In the Lake of the Woods

Rating:
Summary: A Story About Storytelling
Review: Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods is such an amazing creation that I'm not sure exactly where to begin. I suppose ... first of all I should tell you what it is not.

It is not an easy book to get through. The story of John Wade, who may or may not have had something to do with the disappearance of his wife, is haunting. It's hard not to get caught up in the drama and peer closely at all the clues, trying to discover what happened. But while both wonderfully written and obsessively engaging (I finished the book in a quick few days, missing sleep along the way), it's also painful to read. Two scenes in particular actually made me want to put the book down and stop reading, so vividly does O'Brien paint the horror on the page.

I'm not easy to scare, either. I spent entire summers of my youth reading Peter Straub, Stephen King, Clive Barker and others and watching every horror movie I could. But what's scary in O'Brien's world is that there are no ghosts and ghoulies, only people doing terrible things. And it's told in such a way that the actions burn themselves into your mind for weeks to come.

(One of these images, which involves Vietnam, is a sore point for me, because many of the reviews I've read talk about how Vietnam plays a central role in all of O'Brien's literature. I don't believe that is the case here. At least not to the extent that it has played a role in his other works. It has some importance, but rather than MAKING John Wade what he is, here Vietnam merely reshapes and toughens the lie that he has ALREADY made himself. If anything, by including Vietnam O'Brien is toying with his image a bit, because he knows people will immediately leap to it in trying to figure out what he's saying.)

I read this over a month ago and memories of those two scenes still scare me. But that's just Tim O'Brien playing with his audience. Giving us some kind of dramatic resolution so that readers interested only in THAT will walk away with some kind of satisfaction. There's much more going on here, though.

More than anything, this is a book about storytelling--how a story can be told, the necessity of it, the reasons people need them--and at the end, a question about the value of resolution.

Right in the beginning, O'Brien's narrator tells us that we won't uncover what happened to Kathy Wade. This should alert careful readers that something else is going on behind the drama.

Also important is the narrator himself. The book is structured by the narrator, and we learn he has researched John and Kathy Wade for some time, to the point of obsession.

He tells the story in three different ways. The first is in sections that read like a standard story; they are told in near first person, following John Wade. His second method is the chapters titled Hypothesis, where the narrator is an actual presence reconstructing what may have happened. Lastly, he uses Evidence chapters that feature famous quotes and interviews from people close to the Wades as well as lists of items (a.k.a. evidence).

The narrator also intrudes in footnotes on several chapters, telling us not only factual piece of information his feelings and reflections. It is through these footnotes that most of the story the narrator wants to tell us is given. The basic gist of the lesson he wants to impart--or at least that he discovers--is that "We find truth inside, or not at all."(p.295)

It's very easy to attribute this worldview (and this narrator) to O'Brien, but I disagree wholeheartedly. He takes great pains in distancing himself from the narrator, starting before the book even begins by having separate title pages; one with his name and one without it.

All of this makes it difficult to ascertain what O'Brien was intended in writing this novel. If he truly believed the lessons learned by his narrator (which is very possible, because soon after he finished this book O'Brien decided to stop writing indefinitely), then he may be the first writer ever to actually discourage writing. But he has also published books since writing this, telling me that he either disagreed with the view but found it valid enough to explore ... or came to grips with fears that were haunting him.

I believe that this book was for O'Brien a statement of his uncertainties. That he is writing again makes me applaud that we have not lost his talent.

For readers, this is a powerful thriller whether you read it as the dramatic story of John and Kathy Wade (what really happened?) or the thematic concerns that involve the narrator (why is any of this important to anyone in the first place?).

I admire this book a great deal and recommend it to anyone who loves powerful, intelligent fiction that pushes the boundaries.

Rating:
Summary: Look at the book as you would a mirror.
Review: "To know is to be disappointed. To understand is to be betrayed. All the petty hows and whys, the unseemly motives, the abscesses of character, the sordid little uglinesses of self and history - these were gimmicks you kept under wraps to the end. Better to leave your audience wailing in the dark, shaking their fists, some crying How?, others Why?" (242). Such is Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods. Early in the book, the narrator tells the reader directly that there is no definite outcome or ending given. The reader must come up with any answers to any questions by him or herself.

This is the story of John and Kathy Wade and Kathy's disappearance. John Wade was a successful politician until his past, which he was trying to cover up with lies and illusions, came back to ruin his political career and Kathy was his loving and supportive wife who hated it.

John grew up an insecure boy, who would hide in a box of mirrors in his mind whenever he grew afraid. He performed magic tricks and like the attention his performances of illusions brought him. He served in Vietnam and was involved in the Massacre at My Lai. John covered up his participation with lies.

The novel starts immediately after John Wade's humiliating election loss and he and Kathy go off to a secluded cabin In the Lake of the Woods to rekindle their love. One night, Kathy disappears and a boat is missing. Thus, the search for Kathy begins. The narrator of the novel constructs many hypotheses as to what happens to Kathy. It is up to the reader to decide what they think happened to her. The hypothesis chapters are separated by chapters of evidence to keep the reader on the thematic track of the novel.

As mentioned before, there are no answers inside of the novel. All the questions that are brought up in the novel can only be answered by the reader. And just like how John Wade looks into mirrors to find comfort and answers, this novel is like a mirror, because it asks what the answers that you give say about you? This novel says as much about the reader if not more than it does John Wade.

I encourage anyone looking for a certain amount of introspection to read this novel. It asks the reader if you can cover up the past, do illusions last, and can you reconstruct the truth? Tim O'Brien has written a wonderful novel.

