What is True and what is Fiction?

There is a fine line between fiction and reality when it comes to writing. How can one truly tell the difference between fact and fiction when it's on paper? In The Things They Carried  (TTTC) Tim O'Brien uses verisimilitude throughout the entire book that challenges the reader's ability to tell the difference between truth and fiction. Verisimilitude is defined as the appearance of being true or real (Oxford Dictionaries); so, how is it that O'Brien is able to create a work of fiction that seems like an autobiography about his time in Vietnam? O'Brien answered this question himself, "You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened...and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain" (152). I never would have thought in a million years that fiction could seem like reality. Whenever I think of fiction I think of something like Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, not something like The Things They Carried. The fact that this book made me believe that every single thing that was stated in this book was true absolutely fascinates me! Who cares if the entire thing was a lie! This book pulled at my heart strings! It made me squeal with excitement, cry tears of joy and sadness, and made me feel things I've never felt before when reading fiction. TTTC is a masterpiece in itself and those that disagree don't see the brilliance of this book, and frankly, never will.