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In the Lake of the Woods
 

In the Lake of the Woods

by Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien has been writing about Vietnam in one way or another ever since he served there as an infantryman in the late 1960s. His earliest work on the subject, If I Die in a Combat Zone, was an intensely personal memoir of his own tour of duty; his books since then have featured many of the same elements of fear, boredom, and moral ambiguity but in a fictional setting. In 1994... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  mystery,  contemporary fiction,  vietnam,  novel (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
sthurner
  • Rated 5 stars

““In September, after the primary, they rented an old yellow cottage in the timber at the edge of Lake of the Woods.” So begins Tim O’Brien's 1994 novel of suspense, In The Lake of the Woods.

When I taught freshman English there was a sure way to sort out the students who liked to think about possibilities from those who wanted definite answers. The ones who courted imagination, and the ones who went after fact. It all depended on their reaction to the old short story by Frank...”

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Didn’t Like It

Jubaju Q
  • Rated 1 stars

“one word: disturbing!!! The whole book is about a war vet trying to figure out if he murdered his wife or not cause he suffers from PTS. weird.”

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Community:
  • Rated 3.881356 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • shkza

    shkza said:

    “i've read 'em all and there are a couple other o'brien books which are must reads. specifically, going after cacciato and the things they carried. more recent o'brien books have strayed - to thier considerable detriment - from what he does better than any other living writer: unflinchingly chronicle what it was like to be a soldier in vietnam. going after cacciato won the national book award and uses the war as a backdrop for an epic journey by a group of soldiers. the things they carried is a collection of loosely linked stories, which may well be o'brien's masterwork. i love in the lake of the woods without reservation, but i think these other two books made it possible and easily stand alongside it as some of the great fiction of the past 30 years. ”

    posted Saturday, May 19 2007
  • Javacat

    javacat said:

    “O'Brien recommendations?

    I found this book subtely disturbing and wonderfully well written. Has anyone out there read more of O'Brien's work? Is there another that you would recommend?”

    posted Tuesday, May 15 2007
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