Going After Cacciato

De: Tim O'Brien

Narrado por: Kevin T. Collins

"To call Going After Cacciato a novel about war is like calling Moby-Dick a novel about whales."

So wrote The New York Times of Tim O'Brien's now classic novel of Vietnam. Winner of the 1979 National Book Award, Going After Cacciato captures the peculiar mixture of horror and hallucination that marked this strangest of wars. In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Paris.

In its memorable evocation of men both fleeing from and meeting the demands of battle, Going After Cacciato stands as much more than just a great war novel. Ultimately, it's about the forces of fear and heroism that do battle in the hearts of us all.

©1999 Tim O'Brien (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"As a fictional portrait of this war, Going After Cacciato is hard to fault, and will be hard to better." (John Updike, The New Yorker)

"Simply put, the best novel written about the war. I do not know... any writer, journalist, or novelist who does not concede that position to O'Brien's Going After Cacciato." ( Miami Herald)

Story of a Story

Not a fan of a book that tells a fictional tale inside its own fictional universe. It was hard to follow and very confusing at times.

Great Story, annoying narration

Any additional comments?

Very dramatically captures the chaos and insanity of being in Vietnam. You never know exactly what is happening, which is probably how most of the soldiers felt. However, the narrator had this urgency in his voice that was exhausting. The individual voices were good, but the voice over just never let up

Vietnam as Fiction

Would you listen to Going After Cacciato again? Why?

Absolutely, because, despite its being a war story, the style is lyrical and the plot is intriguing..

What did you like best about this story?

This is a clever twist on a basic situation--desertion. What happens if the pursuers desert too? Plus it distorts reality just enough to drape the story in a gauze of magic.

What didn’t you like about Kevin T. Collins’s performance?

His voice became so emotional that it was drippy.

If you could take any character from Going After Cacciato out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I'd like to talk with Cacciato's Vietnamese girlfriend-wife. Maybe hearing her relaity would help to untangle the story of the actual desertion.

Any additional comments?

Tim O'Brien is a wonderful writer about war and soldiers trying to make sense of a particular morass.He adds magic to what must have been the grimest of realities.

A soldier's own story.

Where does Going After Cacciato rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As a story, it's near the top, though the production lets it down a bit.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Going After Cacciato?

There's a poignant level of mindfulness about what happened in Vietnam in this book, an attention to detail and character. O'Brien, like in his other books, has more questions than answers, questions both provoking and haunting. There are a few stories going on at once in "Going After Cacciato" and each of the layers is appealing and interesting. The narrative asks about war, "duty" and mission, finding good in awful circumstances, and why soldier's don't run.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin T. Collins’s performances?

I felt as if the voice performance brought a level of cartoonishness to the reading that was uneccesary and didn't match up with the subject matter. The voices Collins chooses for the characters, for example, are pretty poor. He just doesn't give the prose much flow, it's almost read as if it has the density of a poem - and while the writing is quite poetic at times, the reading is too choppy and "sing-song" for my liking.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both reactions will happen, simultaneously and endlessly.

Implausible but Fun

Would you consider the audio edition of Going After Cacciato to be better than the print version?

I did not read the print version of this book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Tim O'Brien? Why or why not?

I would try another book by Tim O'Brien because he paints a good verbal picture.

What about Kevin T. Collins’s performance did you like?

Collin's performance was very good. I particularly liked his ability to emphasize the dramatic.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I want to listen to all books in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

The depiction of Vietnam was very good. I know. I was there. The story is a stretch. Still, it is a good read.