I’d say it was pretty unclear. There are many short story collections; most don’t tell and retell the same story. Is he doing this literally, or just metaphorically (e.g. soldiers experience battle many times, and each time is similar but different?). And what is the “storyteller”? Is it told through a framing device?
He literally tells the same story over and over again, differently every time. He has several stories that he does this to. The book is a fictional autobiography; O’Brien was in the Vietnam War, and writes as though he were recollecting stories from the Vietnam War, but the stories are all made up. Here, I found an excerpt that illustrates the principle in a somewhat okay manner.
I’d say it was pretty unclear. There are many short story collections; most don’t tell and retell the same story. Is he doing this literally, or just metaphorically (e.g. soldiers experience battle many times, and each time is similar but different?). And what is the “storyteller”? Is it told through a framing device?
He literally tells the same story over and over again, differently every time. He has several stories that he does this to. The book is a fictional autobiography; O’Brien was in the Vietnam War, and writes as though he were recollecting stories from the Vietnam War, but the stories are all made up. Here, I found an excerpt that illustrates the principle in a somewhat okay manner.
EDIT: Here, this is better (PDF warning).