Love & Spin

Love

The first short story of the novel. It is narrated by Tim O'Brien. The story takes place after the war with Jimmy Cross at O'Brien's house in Massachusetts. They reminisce, looking at pictures from the past war. As they look through the photos, they tell stories about each one. When Martha shows up in the picture, Cross tells O'Brien about their catching up at a class reunion. Martha is still not in love with Cross. She's starting to seem like a memory of Cross...

(I'm suddenly reminded of his knee obsession)

It's sort of ironic because Cross is still talking and obsessing over the same stories about Martha, but, they're not together.

Spin

The second short story of the novel. Spin is a series of mini stories about the highlights of the war. I liked the one about Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins playing checkers in a foxhole. Other soldiers would watch. It was comforting to them. Simple, unlike the war they were in. The game had two sides- black and red. " The playing field was laid out in a strict grid, no tunnels or mountains or jungles." All soldiers wished the war was like this. "There was a winner and a loser. There were rules"

Compared to the story Love, Spin is the complete opposite. They are both based on memories of the war. Love has a more re leaved, calm tone; Spin, from the stories I have read, has a horrific, pessimistic tone.