Tree of Smoke: A Novel | Denis Johnson | A Bright and Shining Truth

Tree of Smoke: A Novel | Denis Johnson | "War and Peace" for the United States

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Tree of Smoke: A N...

	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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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.

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A Bright and Shining Truth

I've been a fan of Johnson for some time now. To me Johnson is the American Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Tree of Smoke struck me as quite a bit better than his earlier books (those that I read anyway.) Johnson has always attempted to inject philosophical and religious points into his narratives and in his past works it was done rather awkwardly and unrealistically (e.g., the hit-man quoting Nietzsche in Already Dead.) But in Tree of Smoke he gets it right, the characters spiritual and philosophical underpinnings are woven seamlessly into the plot and make for an incredibly rich experience. The multitude of characters from very diverse backgrounds provide a wealth of different perspectives on life and faith. I especially appreciated that some of the main characters were Vietnamese. (I find that most American's are so self absorbed they can talk about the Vietnam War for hours and never mention the Vietnamese.)

Also, I have to mention that the softcover edition's binding is fantastic. I was easily able to hold the book splayed open with one hand.

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"War and Peace" for the United States

Judging from the distribution of reviews, most people either love "Tree of Smoke" or hate it. I loved it. In fact, it's the best contemporary novel I've read in years.

Like "War and Peace," "Tree of Smoke" examines both the universals of human life and a war that transformed the nations involved. TOS sweeps over 20 years -- covering the war from 1963 to '70, with a denouement in 1983 -- and shows us the experience through the lives of CIA agents, enlisted men, Western humanitarians, and South Vietnamese. One of its themes is America's confusion in Southeast Asia, but saying so really does injustice to Johnson's accomplishment. TOS is moving and disturbing as only the best literature can be.

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