The Big Read continues this week with more discussion of “The Things They Carried,” a book by Tim O’Brien that mixes facts and fiction and tells the story of a platoon in the Vietnam War.
One of last week’s discussions was led by Hopkinsville Community College Library Academic Director Reese Bailey, who voluntarily joined the military near the end of the war. He was on his way to Vietnam in 1971 when he was diverted to duties at Okinawa, Japan.
The book tells of the items soldiers carried as they marched, but Bailey notes it also tells about the emotional baggage that goes with war.
He says soldiers in Vietnam had to fight to protect each other when they didn’t believe in an increasingly unpopular war.
A book discussion is set for today at noon at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library. There will be a reception for the photo exhibit centering on what soldiers may have carried during wartime tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Art Guild on Sixth Street and a book discussion titled “What’s Happening at home while there is a War in Vietnam” is scheduled for noon Wednesday at Books on Main.
John Davis will lead a discussion on “Memory and the Vietnam War” Thursday evening at 6 at Milkweed on East Ninth Street.
You can find a complete Big Read schedule on the Big Read Hopkinsville Facebook page.