#sweetheart of the song tra bong

[p1325]

#fanvidfeed #rock #literature #thethingstheycarried #timobrien #movie #sweetheartofthesongtrabong #film #creep #radiohead #viddingisart

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Song: Creep

Artist: Radiohead

[cactuskat]

Listening to The Things They Carried, on the Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, and my goodness I think I’m a disaster bi

[slaygentford]

if all of your definitive jdcu including main cast went down on the yellowjackets plane who is getting eaten and who is surviving

Clarice starling struck out on her own on day five and becomes one with the forest a la sweetheart of the song tra bong never to be seen again. Jack Crawfords all succumb to disease bc they boiled water incorrectly… bill tench dies sacrificing himself after going full survival and getting mauled by mountain lion while trying to spear a trout. Will graham and holden ford are the only two people left and they end up eating bill tench’s corpse which he explicitly requested they didn’t do

[vsrobotjulie]

how to write a true war story and sweetheart of the song tra bong and in the field are stories that i think will stick with me for the rest of my life. tim o'brien does such an incredible job at really making you feel something over nothing but words.

[noknowshame]

...an addition

– The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien

[reflectiondetonation]

You just don't know. You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know what it's all about. Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the whole country—the dirt, the death—I just want to eat it and have it there inside me. That's how I feel. It's like . . . this appetite. I get scared sometimes—lots of times—but it's not bad. You know? I feel close to myself. When I'm out there at night, I feel close to my own body, I can feel my blood moving, my skin and my fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark—I'm on fire almost—I'm burning away into nothing—but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am. You can't feel like that anywhere else.

Mary Ann Bell, The Things They Carried (Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong)

[thelastlightningbug]

accidentally stumbled across the source for that “she had d cup guts but a trainer bra brain” quote that is frequently made fun of by feminists online (i have joined in this before, it’s a weird ass line out of context) and i honestly don’t think it’s some authorial failing of a misogynistic description of a woman, now knowing it’s spoken by a soldier about someone’s girlfriend rather than a direct description by the narrator.

[real-internal-revenue-service]

This is a Mary Anne apologist blog

[elainemorisi]

like, which story that I definitely am not capable of doing full justice to do I nevertheless attempt first, Kira/Winn as-canon, the sublime concept of Kira/Winn ageswap, or the original fiction about a woman fanatic that I have already been attempting to do justice to for years already

[hotniatheron]

like tbh i’m not one for american war literature cause it’s like 95% white men masturbating over their own war crime(s) guilt but The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is the exception 

[noknowshame]

hello! do you have any favorite writings/quotes on The Narrative/legacy/storytelling?

the thought process that went through my head when i saw this ask was like the cognitive equivalent of "The Hall of the Mountain King"

The Narrative/fate, legacy, and storytelling are all related yet unique themes, and I'll cover a little bit of all three. Mutuals and regulars on this blog will probably know EXACTLY where this is going we're hitting all the classics

obviously I am obligated to start with Black Sails, and these bangers about legacy:

this entire show is obviously one long quote about storytelling, so I'll move on.

Moby-Dick is of course our next stop. It's a novel that is inherently about telling your own story: what you say, what you don't say, how much you say. It's a beautiful attempt at meaning-making from trauma, and it is also chock-full of implications that it was all per-ordained from the beginning!

I won't share any more quotes from this. Go and read it.

Another book I'd recommend that deals with surprisingly similar themes is The Secret History

it's not only a reflection on very dark event's in the main characters' youth from an adult perspective, but a warning against what happens when you treat your own life like a fictional story.

One more book: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, about the Vietnam War. I had to read this in high school and its honestly one of the best books I've ever read.

It's from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, and the way events are called into question is done beautifully. I'd highly recommend finding a pdf of the chapter "Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong" to read.

Let's move on to another medium: theater! This is the part where you yell BINGO! because yes I am bringing up Jesus Christ Superstar. It's hard to pin down to a single quote, but obviously a story about this particular character is going to concern itself with inevitability and legacy. My favorite part is when Judas betrays Jesus and a choir of angels sings "well done" – he played his part as planned! Definitely watch and/or listen to it. It's ruined my ability to fake a normal conversation with someone who's actually religious.

And of course, I would be remiss not to bring up Robert Icke's Oresteia. I swear once I get my own copy I will painstakingly

there is SO much more I could bring up because this is literally all I think about. I guarantee I will wake up in the middle of the night with a quote I forgot to include. However for my own sanity, for now, I will end it here.

fin.

[p1325]

OMG I'm gonna take an exam tomorrow

So Tomorrow I'm gonna take my advanced American literature. Here's a sum-up of what of some of the works I studied so far:

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Johnathan Edwards: 7 out of 10. Interesting sermon about how to let your deepest fears out. No wonder why very religious/conservative people in the US are so paranoid about everything.

