Tree of Smoke: A Novel by Denis Johnson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Tree of Smoke: A Novel
Book Review: Deserves the National Book Award
Summary: 5 Stars
TREE OF SMOKE is yet another terrific Viet Nam novel, an anti-war novel, but it is more than that on its deepest level. It is written with great compassion about the condition of humanity.
The opening paragraph, noting the senseless death of one man (who happens to be President Kennedy), is beautifully juxtaposed with the sniping death of the monkey, and the mutual anguish of it. For senseless killing kills and kills the killer too. It is a karma entrenched in human history, a cycle that we cannot shake.
Not only are monkeys used literally and symbolically throughout the novel but the young American's Vietnamese counterpart, Trund, is nicknamed Monk, and double-meanings and allusions to Buddhism and Judeo-Christianity envelope the better angels of the novel's worldview.
Just as Joseph Heller's CATCH-22 was about World War II but read as an anti-Viet Nam War novel, this is a Viet Nam novel that can be read as an anti-Iraq War novel. The 'tree of smoke' in the title represents many things, among them the mushroom cloud of weapons of mass destruction and the fear of them used as both an excuse and a weapon.
Some critics have said that the 'tree of smoke' was imaginary, and I won't argue that (although President Nixon's secret plan to win the war was based upon this threat), but this is a novel, and its deeper meanings will resonate with readers in different ways.
TREE OF SMOKE's size might intimidate some, and it is over 600 pages, but it is big and fast, easy to read, a comfortable book to open and hold. The story keeps moving, and the pages fly by deceptively fast. There is a strong field of nominees for this year's National Book Award, but this one has to be my pick for its beautiful writing and its sense of compassion. An unforgettable novel.
Book Review: Dreadful
Summary: 1 Stars
This has got to be one of the WORST books ever to win the national book award. All the praise for it is mystifying. The story and characters are uninvolving, implausible, even laughable. The Colonel? A cliche from first appearance to last. His dialog is particularly bad in a book in which no one speaks like a real flesh and blood person. The prose is almost a parody of flatness, except when the author strains periodically to impress. Then the prose is cringe-inducing -- on the level of a college writers' workshop.
I think Johnson read Dispatches by Michael Herr and thought, "This is a cool book. I'm going to write one like it." The problem is that Johnson is not nearly the writer or thinker that Michael Herr is. He's got nothing original or interesting to say, and says it all in the most uninteresting way possible.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME ON THIS BOOK.
Book Review: Emotional return to
Summary: 5 Stars
I expected a literal trip into the madness again, but was surprised as to the creative and unique vision that flowed from this book. The characters and points of view presented were not the usual war stories. What saddened me as always, is that we appear to be repeating the same mistakes again in Iraq as we did back then. As the North Vietnamese saying goes, "the anvil outlasts the hammer." Will we ever learn?Book Review: Fiction as Strange as Fact
Summary: 5 Stars
Dennis Johnson has written a brilliant novel that evokes the historical period with the kind of wit and imagination it requires. Someone who did not live during that time may find the novel outrageous. It is important to remember that during the war, the U.S. Army was seriously experimenting with the Frisbee as a tactical weapon. Psychological warfare (psyops) involved such bizarre methods as flying helicopters equipped with loudspeakers over enemy territory in order to broadcast the wailing admonitions of family ghosts intended to dissuade the Viet Cong from their evil ways.
Colonel Sands, a swaggering, hard-drinking CIA operative who is nevertheless prescient, reminds me a little of the enigmatic Jean-Paul Vann, the central real life character of Neil Sheehan's A BRIGHT AND SHINING LIE. Johnson grew up around State Department types, and is able to recreate them with humor and pathos.
As one who took part in that unfortunate piece of history called The Vietnam War, I can vouch for Johnson's ability to insert the acupuncture needle exactly in the part of the brain/heart that enlivens historical memory. A great novel. Although it will disappoint those who attempt to read it as a traditional spy novel, it will thrill those entering its pages if they have a capacity to appreciate the insanity of wartime bureaucracy. People these days are fond of saying, about the strangeness of reality, "You can't make this stuff up." Well, he didn't. But he did.
Book Review: Gets better after a slow start
Summary: 3 Stars
I made the mistake of reviewing this book after reading only the first 200 pages. That was unfair to the book. It becomes a much finer book once the action finally moves to Vietnam. Certainly give this a book a chance. It may not be excellent from start to finish, but it is a surprisingly fast-moving and accessible book once it gets rolling.