"...and the star-spangled American night, absolutely infinite, surrounded the world."

Jul 10, 2013 01:16

TREE OF SMOKE

Denis Johnson

This Big Book reminded me at times about Robert Stone's Damascus Gate: the conflict-as-backdrop, although here, it's the more delineated and defined Vietnam War instead of the general psychotic End Times in the latter novel; the panoply of characters, some more opaque psychologically than others; the 'exotic' locale; a protagonist who is more a cypher than anything else.

One of Tree of Smoke's chief differences is that it sports a multiplicity of protagonists and is more shot through with poetry than Stone's book. The two books share a few folks with distorted and destructive religious views; here, they're grounded in a more personal compulsion for self-flagellation (metaphorical). As long as the books are, discernible plot doesn't really happen towards the end. And my chief beef with Tree of Smoke was that the two plot strands I enjoyed the most and found the most fulfilling and relatable got almost the least amount of time in the sun.

The book seemed less about a particular character than about the effects a wasteful and callous and violent war has on the main characters here. It ruins them, chews them up and aggravates their worst impulses, which leads to a few heartbreaking moments, nothing earth-shattering. My favorite of such passages happens on page 577 of my paperback edition. I won't quote it for fear of spoiling the plot, but it's one of the few things I significantly enjoyed about the novel. Sparkling bits of humanity built off the accumulation of FUS* beforehand, sort of like a psychedelic and violent The Sun Also Rises. (At least, when the characters weren't so inscrutable as to render such instances utter meaningless.) It's a pity there weren't more such moments.

I am officially book-less now. This was the last book I'd brought with me, and I foolishly though 700 pages would last me until early August.

* fucked up shit

reviews, books books books, books

Previous post Next post
Up