches the readers about all the different countries’ cultures. The book is still relatable and the author does a great job making the readers feel like they were there even though it happened 50 years ago.

Thematic Connection:
The theme of this book is morality. The main character in this book goes through this in many different ways. He does not want to go to Vietnam because he doesn't want to be killed. He also experiences a lot of death first hand when he is in the war.

Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to men or women who are over 16 years old. It is a very exciting book that the reader would need to be above the age of 16 to be mature enough to handle the topics of the book. It is a great book if the reader enjoys war stories. I believe males or females will like it, because it is understandable and relatable for either gender.

"...then, at the rear, Spec Four Paul Berlin, whose each step was an event of imagination."

Poor Paul Berlin, the guy should never have been a soldier, and now even his imagination won't let him off the hook. This is the second of O'Brien's books that I have read and the second I have loved. I love the struggle Paul Berlin has between his sense of duty and obligation on one hand and his dreams of peace and normality on the other.

I remember being alarmed as a kid to discover that my dreams and daydreams were frequently subverted by my own subconscious and that my fears and anxieties could creep in uninvited, and I loved seeing this play out so unexpectedly in Going After Cacciatio.

A novel in three parts, “Going After Cacciato” depicts a young private in the Vietnam War, Paul Berlin, recounting his present overnight guard duty near the South China Sea, remembering the events leading to the deaths of several members of his company, and imagining a fictional voyage overland from Vietnam to Paris in pursuit of a soldier gone AWOL - the aforementioned Cacciato. Tim O’Brien’s National Book Award winning novel does an incredible job of conveying the split values and beliefs of young men in a war they don’t believe it, and showcases the hollowness inherent in the conflict in Vietnam that took so many lines. An image of mental and emotional dichotomies in wartime, it’s an unforgettable novel.

3.5

4 star plus in my view. Published in ‘78 before The Things They Carried. Tim O’Brien writes about as well as anybody on the subject of the Vietnam War. Cacciato is an American soldier in Vietnam circa ‘68-69 who decides one day to walk away from the war (literally). His destination is Paris. Yes, he’s going to walk to Paris. Why not? Members of his platoon feel they must follow him. Alrighty then. O’Brien explains that the combat soldier engages in endless speculation, imagination & possibilities. What will one do once he frees himself from war. This is an excellent book on the psychology of war. I liked the way O’Brien constantly brought up the names of the platoon’s KIAs and the ones that carried on. The brothers in arms will not be forgotten. Let us not forget that real men with dreams and possibilities died in that war. Chapter 29 is a real gem of a chapter and is set in Tehran. Crazy I know but they were all walking to Paris. Ha. O’Brien gets to the heart of the matter. He cares about the enlisted combat soldier. He knows the story, he was there and writes about it with “imagination.” Highly recommend.

O equilíbrio entre realidade e alucinação é perfeito, dá a medida sobre os efeitos caóticos que a guerra provoca na mente de um soldado jovem e desorientado, como foi o caso dos americanos enviados ao Vietnam. Que propósito tinham pra lutar? O que faziam ali? Por que matar velhos, mulheres e crianças? Por que queimar vilarejos inteiros? Qual o sentido de andar numa terra inóspita e morrer numa armadilha feita com espetos de bambu? Ninguém tinha essas respostas. Todos tinham medo. Todos ficavam tensos e irritados. A deserção não era de todo uma ideia absurda. Cacciato, que muitos pensam ser um tolo, pega suas coisas e parte para Paris...a pé, em plena guerra. Um destacamento vai em seu encalço. O'Brien costura essa curiosa odisséia com episódios corriqueiros de modorra e violência. Tão bem escrito, que parece acontecer na frente leitor.

so fucking confusing but like not