I have just about inhaled In the Lake of the Woods (1994) over the past two days.
I came home from the Tim O'Brien reading Monday night, asked my daughter for her copy, and got started before bed. I read it off and on yesterday and through the last three innings of the game last night. I read it while I was drying my hair this morning, and I slipped home at lunch and finished it instead of grading papers.
At first, I just thought: my kind of book. My friends know that I am an ending-first reader. I have no tolerance for suspense, so as soon as I've made it far enough into a novel to know who is whom, I flip to the back and find out what happened to who and whom. Then I can settle down and enjoy the book.
In this one, we know almost from the beginning that political-wife Kathy Wade is going to disappear, and that we will never find out what happened to her. Did she run away in fear? For a premeditated tryst? Did she take the boat out and get lost in the north woods? Did her husband, broken into bits and their mirrored pieces by the anguish of youth and the sunlight of Vietnam, murder her? Did she and her husband jointly plan the ultimate getaway? We don't know, and we never will. Does he? Does anyone?
The portrait -- of disintegration, of loss, of the center that cannot hold in one person and the rupture between two who were, perhaps, never connected -- is dazzling. Tim O'Brien is not one for big words or wandering paragraphs, but his ability to weave a story, many stories, is spellbinding. The novel seems to flow right into the water of Lake in the Woods in northern Minnesota. And, as he raises the final question, you realize that your ability to distinguish between what constitutes evil and what constitutes humanity has been sorely compromised.
The result? I violated my 12-step BA (Bookbuyers Anonymous) program today and purchased Going After Cacciato.
Walked: 3 miles.
3 comments:
I see what you mean about O'Brien's presentation being so powerful. I will put his presentation at the top of my list of experiences in my lifetime. I was greatly inspired by his humanity. After the presentation, I stood in line a long time to get my book signed. After a very long day, he greeted me in a cordial and personal way. He shook my hand like he meant it. His hands are warm, strong, and authentic, just like his mind.
Ialways read the ending too. I used to think this was a character flaw, until I went to a teaching workshop and they said it is characteristic of a global learning style....we need to frame our experiences to make them meaningful...so to enjoy a book, we need to form the skeleton first, and then flesh it out.
I went to my local second hand book store on Wed. and found this book! I have not staarted it yet as I am into one other, but it is next. I stopped reading your review! I will finish it when I finish the book.
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