A side note

I'm working on a paper in my History of Vietnam class on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and while copying the following quotation into my text, I was suddenly struck by its beauty and impact and was moved to the verge of tears. I thought I'd share it with you.

What stories can do, I guess, is make things present.

I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.

"Daddy, tell the truth," Kathleen can say, "did you ever kill anybody?" And I can say, honestly, "Of course not."

Or I can say, honestly, "Yes."

For those who haven't read The Things They Carried, I strongly advise you do so. For those who have, do so again. Tim O'Brien is a genius.