Tree of Smoke: A Novel

by Denis Johnson

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Amazon Significant Seven, September 2007: Denis Johnson is one of those few great hopes of American writing, fully capable of pulling out a ground-changing masterpiece, as he did in 1992 with the now-legendary collection, Jesus' Son. Tree of Smoke showed every sign of being his "big book": 600+ pages, years in the making, with a grand subject (the Vietnam War). And in the reading it lives up to every promise. It's crowded with the desperate people, always short of salvation, who are Johnson's specialty, but despite every temptation of the Vietnam dreamscape it is relentlessly sober in its attention to on-the-ground details and the gradations of psychology. Not one of its 614 pages lacks a sentence or an observation that could set you back on your heels. This is the book Johnson fans have been waiting for--along with everybody else, whether they knew it or not. --Tom Nissley

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vance w says

I read the book Tree of Smoke by Dennis Johnson. Dennis Johnson is a really good author ,as this is the first book I read by him. In 2007 Johnson recived the National Book Award for this book. His most famous work though is Jesus'Son which are a collection of short stories, which he also won an award for. Johnson was born in Germany and has been writing books and poems since 1983.
This book The Tree of Smoke is about the Vietnam war through the eves of a character who was apart of this war. The characters name is Skip Sands and he is a spy in training in psychological operations against the Vietcong. During the story many disasters come to him because of his uncle, who was a war hero in Vietnam. Other characters in this book are the Huston brothers, Bill and James who drift from the Arizona desert into the heart of the war. The brothers are disillusioned because they really don't even know what the war is about. This book gives you a true experience of everything we've come to know about the Vietnam War.
There is a theme that I've found that is connected to this book. The theme I have is always know what you are gonna get into before you do it. Skip went into the war wanting to share some of his grandfathers honor. I don't think he knew what the true meaning or even what the war is about. Thus lead to his downfall. Well this is all I have on thuis book but, I recommend that you read this book because it pretty much seems as you were in Vietnam with these characters.

posted 8 days ago

(read vance w’s review)

patricia p says

Are you sure you are reading the right book? I mean are you sure you are reading The Tree of Smoke? This book is about illusion and delusion and is pretty hairy. Maybe you haven't gotten to the other characters.

posted 2 weeks ago

(This is a response to a previous comment)

vance w says

Do you like my book tree of smoke I am reading for english class?

posted 2 weeks ago

(read vance w’s review)

dfolwell says

I just read a review of this book... looks really good. BTW, I can't post back on your comments, but I have read "I, Claudius" and "Claudius, The God" and it's just the best. I tried to read "Lives of the Caesars" after it, but it just wasn't as fun as Graves... so good!

posted Friday, September 21 2007