-
0 of 1 members found this review helpful.Vietnam stories with heart
“This book came to me in just 3 days! How great to buy a book at a great price and get it within a couple days. It was in brand new condition, and such an easy flowing read. I am not personally a war story fan but once you begin reading these books the way they flow you want to read more once you are done reading the first one. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-12. -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Gets Under Your Skin
“I only write a review on books that really make an impact on me. This book falls very much in that category. Having only newspaper knowledge of the Me Lai massacre it was terrible, but seemed very remote. This book brought that event up close and personal. Whenever I hear a remark about Viet Nam in the days to come this novel and its recounting of Me Lai will spring to mind. Isn't this exactly what a book should do--enable you to experience places and events you will never face in real life? I marvel at the intricate way this story was put together: smoothly combining fiction, actual events and notable quotations. It is a work of art. I couldn't put it down and read it in two days. There are so many interwoven threads that I will think about In the Lake of the Woods for days to come. It is a new entry on my list of books that get under your skin (at least my skin): Andersonville, and Spirit Lake by MacKinlay Kantor, The Stand by Stephen King, A Prayer for the Dying by Stuart O'Nan to mention a few. It is not a book that will resonate with everyone, but it is a memorable book. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-09-11. -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Typical O'Brien?
“As a student in an advanced literature class, I was required to pull up background info on O'Brien, as well as delve deeper into his writing. I found that his style, although it is provocative and note worthy, is the same method over and over again. And sadly, "In the Lake of the Woods" does not deviate for the same trap. Much like a number of his novels, it has the war veteran on the edge of insanity, and the same veteran trying to cope with the real world. For said character, he is better off trying to fit a square through a circle. But does this character take away from the story as a whole?
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-06-03.
Knowing what I know of O'Brien's style of writing, I actually found the story very enjoyable. The moments of pure insanity seemed a little less crazy, and the frequent, once random flashbacks (an O'Brien favorite), seemed to find their place within the inner plot of the story. This is not to say that my knowing how to approach the novel put the book to shame, for who could fully understand as to why Jon repeated "Kill Jesus," but it certainly didn't hurt in the reading process as a whole.
The novel seemed rushed, but good in the end. By "rushed," I mean Jon's crazy should have developed slower. This lack of planning comes across as O'Brien simply going through the motions to write another novel. Readers who have read Tim's novels before, will see recurring instances in the plot. For instance, due to the amount of stress put on the men from the war, Jon shoots his fellow soldier, which is awfully similar to the soldiers in The Things We Carried, who mangle a water buffalo to relieve stress.
Does Tim O'Brien writing this novel as if he is going through the motions, take away from the writing as a whole? No. But it doesn't help it either. ” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
well-written frustration
“My daughter studied this novel for a high school English class, and I decided to read it. Excellent novel. I found its structure fascinating, and was completely drawn into its world. But I found it ultimately frustrating. That's me, however. I like certainty. I have bought a copy of "The Things They Carried" to read; my daughter recommends it highly.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-04-30. -
Readers can choose to bowline or sheetbend all the loose ends
“Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods is the riveting tale of Vietnam War veteran John Wade who fails in his bid for a seat in the US senate in the 1980s. After the election, he and his wife Kathy retreat to a cottage in northern Minnesota to have some much needed downtime and to plan their next move. After barely a week at the cottage, Kathy mysteriously goes missing and John, who cannot imagine a life without Kathy, must do everything in his power to try and find her.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-04-29.
I haven't read any of O'Brien's other work, but I'll definitely consider doing so after reading this book. Although the plot of the story was rather predictable after Kathy's disappearance, much effort went into the development of John Wade's character, and his relationships with those around him and with his past. His character is very mysterious. We can tell from the beginning of the book that his mind does not function normally. The roots of his problems are revealed gradually throughout the book; he practiced magic when he was a kid, his father committed suicide, he killed a civilian and a fellow soldier in Vietnam, the list goes on and on. There is always a new twist as to why he is the way he is.
Only about half of the book actually follows John in his efforts to find his wife; the other half of the book consists of chapters titled "Evidence", where testimonials of fiends and loved ones of John and Kathy as well as philosophical quotes and lines from psychology textbooks try to aid in the piecing together of what happened to Kathy, and "Hypothesis", where John creates the illusion of an intimate mental connection to Kathy and where she is and how she is surviving. I found that the "Hypothesis" chapters added to the story, while the "Evidence" chapters took away from it. Every time I got to an "Evidence" chapter I felt it disrupted the flow of the story because everything in it lacked cohesion, but I felt obligated to read through it, feeling that I might miss something, only to discover at the end that there was nothing to miss. The "Hypothesis" chapters however, I found, excellently conveyed John's love and appreciation for Kathy through the connections he makes to her and her mind.
This is a book of vast circumstances which would never replicate themselves in real life, but nonetheless O'Brien successfully portrays real human love and emotions. The last chapter, a "Hypothesis" chapter from the reader's point of view looking at John, is a long string of philosophical questions. All of them relate to what has happened throughout the book, and also tie in to real life. The last two paragraphs in the book summarize what the reader has doubted all along: "Can we believe that [John] was not a monster but a man? That he was innocent of everything except his life? Could the truth be so simple? So terrible?"(303). These questions, of course, do not tie up the loose ends of the story, but loosen them farther apart to leave the readers space to ponder and draw their own conclusions.
This book is intense and should not be read by those looking for answers. It would be more to the liking of those who have a lot of time and energy to think through tough questions and find their own answers to those questions themselves.
”
