Literary Fiction · ThoughtfulA soldier on watch imagines his squad chasing a deserter who is walking from Vietnam to Paris
Going After Cacciato
by Tim O'Brien
A soldier imagines the long chase of a comrade who set out to walk from Vietnam to Paris
Cacciato, a naive soldier in Paul Berlin's squad, deserts, saying that he intends to walk to Paris. While on watch at an observation post, Berlin thinks back on the desertion and imagines the squad's pursuit of Cacciato all the way across Asia and Europe. The daydreams mix fantasy with memories of the war, and the chase becomes a way for Berlin to cope with fear.
More about this book
Who
Paul Berlin, the main character, his squadmates Doc Peret and Oscar Johnson, the deserter Cacciato, and a Burmese refugee, Sarkin Aung Wan.
World
The Vietnam War, and an imagined route across Asia and Europe to Paris.
What makes it different
It is nonlinear and unclear about what is real. It alternates between the present, Berlin's memories and the imagined journey. O'Brien's idea grew from his estimate that a soldier's walking in a standard tour was roughly the distance from Vietnam to Paris.
Feel
Surreal and moving. It won the 1979 National Book Award for Fiction.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Behind the book
The central idea draws on O'Brien's estimate that a soldier's walking during a standard tour of duty in Vietnam covered roughly the distance from Vietnam to Paris.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Going After CacciatoWikipedia