Tree of Smoke: Summary and book reviews of Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, plus links to an excerpt from Tree of Smoke and a biography of Denis Johnson.
Tree of Smoke A Novel
by Denis Johnson
Hardcover: Sep 2007,
624 pages.
Paperback: Sep 2008,
624 pages.
Once upon a time there was a war . . . and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neither, who wanted instead to be the Wise American, or the Good American, but who eventually came to witness himself as the Real American and finally as simply the Fucking American. That’s me.
This is the story of Skip Sands—spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong—and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature.
Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson’s first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date.
Does it sound relentless? At moments, this giant novel is exactly that; and certainly, it's supposed to be. But the catch is that Johnson's often unwieldy, rant-filled dialogue and frenetic plotline is checkered with great, poetic moments of clarity as his characters search for simple grace. The chugging train of his story stops every so often at the tug of a heartstring or simply because of the way the light is falling, and a great feeling of relief washes the whole grimy thing clean. Then the whistle blows, and the train gets going, gaining speed, and the reader's struggling to stay on. The thing is, if you do, if you can stay on, the rewards are rich, staggering, and rare. (Reviewed by Lucia Silva).
The San Francisco Chronicle - David Hellman
It will be interesting to see how readers respond to Johnson's novel. Stylistically, it ranges from Hemingwayesque straightforward simplicity to Proustian narrative complexity and descriptive splendor. Johnson brings his talents as a poet to bear, especially when describing the jungles and cities of Asia. But will readers seeking a "thriller" in this text be put off by its literary demands? It will also be interesting to see how more progressive-minded readers will react to a narrative that displays much sympathy toward characters who adamantly believed in the Vietnam War, even while they recognized the futility of it.
Los Angeles Times - David Ulin
It's beautiful writing: with Johnson, the writing is always beautiful.
The Boston Globe - Gail Caldwell
Everything in Tree of Smoke is there for a reason, even when it feels desultory and too passionately involved with its own meanderings - there are passages and detours on occasion (particularly the Colonel's mad philosophizing) that seem as labyrinthine as those infamous tunnels. But there are also moments of riveting intrigue, particularly a scene involving an exquisitely depicted German assassin. In a novel of this length and span, it's the authorial sensibility that mandates the story, and Johnson's is aptly fitted to the "vampire mausoleum" that was Vietnam.
The New York Times - Jim Lewis Tree of Smoke is a tremendous book, a strange entertainment, very long but very fast, a great whirly ride that starts out sad and gets sadder and sadder, loops unpredictably out and around, and then lurches down so suddenly at the very end that it will make your stomach flop.
The Seattle Times - Tyrone Beason
he immensely talented Johnson ("Jesus' Son," "Resuscitation of a Dead Man") delivers a beautifully layered, insightful and visceral montage of stories that examines the Vietnam War experience from multiple points of view.
The Washington Post - David Ignatius
To write a fat novel about the Vietnam War nearly 35 years after it ended is an act of literary bravado. To do so as brilliantly as Denis Johnson has in Tree of Smoke is positively a miracle.
The New York Times Book Review - Michiko Kakutani
Bound to become one of the classic works of literature produced by that tragic and uncannily familiar war.
Publishers Weekly
When the book ends...you feel that America's Vietnam experience has been brought to a closure that's as good as we'll ever get.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Delilah Serious editing needed... Much of the writing in this book is extraordinary, and it really conveys the insanity of war. Nevertheless, I found myself tiring of the the endless drunken, pointless conversations and repetitive scenes of perverse violence and sexuality. The book... Read More
Review (not rated)
by Brian Hope Too much imagination? First, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it rests now in the Vietnam section of my library (the insanity of the whole Vietnam thing fascinates me). My comments are that it would have been a much better book had the excesses of imagination had the... Read More
Rated of 5
by JMT Overblown First things first, I read the book and it is a good read and it kept me interested. It drifts along with characters entering the story that never interact with the main characters at all (or anyone else really). I kept waiting for there to be a... Read More
Rated of 5
by Katherine Reed Smoke and fire I have read quite a bit of Vietnam fiction and non fiction, but I've never read anything that seems to capture the tortured soul of that conflict as sharply — and beautifully — as this book. It is a page-turner but still complex, and the characters... Read More
Rated of 5
by Pat I could not put this book down! This book has just wrapped me into it and I can't stop reading. I was in high school in the 60's with friends going away to this war; many came back not the same. This book gives real insight into the lives of those involved in the war. I found... Read More
Most of Denis Johnson's fans
discovered him through his 1992
collection of short fiction,
Jesus' Son. His trademark
down & dirty style, paired with
slim, grim stories of
drug-addled 70's drifters drew
critical acclaim, a movie deal,
and a cult following. But before
all that came four novels and at
least two collections of poetry,
the first published in 1969
while Johnson was studying with
Raymond Carver at The University
of Iowa. The pervasive themes of
Denis Johnson's work are all
there in his poems: loneliness,
otherness, and the possibility
of grace in a world gone bad.
But here, the power of his
writing is stripped bare,
revealing an immediate
tenderness that softens the
edges of his fiction.
Set in the haunting landscape of eastern Australia, this is a stunningly accomplished debut novel about the inescapable past: the ineffable ties of family, the wars fought by fathers and sons, and what goes unsaid.
A searing coming-of-age story and a novel for our times—one of the most powerful, visceral portraits of the horror, camaraderie, and absurdity of war in modern fiction.
These are 2 of the 15 readalike suggestions for Tree of Smoke. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
read more
From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
read more
Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
read more
Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
Full Story
BookBrowse
(829 words).
of 5
by Delilah
of 5
by Katherine Reed
Write your own review!
