Books I Didnt Sell Back To My College Bookstore

Discover the must-keep books I refused to sell back to my college bookstore—essential reads worth holding onto for knowledge, inspiration, and lifelong value.

The Things They Carried Cover
Book

The Things They Carried

by Tim O'Brien

One of the first questions people ask about The Things They Carried is this: Is it a novel, or a collection of short stories? The title page refers to the book simply as "a work of fiction," defying the conscientious reader's need to categorize this masterpiece. It is both: a collection of interrelated short pieces which ultimately reads with the dramatic force and tension of a novel. Yet each one of the twenty-two short pieces is written with such care, emotional content, and prosaic precision that it could stand on its own. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy and kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them unscathed through the mine field, the girl who grieves while she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam they are the only family they have. We hear the voices of the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way they tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories about themselves. With the creative verve of the greatest fiction and the intimacy of a searing autobiography, The Things They Carried is a testament to the men who risked their lives in America's most controversial war. It is also a mirror held up to the frailty of humanity. Ultimately The Things They Carried and its myriad protagonists call to order the courage, determination, and luck we all need to survive.
Item Not Found
ID: 0451627873
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0393092402
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0679600116
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0262231395
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0140445390
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0520029607
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0060414715
(Type: books)
Gulliver's Travels Cover
Book

Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift

An Englishman's two voyages carry him to Lilliput, a land of people six inches high, and Brobdingnag, a land of giants.
The Odyssey of Homer Cover
Book

The Odyssey of Homer

by Homer

The most eloquent translation of Homer's Odyssey into modern English.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Cover
Book

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

by Robert A. Heinlein

Science fiction-roman.
Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker Cover
Book

Edgar Huntly or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker

by Charles Brockden Brown

One of the first American Gothic novels, Edgar Huntly (1787) mirrors the social and political temperaments of the postrevolutionary United States. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Item Not Found
ID: 0451526767
(Type: books)
Item Not Found
ID: 0803283598
(Type: books)
Peace Is Every Step Cover
Book

Peace Is Every Step

 

No summary available.