Scan barcode
nickel_is_neat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I guess most of the problems I had with this book are just my own, but I had a hard time following in the beginning, I don't really like books about war to begin with, and then it just kept on dragging on. There were individual scenes though that make me glad to have read it.
lifeonbooks's review
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
sarahshoemake's review against another edition
4.0
I really didn’t enjoy reading this book but 10 years later I’m still thinking about it (and I think that was kind of the point).
mrswhite's review against another edition
1.0
I'm sure it's as great as everyone says, but I just can't get through it so I bailed. Not my thing.
adt's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
loujoseph's review against another edition
4.0
took a while to get though this, this is my first denis johnson novel, maybe wasn't the best idea... he writes extremely well, but a lot of this blurs together, all the characters seem to speak in the same voice..
grayjay's review against another edition
1.0
I had a difficult time understanding the moral backbone of the novel.
I guess it doesn't surprise me that a book like this won the Pulitzer. It says something about American values. It glorifies war, features racist, and misogynistic language, a prominent gang rape scene, the casual use of homophobic slurs. I'm not saying that books shouldn't include these things if it is in a historical context, but if I am going to suffer through it, I have to feel like the author is denouncing it or at least commenting on it in some way. I don't think this author did.
I guess it doesn't surprise me that a book like this won the Pulitzer. It says something about American values. It glorifies war, features racist, and misogynistic language, a prominent gang rape scene, the casual use of homophobic slurs. I'm not saying that books shouldn't include these things if it is in a historical context, but if I am going to suffer through it, I have to feel like the author is denouncing it or at least commenting on it in some way. I don't think this author did.
djr100's review against another edition
4.0
This book receives very mixed reviews and I can certainly understand why. I really enjoyed the Denis Johnson's writing but can see that it will not GE everyone's "cup of tea". I couldn't give this 5 stars for a couple of reSons. One, I never quite reconciled how the Houston brothers "fit" into the story of Skip Sands and his uncle. It wasn't that they weren't interesting and didn't fit into the backdrop of the Vietnam War but it didn't coalesce for me. Second, while I love Johnson's prose, I found parts of this to be just a little too much, it what a times, seemed to be a bit of rambling nonsense. I guess I deemed both of those to be minor in rating this 4 stars. I just enjoyed reading it too much!
krystofsubr's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
cameronbradley's review against another edition
4.0
Tree of Smoke is Dennis Johnson’s long, National Book Award-winning novel about the Vietnam War. Or at least it’s as much about Vietnam as, say, Apocalypse Now is, which is to say not at all. The narrative structure is more akin to a downward spiral leading to a psychic implosion—a sort of oblivion—than the straightforward run-and-gun action that someone not familiar with Johnson’s writing style may expect from a “war novel”.
The winding narrative features several characters, most of them male, including: Skip Sands, a spy-in-training who operates under the tutelage of his famous and Kurtz-esque uncle, Colonel Francis X. Sands; James Houston, a marine gradually becoming unhinged and disillusioned throughout his many years in the military; Kathy Jones, a Canadian NGO worker; Nguyen Hao, who works as Colonel Sand’s personal driver and operative; and Trung Than, Vietcong member and friend of Nguyen Hao who is convinced to operate as a double agent.
All of these characters come together in conspiratorial and often violent ways, lending the story an air of a psychological thriller but in the shapeless, postmodern form the big award-winning books seem to come in these days. If this book has a problem, it’s the length. As someone who’s read a few of Johnson’s books, I can say that this is the best novel of his I’ve read, although Jesus’ Son remains the magnum opus in my opinion.
The winding narrative features several characters, most of them male, including: Skip Sands, a spy-in-training who operates under the tutelage of his famous and Kurtz-esque uncle, Colonel Francis X. Sands; James Houston, a marine gradually becoming unhinged and disillusioned throughout his many years in the military; Kathy Jones, a Canadian NGO worker; Nguyen Hao, who works as Colonel Sand’s personal driver and operative; and Trung Than, Vietcong member and friend of Nguyen Hao who is convinced to operate as a double agent.
All of these characters come together in conspiratorial and often violent ways, lending the story an air of a psychological thriller but in the shapeless, postmodern form the big award-winning books seem to come in these days. If this book has a problem, it’s the length. As someone who’s read a few of Johnson’s books, I can say that this is the best novel of his I’ve read, although Jesus’ Son remains the magnum opus in my opinion.