For me, at least, Vietnam was partly love. With each step, each light-year of a second, a foot soldier is always almost dead, or so it feels, and in such circumstances, you can't help but love. Tim O'Brien circumstancedeadfelt Change image and share on social
Fiction, maybe art in general, is a tentative, uncertain enterprise; it's not science, it's an exploration, but you never find much in the way of answers. Tim O'Brien answerartenterprise Change image and share on social
The world comes at me that way - comes at me in clumps of stuff, sometimes little vignettes and sometimes whole stories. And then the rest is erased by the internal filter that erases things for the same reason you'd forget swatting a mosquito. Tim O'Brien clumperasefilter share on social
Laughter does not deny pain. Laughter - like a wail - acknowledges and replies to pain. Tim O'Brien acknowledgedenylaughter Change image and share on social
I live in my head all day long and the world is a little dreamy. Tim O'Brien daydreamyhead Change image and share on social
There's something about being amid the chaos and the horror of a war that makes you appreciate all you don't have - and all you may lose forever. Tim O'Brien amidchaosforever Change image and share on social
A bullet can kill the enemy, but a bullet can also produce an enemy, depending on whom that bullet strikes. Tim O'Brien bulletdependenemy Change image and share on social
I don't think I'd call myself a war writer, but I would probably say I'm a writer who has written about war. Tim O'Brien callwarwrite Change image and share on social
It's one thing to say you're for the war; it's another thing to send your kid to war - your daughter or your son. Tim O'Brien daughterkidsend Change image and share on social
No matter how wonderful the story, it has to move on something, and that is language. The words that I use, the pace, the rhythm and cadences all need to be there. If they're not there, the story is like a boat that just sits there and doesn't move on the ocean. Tim O'Brien boatcadencelanguage share on social