Atlantic Monthly's BR Myers is...Skip Sands

books:

	• Tree of Smoke: A Novel Denis Johnson Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007 - 624 pages average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
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Dead souls . . .

This ambitious Vietnam novel might well be called "Why Are We In Iraq?" Its intentions seem parallel in ways to Norman Mailer's "Why Are We In Vietnam?" (1967). A survivor of a Japanese prison ship, known as "the colonel," a fierce anti-communist, is obsessed with mapping Vietcong tunnels and has a notion familiar to readers today - that CIA intelligence is being compromised by White House ideology. A legend among both those who revere and hate him, he becomes by the end a figure out of "Heart of Darkness." The novel surrounds him with a large cast of characters, including a nephew, Skip, who takes assignment in the jungle and chiefly waits for an opportunity to serve in his uncle's scheme to place a double-agent in North Vietnam, with access to Ho Chi Minh.

On another narrative track, we follow the tour of duty of a young American recruit who succumbs to a kind of lawlessness, his soul gradually burned out of his heart, to use an image from the novel, until he is less than the shell of a man, ravaged in the end by severe and self-destructive post-traumatic stress. This internal emptiness affects others in the novel, as well, and while most of the characters are interesting, there is hardly a one portrayed as sympathetic. In them, we see over and again the attempt to fill emptiness with religious belief - and there are all kinds, from Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism, to Buddhism, Marxism, and paganism. The novel ends with a strange ceremony involving the destruction and burning of a jungle tribe's household gods and the offering of a man to be a sacrificial victim.

Not all the critics have praised this novel, and while B. R. Myers' critique of it in The Atlantic is heavy-handed, it's not too far off. Long stretches of the novel seem to simply meander from one narrative thread to another, lapsing into fairly incoherent philosophizing under the influence of Bushmills or entertaining with comic tough-talk dialogue between soldiers. For about 100 pages, it becomes a breathless, page-turning thriller as a hit-man attempts to kill the only truly sympathetic character in the whole book. Finally, you can say that the soul has been burned out of the heart of this novel. There is that kind of scary emptiness where a reader might look for meaning. Its closing sentences - safe on home ground in the heart of the heart of America - are only the glimmer of a faint hope that somewhere there is a God to forgive mankind for betraying hope itself.

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"The BEST Books of 2007"

Was just thinking how great a stocking stuffer this book would be for people who love learning more about history. With the holidays fast approaching, I'm starting to compile my shopping list. Books have always been my favorite stocking stuffer. Much better than the mindless toys and trinkets most people give.

Searched Amazon.com's bestsellers for each category and here are some stocking stuffer suggestions...

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Wonderful

Given the fact that this novel is over 600 pages it is a surprisingly fast read. Denis Johnson is one of my favorites ever since the brilliantly funny jesus's son book of short stories. Tree of Smoke is truly an experience and deserves the national book award attention.

Tree of Smoke is an excellent look at the futility of the vietnam war and the impact of the war on a wide ranging group of characters. One of the most surprising things is that Johnson manages to bring wit and humor into this series of connected stories that has such a gritty tone and focuses on the trademark down-and-out, hardluck characters that Johnson writes so well.

Tree of Smoke is a crazy, drug-filled ride through the vietnam war. This is a well-worn topic that could have felt derivative but in Johnson's hands, a new and different vision is deliverd. It also feels very timely in that this could well have been written about Iraq given the themes of faulty intelligence, the impact of war on lost individuals, and knowing who the good guys are verses the bad guys.

This book is a must read not only for people interested in the vietnam war but also for anyone who would appreciate Johnson's unique gift for writing about desparate men and women.

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Atlantic Monthly's BR Myers is...Skip Sands

It is interesting to read Mr. Myers' scathing review of Tree of Smoke. Midway through, I realized that he is the very character that he seeks to devalue--a smart, disillusioned man...aka Skip Sands. An idealist. For the record, Johnson's characters ARE bit over the top. Most characters in war are, especially those that promote war. How does that make them flat?

This book invokes the best of Graham Greene and Tolstoy. Is it a Christian message? Sure, but it is the same sort of Christian message that one might read in Tolstoy's "The Gospels in Brief," or anything else by him for that matter. I'm a Buddhist and I got through alright. It would probably be more correct to call it a spiritual message.

As for Mr.Myers' complaints about the prose? I'm reminded of Dante. He wrote for the common man; and it was people just like Mr.Myers who criticized Mr. Alighieri.

Mr. Myers is one of those sad cases in literature - so concerned with "the word," the passion is lost. And I find nothing wrong with slightly melodramatic prose. And personally, I enjoy it when a writer chooses to drop the subject from a sentence in order to quicken the pace. It is a tool and there is nothing wrong with it. Looking too closely is like watching a person's earlobe wiggle while they speak. Or, to use another simile, Mr. Myers is like a great choreographer - a master of the step - who completely lacks rhythm. Don't let his review dissuade you from one of the truly great novels of our time.

I recommend this book. I have heard many people referring to the length of the book. When did 614 pages qualify as really long? Sure, it's not a short book, but lets be sensible people! The plot IS dense. So? When did a dense plot become a problem? Nothing is static. Literature changes. I am sure glad that we aren't still trying to read English as it was when Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales. While that has a place...it had...a place. This novel has its place and it is brilliant. Gorge heartily and enjoy.

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reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

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