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Summary: In the Lake of the Woods book reveiw
Review: When I was reading this book I was really confused. The main charactor was very weird and very depressing. The things that he had to deal with in war must have been hard, but the way he followed his girlfriend around was really weird. I don't know how the auther could have thought of a book like this. It is confusing and I wouldn't read it again. The way they kept going back and forth from thing to thing was real hard to follow.
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Summary: It Doesn't Get Better Than This
Review: I love Tim O'Brien. A friend of mine brought me two books to read and when I started reading the first page of this one I couldn't put it down. This is a superbly written tale about the mysterious disappearance of a politician's wife, the politician being a Vietnam Vet who has managed to suppress his horrific memories for years. When the events of his past go public, the mystery begins. The book had me spellbound and also broke my heart. I've read two other Vietnam-themed books of Tim O'Brien's (Going After Cacciato & The Things They Carried) and this one touched me the most. Be forewarned: the author does not solve the mystery, but that makes it even better. A great book for discussion.
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Summary: Provides much food for thought
Review: This is a very well-written and unique novel. I really appreciated the author's style and the combination of historical facts (especially pertaining to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam) with the author's fictionalized spin on it all. I also admire the ambiguous ending; I have my own opinion about Kathy and John's individual endings, and I'm satisfied with that.Much has been written about John Wade's post-traumatic stess disorder and the acceleration of his mental decompensation after
his involvement in My Lai is "outed" and he loses the senate election. The author describes John's disintegration in vivid, chilling, and brilliant prose, but he also skillfully writes about how John's basic character was formed way before he was a soldier in Vietnam.The author did such a good job of painting John as a dark and disturbed individual since childhood (yelling out "Kill Jesus" years before Vietnam, at his father's funeral) that the true mystery in the novel for me was why his wife Kathy was so devoted to him, despite his very creepy, secretive, scary behavior towards her before they were married, and before he went to Vietnam. He was portrayed as such a disturbed individual throughout his life that it was difficult to imagine his "magician's" face, his outside appeal, and to understand how he was able to function so well for so long, and what Kathy, and Minnesota voters saw in him before his spectacular fall from grace. Despite this, I think it's a great and compelling read, and I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Master Story-teller
Review: In the Lake of the Woods is a mystery, horror, and love story written by Tim O'Brien, a master story-teller. I seldom enjoy stories about Vietnam, but O'Brien hooked me page by page as he revealed in exquisite detail Wade's tortured relationship with his father; his obsessive love for Kathy, his wife; and his participation in the My Lai Massacre. Trying to forget the latter, he risks his sanity and ultimimately his marriage. As a last resort the couple flee to a cabin in the deep woods of Minnesota. A disturbing yet engrossing work of art.
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Summary: Gripping
Review: I read this book for my english class my senior year of high school. And no book had ever sparked as much debate and discussion as this one. There were about 6 different theories about what happened between the 30 of us that read this book, and each was very passionate about their ideas. Over a year later we still argue about what happened in this book. The book itself is absolutely gripping. It sucks you in and doesn't let go for a long time. John Wade is arguably the creepiest literary character I've ever run into. And the way that O'Brien uses the evidence and hypothesis chapters to keep you guessing. Everytime you think you figured it out the book changes. Just awesome.
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Summary: In the lake of the woods review
Review: In the lake of the woods was a very mysterious book. It kept me guessing till the very end. Not knowing what happened to Kathy in the end made me a little angry but it is a perfect ending for this book because it strange. The main character John Wade is a crazy, stalker who I think is messed up because of the death of his father. Even though his father made fun of him as a child he was his bestfriend and his death did considerable damage to him. Saying John is crazy is almost an understatement. Using the phrase "Kill Jesus" because that was the worst thing he could think of would probably be a starting point for it. This book is a great read and i would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a story about the effects a war can have on someone or just looking for a mysterious book.
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Summary: In the Lake of the Woods
Review: I thought that this book was a good and interesting book. It good beacuse it deals with a real event in history,the Vietnam War. It does a good gob of discribing what war is like through the eyes of the character John Wade. It is also interesting because it shows the way war effects John Wade even long after the war. It also deals with his relationship with his wife and how he deals with being defeated in the political elections. This book is also a mistery novel and does a good job of switching from past to present times.
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Summary: Chilling, even on re-reading
Review: I first read this book about 5 years ago, and ended up debating it for weeks with folks in my office. I recently picked it up again, & found it just as haunting, compelling & intriguing. I did, though, take away a different feel from the book than I had the first time I read it.
It is no spoiler that the author does not solve the book's central mystery: the author tells you that if you want answers, "read another book." Readers can reach different conclusions as to the fate of Kathy Wade. Indeed, if my own experience is any guage, the same reader can reach a different conclusion on subsequent readings.
This book will mean different things to different people. For some, it is a mystery; for others, a dark love story; for others, it is a tale of Vietnam.
O'Brien's devices - the Evidence & Hypothesis chapters interspersed throughout the book - work fabulously. The Evidence chapters give a variety of outside perspectives which inform, or offer differing views, if not explanations, on the text, which jumps back & forth itself between the present & various points in the past. The Hypothesis chapters propose alternative answers to the central riddle.
O'Brien's clear prose is made more interesting, because the reader knows he is only getting one sliver, one part of the whole picture, and may be more or less "true".
If you have not read this book, do so. If you have, read it again: you will be amazed, entranced again -- & it may be a whole new experience for you.
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Summary: Don't read this book when you're alone at night
Review: Beautiful, ambiguous, scary, thought-provoking, so sad. Vietnam and the massacre at My Lai are at the core of this book about secrets one hides even from oneself, post-traumatic stress syndrome, a marriage of love that's based on deceit.
O'Brien is working through his own Vietman demons in all of his writing, and one feels the essential truth behind this fictional account of a rising political star brought down by incidents from his past. The writing coils back on itself, revisiting common threads that keep recurring but each time are viewed either from a slightly different angle or with just a little more recovered memory or self-knowledge.
A tour de force of writing.
Highest recommendation, along with all of his other books.
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Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A MUST READ! Get this book and relish it. You'll commend yourself later. It's beautifully written. Compelling and harrowing. I couldn't escape its allure. I tried, telling myself I had literature to read, essays to write. But I kept thinking, "I have to finish that book. I have to read more!" Tim O'Brien is an amazing wordsmith. I admire him.
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