Going After Cacciato: Difference between revisions
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Written by [[author]] [[Tim O'Brien (author)|Tim O'Brien]] and winner of the [[National Book Award]] for [[fiction]] in [[1979]], this complex [[novel]] is set during the [[Vietnam War]] and is told from the [[point of view (literature)|point of view]] of the [[protagonist]], Paul Berlin. The [[narrative|story]] traces the events that follow after Cacciato, a member of Berlin's [[squad]], decides to go [[AWOL]] by walking from [[Vietnam]] to [[France]] by way of [[Asia]]. Cacciato, pronounced "catch-ee-ah-to," means |
Written by [[author]] [[Tim O'Brien (author)|Tim O'Brien]] and winner of the [[National Book Award]] for [[fiction]] in [[1979]], this complex [[novel]] is set during the [[Vietnam War]] and is told from the [[point of view (literature)|point of view]] of the [[protagonist]], Paul Berlin. The [[narrative|story]] traces the events that follow after Cacciato, a member of Berlin's [[squad]], decides to go [[AWOL]] by walking from [[Vietnam]] to [[France]] by way of [[Asia]]. Cacciato, pronounced "catch-ee-ah-to," means "I Love Men" in [[Italian language|Italian]]. |
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==Plot introduction== |
==Plot introduction== |
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Revision as of 17:52, 12 March 2007
| Author | Tim O'Brien |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | War, Novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | January 1978 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-440-02948-1 (first edition, hardback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Written by author Tim O'Brien and winner of the National Book Award for fiction in 1979, this complex novel is set during the Vietnam War and is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Paul Berlin. The story traces the events that follow after Cacciato, a member of Berlin's squad, decides to go AWOL by walking from Vietnam to France by way of Asia. Cacciato, pronounced "catch-ee-ah-to," means "I Love Men" in Italian.
Plot introduction
Typical of many stories that deal with themes of psychological trauma, Going After Cacciato contains distinct ambiguities concerning the nature and order of events that occur, which often requires readers to look beyond superficial appearances conveyed by the narrator's language. It is a chronologically unstable book. Basically the idea of the story is, by O'Brien's estimations, being a grunt in Vietnam for the standard one year tour of duty entails constant walking; if you were to put all the walking in a straight line, you would end up in Paris, where Cacciato is going. The entire story occurs during a couple of hours, in Paul Berlins head, at the "Observation Post". Thus, every chapter entitled "The Observation Post" is a return to reality, while the other chapters are Berlins' imagination rendering what could have happened, had his squad followed the perhaps fictional character of Cacciato. Paul Berlin, the main character, is a frustated writer who, during the entire novel, focuses on every little detail he encounters, whether in the past or in the would-be chase. His obssesive search for detail enabled the reader to believe that the chase was real, making this novel a very complicated piece of work, but in the chapter "A hole on the way to Paris" the characters escaped the endless tunnels by "falling out" just as they fell in, an allusion to "Alice in Wonderland" which revealed the story's fiction.
Characters
- Paul Berlin (Narrator)
- Sarkin Aung Wan (Burmese Prostitute)
- Cacciato (Fictional Soldier who goes AWOL)
- Frenchie Tucker (Dies in Tunnel)
- Eddie Lazzutti
- Stink Harris (Leads Party, "Trigger Happy")
- Harold Murphy
- Buff
- Cpt. Fahyi Rhallon
- Billy Boy Watkins
- Ready Mix
- Doc Peret (Philosopher)
- Lt. Sydney Farting
- Lt. Corson
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