Writing on writing

A.O. Scott had a review in Sundays NYT Book Review of a new audiobook release: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. What a thoughtful meditation on the 20 year life of the book, the 40 year life of the war, and on the journey of all literature through time: some of it sad, but true: "“The Things They Carried” is now, like the war it depicts, an object of classroom study, kept relevant more by its craft than by the urgency of its subject matter." This seems especially poignant and true as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and as the first-person experiences of WWII dwindle in our lifetimes.

I also enjoyed his comparison of the the pace of the the book to another insistent tale:

"In print, “The Things They Carried” is a fast read, less because of narrative momentum — it is a compendium of vignettes and digressions, not a traditional novel — than because of the intimate urgency of the voice. There is an Ancient Mariner quality to the narrator; he needs you to listen to his tale, even if he remains uncertain of its import. You need to know the names of his comrades (Rat Kiley, Kiowa, Norman Bowker and Ted Lavender) and to hear the gruesome and comical facts of their lives and deaths. It is impossible, it feels insensitive, to turn away before the recitation is finished."

And in comparing an essay included in the audio package, he reminds us of the battle that is the writer's craft:

“The Vietnam in Me” is a rougher piece of writing than “The Things They Carried,” and hearing them together makes you realize that the book, for all its anguish and unsettlement, is a highly disciplined and polished literary performance.

 Good writing on good writing need not be derivative, it can also inspire.