Begining " The Things They Carried"

I have to say I enjoyed reading this book much more than The Sun Also Rises. I think this is because it was more easily understood and more modern. The themes in this book were universal and these events took place less than fifty years ago. I found two things challenging about this book. One, trying to figure out which stories were true and which one's were symbolic or exaggerated. The author tells us how true war stories are never really true and this is demonstrated through out the book. Two, figuring out what the symbols and metaphors actually meant. This was a challenge since so much of the book was symbolic. never the less I enjoyed this book and learned alot about the Vietnam War.