Rating:
Summary: A nightmare you'll love and hate
Review: I regard this book with awe and reverance, like a book of sorcerer spells. Engaging in it is like falling asleep in the midst of a 103 degree fever.

In the Lake of the Woods could be considered both a mystery and a horror novel, but not for the usual reasons; the literary modes which make it an enigmatic, mind-boggling nightmare are its imagery and themes. This book tied my mind in magical knots which kalidescopically changed shape, leaving my brain fried and soul nourished.

Fan's of O'Brien won't be surprised to find that he is up to his old tricks. In the Lake of the Woods begins with a title which states that Tim O'Brien is the author. Immediately before the first chapter, there is a curious second title without O'Brien's name attached to it. By the commentary provided in footnotes, the reader soon learns that O'Brien wants to make it clear that someone else wrote this story in an attempt to figure out the mystery of John and Kathy Wade. This fact confounds an easy understanding of the novel; the narrator's position must be always be taken into account.

In the Lake of the Woods is O'Brien's portrayal of a historian or biographer's attempt at piecing together the mystery of the disappearance of Kathy Wade. Kathy's husband, John, recently lost a primary election to become Minnessota's Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate after his involvement in the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam was revealed to the public. In an attempt to relax and leave the limelight, the Wade's hole up in a cottage in a remote region of Minnesota lake country. One morning, after a temporary lapse of judgement and memory the night before, John Wade wakes to find his wife missing. It is here that the mystery begins. The narrator compiles evidence, the history of the Wades, and hypotheses in an attempt to find the truth behind why this happened. However, an even greater mystery is presented within the first couple of pages when the narrator, in a footnote, states that he still doesn't know what happened to Kathy Wade. This suggests that the book is about more than just Kathy Wade's disappearance.

This novel could be read as a thriller, except that as soon as the dramatized scenes get moving, a new chapter filled with exposition, "evidence", or a "Hypothesis" begins. Tripping up the action serves to get the reader on the thematic track that O'Brien intended and to make it clear that the plot is not the major concern of the novel.

When the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, this is a novel about human nature, what we consider love, how we seek out love, how we fall in love or become obsessed, comparisons between love and obsession, how we fall in love or become obsessed with people by projecting our dreams onto them in an attempt to solve their mystery, how we are mysteries to ourselves, and how our secret selves can be destructive. It is also a story within a story about the morality of attempting to discover truth by recreating a story.

Engage this novel with the intensity that it deserves. After your fever drops and the nightmares end, you may see your own reflection in the lake of the woods.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!---Pushing the limits
Review: I read this book because of The things They Carried and I am a better writer and reader for it. Not only does this book present some of the most haunting suppositions in fiction, it takes on the issue of guilt and redemption with a modern brilliance.

As a writer I was blown away bu what O'Brien was able to accomplish with the novel form. As a reader I was amazed at the depth of this story and the sense that there is something beneath us all still troubled and unsettled by the Vietnam war. When reading Lake of the Woods I was struck with the sense that there was some unspoken communication between O'Brien and Yusef Komunyakaa. The two seem to approach their subject matter from the same perspective.

Take the time to read this book. If not for the wonderfully troubling subject matter, for the new idea of fiction that you will be treated to by turning each page.

Rating:
Summary: Hateful, misguided, spottily brilliant
Review: I found In the Lake of the Woods brilliantly written in spots but absolutely wrongheaded in two of its fundamental assumptions: 1)mental illness is caused by trauma, evil parents, and evil deeds, and repression. This is the scientific and moral equivalent of hunting witches. 2) humans are psycologically incapable of committing mass murder, then living successful lives. We have been wiping out our enemies for many tens of millennia, and most of us are doubtless capable in the wrong circumstances of continuing the practice. Wallowing in gothic fancy is not dealing with this dark truth.

In the last several decades this is the book I am most sorry to have read. Doubtless a Nobel awaits O'Brien.

Rating:
Summary: A double Molotov cocktail
Review: There are two recipes for a Molotov cocktail: (1) Take one empty whisky bottle, place some coal, sulphur and saltpetre into the bottle and make a wick with a plaster or creeper; and (2) Combine 2 parts Champagne and 1 part each Cherry Brandy, Curacao, Vodka, or Gin. Likewise, this book will knock your socks off on (at least) two different levels: (1) war is hell; and (2) so is denial.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and challenging
Review: I am really surprised by the negative reviews of the book--they seems to want too easy an answer from their fiction. John and his wife are incredibly complex characters, well-developed and you care deeply about what might have happened. The fact that the book has such an open-ended approach only adds to its appeal. An excellent read, and re-read!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: This was a wonderful book by one of my favorite writers. Tim O'Brien always has a great approach on a story, and he immediately attaches you to the characters. The character development is phenominal. I read this book in one day. I don't know if it was the fact that I was crazy from reading for hours, or because the book was so good, but I was crying at the end of it. This is a must read of O'Brien's work, but pick up any of his books and you will be pleased.

Rating:
Summary: This is the BEST BOOK!
Review: In the Lake of the Woods, is the best book I have ever read! O'Brien, lets his readers into the world of a man who has been through so much trauma from his childhood history to his history in the Vietnam war. The novel is spell-binding and leaves the reader craving for more!

Rating:
Summary: Definitely disturbing.
Review: I think this is Tim O'Brien's best book. It's twisted and startling and still you want to read more. It's not always an easy book to read, but he does a good job of carrying his characters out of Vietnam and transplanting them back to their normal lives with the not so easy memories of war.

There's no clear resolution to this book, but I think that's what makes most of O'brien's work so fascinating. The reader is as important as the author in determining what's really happening in these people's lives.