Hannah Dustin's experience: 7.5 out of 10. Through three authors (Cotton Mather, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Henry David Thoreau) it displays how monstrosity is on both sides.

Herman Melville - Benito Cereno: 9 out of 10. I think the novella is an accurate depiction of its time and some elements of it aged well. If you're interested in thriller stories with some Gothic vibes about morality and complex race relations, this is the right story for you.

Henry James - Daisy Miller: 8.5 out of 10. I think Henry James has better works but I liked this story. It delves into morality, class, and gender roles set between 19th century Switzerland and Italy. Daisy Miller's character is somewhat reminiscent of the typical 19th century heroine but with an American twist. It shares many elements with The Great Gatsby tbh

F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby: 10 out of 10. Whew, what a story. The chaotic energy, melancholy, glamorous parties, and especially deception. I didn't expect this book to be this intriguing. It's no wonder why they called it 'The Great American Novel' . Funnily enough this story mirrors some elements with Beauty and the Beast and Wuthering Heights

Alex Kuo - The White Jade : 7 out of 10. Although they are short shorties, Alex Kuo could have explored the Asian American experience so much better but it is what it is. It's nice to see how he portrays the hardships and difficulties of Asian migrants in America.

Tim O'Brien - Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong and How To Tell A True War Story: 10 out of 10. Wow, The Things They Carried didn't have to go this hard. This book almost snatched my wig by how emotionally tough it was. These two stories are less emotional but more traumatic compared to the other ones.

Annie Proulx - Brokeback Mountain: 10 out of 10. I had already watched the movie years ago but wow, the short story is as heartbreaking as the movie. It's a story about the immense power of love and how pure and beautiful love is. Well done Ms. Annie Proux, Well done.

Mohja Kahf - Emails from Scheherazade: 10 out of 10. This collection of poems impressed me with the resilience and strength of the character. As a Muslim progressive woman (which might sound like a paradox to some people) she actually respects her origins without tearing anyone down and at the same time, she fights against society's prejudices. This poem collection made me think of some progressive Muslims who are torn down by both sides of society see the Far-Right in the West and Islamic societies in the Middle East. Also, one of her poems really sounds like the ultimate American experience, I'm referring to Voyage Duster If you know what I mean.

[ashack11]

Normally I prefer to lurk in the background here on Tumblr, but today, I am burdening you all with my *literary analysis* of Better Call Saul that I have been thinking about non-stop since the end of Season 5. You’re welcome… sorry…

Kim's Fate and the Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong

The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong is a chapter/short story from Tim O'Brien's book, *The Things They Carried*. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend you do, it's phenomenal. The book is semi-autobiographical and draws on magical realism to tell the story of O'Brien's deployment in Vietnam and is a stunning reflection on war and human nature.

You can read this particular story here for free. I highly recommend you read it yourself if this interests you, it's only 20 pages. A soldier, Mark Fossie, is stationed with his company at a compound in Tra Bong, Vietnam. The compound didn't see much war and was seen as a safe place to be. The Alpha Company lives in relative peace there, accompanied by the 'Greenies', the Green Berets who keep to themselves and get up to some particularly fucked up shit.

Mark gets the idea to bring his high school sweetheart, Mary Anne Bell, from the US to Vietnam and to the compound.

“Look, if you think about it," \[Mark\] said, "it's not that crazy. You could actually do it."

“Do what?" Rat said.

"You know. Bring in a girl. I mean, what's the problem?"

Rat shrugged. "Nothing. A war."

"Well, see, that's the thing," Mark Fossie said. "No war here. You could really do it. A pair of solid brass balls, that's all you'd need."

Mark's concern with bringing Mary Anne to Vietnam is that she could be put in danger. A few weeks later, Mary Anne Bell arrives. She's 17, she's beautiful and blonde, and wearing culottes. She's certainly out of place here.

At first, things are going well. Mary Anne gets along with the rest of the company, there are no attacks on the compound, and she seems happy to be there with Mark. Mary Anne is curious : she shows interest in understanding the war and the country.

“The war intrigued her. The land, too, and the mystery."

“A strange thing to watch, Rat said. This seventeen-year-old doll in her goddamn culottes, perky and fresh-faced, like a cheerleader visiting the opposing team's locker room. Her pretty blue eyes seemed to glow. She couldn't get enough of it."

Mary Anne is smart and picks up on things quickly. She helps treat injured soldiers coming into the compound, "not afraid to get her hands bloody... She didn't back off the ugly cases"

"In times of action her face took on a sudden new composure, almost serene, the fuzzy blue eyes narrowing into a tight, intelligent focus. Mark Fossie would grin at this. He was proud, yes, but also amazed. A different person, it seemed, and he wasn't sure what to make of it."

