6. Hyperbole

In the beginning of the seventh section, How to Tell a True War Story, we first read about the letter Rat sends to Curt Lemon's sister after his death. On page 65 a hyperbole was used: "...the funniest thing in world history." Rat writes this in regards to a war experience he had with Curt, about "fishing with a crate of hand grenades," which does not seem like the "funniest thing in world history" to me. All the soldiers seem to take on an odd sense of humor in this book. The war seems to take over all their thoughts and perceptions. This whole section confused me. O'Brien kept talking about truthful truths and untruthful truths and I honestly do not understand one thing he was trying to say in this chapter. I was even more confused on page 81 where O'Brien writes about the story of Lemon's death, "It wasn't a war story. It was a love story." I have no idea how that was about love. Then further down on the page he says, "None of it happened. None of it." Why did he write 18 pages of a "true war story" if it really ends up not being true in the end? I'm a little frustrated because I just am not getting this Tim O'Brien character at all..