Mary Anne "quickly fell into the behaviors of the bush" and Mark begins to show concern, suggests maybe it's time for her to go home and Mary Anne responds "Everything I want is right here".

Mary Anne begins spending less time with Mark, at times he doesn't know where she goes. He finds out she's been joining the Green Berets on ambushes at night.

This change alarms Mark, he thinks Mary Anne is in too deep. They fight, Mark tries to pull her back from the edge but she refuses. She leaves with the Greenies on another mission and when she returns, Mark goes to confront her in the Berets' encampment. In their final confrontation, he finds the Greenies' fucked up collection of war crime evidence, a leopard's head on a stick, the room is dark and Mary Anne is chanting something. She's wearing a necklace of human tongues.

And now, we finally hear from Mary Anne. She's finally able to be honest with Mark.

“There's no sense talking," she said. "I know what you think, but it's not... it's not bad."

“Bad?" Fossie murmured.

"It's not."

In the shadows there was laughter.

One of the Greenies sat up and lighted a cigar. The others lay silent.

"You're in a place," Mary Anne said softly, "where you don't belong." ...

"You just don't know," she said. "You hide in this little fortress, behind wire and sandbags, and you don't know what it's all about. Sometimes I want to eat this place. Vietnam. I want to swallow the whole country—the dirt, the death—I just want to eat it and have it there inside me. That's how I feel. It's like . . . this appetite. I get scared sometimes—lots of times—but it's not bad. You know? I feel close to myself. When I'm out there at night, I feel close to my own body, I can feel my blood moving, my skin and my fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark—I'm on fire almost—I'm burning away into nothing—but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am. You can't feel like that anywhere else."

Mark leaves Mary Anne to stay with Greenies and she’s absorbed into the war.

Better Call Saul

I can't stop thinking about this story in relation to Kim. Kim is a perplexing character. It can be difficult to understand her choices, in part because we've heard so little from her in regards to what she truly wants.

We know that in the past couple of seasons, Kim has been more willing to partake and even orchestrate Jimmy's scams (Lubbock, Coushatta, escalating to fucking over Howard). She initially says that she only wants to 'use their powers for good', but her actions don't reflect that (and in that diner scene, Jimmy does confront her on it). I think that's what she believes, that she can tip the scales of justice when it helps people who need it. But there's obviously another motivation at play. Why go after Howard so hard? What does Kim *want?*

Putting a pin in that, let's look at Kim's introduction to 'the game'. Since their first confrontation with Lalo, we've seen a very different side of Kim. She's dogged and uncompromising, and, I think, reinvigorated. And when Mike tells her she’s made of sterner stuff?? She’s GLOWING.

Okay, here's my proposed connection : Jimmy, like Mark, was concerned that bringing Kim into 'the game' would put her in danger, potentially at Lalo's hands. But we're seeing Kim begin to change, her behavior is more assured and more reckless. She doesn't recoil from the cartel dealings, but instead challenges Jimmy "Do you want to be a friend of the cartel or a rat?".

Maybe the danger in introducing Kim to 'the game' wasn't the threat of physical harm, but that she could transform, like Mary Anne. Maybe the cartel is her Vietnam. We know Kim is pushing their scams further, and her moral anchor of assuring herself she's 'doing the right thing' is becoming more and more distant, just a throwaway justification for doing what she actually wants. This is especially supported by her ditching the Santa Fe meeting. Working with the cartel represents danger and power. If that's what Kim is addicted to and what she's turned on by, she could be seduced by the cartel, and by Lalo in particular, to work for them.

Jimmy doesn't belong to the cartel underworld, but maybe Kim does.

That's it, that's the post. Sorry it got so long. Go read The Things They Carried if you haven't, it's an incredible book. I also wrote this around episode 3 this season, so Howie’s “narrative conclusion” and where it’s leading next isn’t really accounted for.

[slaygentford]

was looking for pdf of the things they carried cuz my whole library is still packed up from moving (it has been. an extremely busy. academic year) and was presented with spark notes. "what is the significance of Mary Anne in the sweetheart of song tra bong?" answer: she refutes the idea of women being one dimensional 0:)

[prince-of-elsinore]

apparently the prequel is about John and Mary as teenagers? as in when John was in Vietnam? so I assume we'll be getting a rewrite of "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried where John invites Mary to come visit him at camp and instead of providing a domestic touch to camp life Mary joins the Special Forces and starts collecting human tongues and becomes one with the jungle

[actualmermaid]

Old Guard fanfic idea: Dizzy and/or Jay trying to tell someone the story of how their buddy got killed in Afghanistan but somehow didn't die, in the style of "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" from The Things They Carried