Tree of Smoke: A Novel

by Denis Johnson

book data

1,612 ratings, 3.63 average rating, 528 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		24%
4		35%
3		24%
2		10%
1		5%

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published

September 4th 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

binding

Hardcover, 624 pages

literary awards

National Book Award (2007)

isbn

0374279128 (isbn13: 9780374279127)

description

Once upon a time there was a war...and a young American who thought of himself as the Quiet American and the Ugly American, and who wished to be neit...more

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10/04/07

Joshua rated it:

Read in March, 2008

I am not reviewing this book, as I consider myself to be utterly unqualified and am not sufficiently infatuated with my own sense of taste. I liked it. A lot. Hence the stars. There.

What I'm really delighting in right now, however, is how thoroughly unqualified B.R. Myers proved himself to be as well. His Atlantic Monthly review (found at: my link text) of "Tree of Smoke" is a display of such blind zealotry that I can't decide between crying out for him to be publicly ...more

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4 comments

04/07/08

Michelle rated it:

bookshelves: contemporary-fiction

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Vietnam War Buffs

From this book I learned to carefully check materials before checking them out of my local library. When I saw Tree of Smoke on the shelf, I happily checked it out and couldn't wait to get it home and start reading it. I am a fan of Denis Johnson's work, and this was his first novel in about nine years.

When I flipped to the title page, there was what looked like a flattened booger on the page. I really wanted to read the book so I quickly flipped the page and started reading anyway...more

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19 comments

12/05/07

Jason Pettus rated it:

Read in December, 2007

(My full review of this book is much longer than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

So before anything else, a little history lesson...

From the mid-1800s until World War II, the Asian country now known as Vietnam was in actuality controlled by France and operated as a colony; during WWII, then, the Japanese invaded the area so as to install a Vichy-style fascist government. It wa...more (My full review of this book is much longer than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

So before anything else, a little history lesson...

From the mid-1800s until World War II, the Asian country now known as Vietnam was in actuality controlled by France and operated as a colony; during WWII, then, the Japanese invaded the area so as to install a Vichy-style fascist government. It was the Vietnamese, in fact, who eventually rose up and ran this group out of the country at the end of the war, led and funded by local communists who were being secretly supported by Soviet Russia; at this point the French tried to come back in and re-establish colonialism, but the 'Viet Minh' were having none of it. That led to what's now known as the 'First Vietnam War,' or 'Indochina War' if you want to get technical, which lasted for roughly a decade and which the French (backed secretly by US resources) lost; it led in 1954 to a splitting of the country into a North and South Vietnam, with a referendum two years later that was supposed to politically reunify them again. The referendum never happened, though, because of the US continuing to stockpile more and more military in the southern half of the country; it soon led to the 'Second Vietnam War,' the enemy now known as the Viet Cong, the war many more Americans are familiar with, the one that many people say we lost as well at the end of 1973 (which was more about us giving up fighting, which is why it's contested whether we should call it "losing a war"). And thus did the entirety of Vietnam become communist in the mid-'70s, which was kind of a disaster until 1986 when the country first embraced free-market capitalism; now in 2007 they're one of the economically fastest-growing countries on the planet, certainly of the so-called "third world," and last year hosted over three and a half million international tourists.

I bring you this little tutorial, of course, because you'll need it in order to get through the absolutely mindblowing Tree of Smoke, the latest novel by revered writer Denis Johnson, and a few weeks ago officially the recipient of this year's National Book Award. It. Is. An. Astounding. Book., make no mistake, one that floored me in a particular way a novel hasn't done to me in years; but it's also a book that asks a lot out of you as a reader, not the least of which is a good four to six weeks of commitment, not to mention a fairly good understanding of 20th-century Vietnamese history before starting, plus of course with it presenting a challenge to many radical liberals as to how to think of the very concept of "war" itself. It's one of those big books, you know, and by "big" I mean in a grand, old-skool, James Michener or Herman Wouk kinda way; a book with a dozen main characters, two dozen other minor ones, all of them scattered around the planet and coming to the same central core of a story from a dozen different backgrounds and mindsets. There are good things about such books and bad things; in this case, in my opinion, a lot more good than bad, but that's partly because I'm a big fan of these kinds of novels in the first place. It's certainly one of those books that people love giving awards to, because it feels good to give an award to a book like this; it's a hefty one, not only emotionally and intellectually but also its sheer physical weight, something that makes you feel like you really accomplished something by making it all the way through.

So why does Johnson's name ring a bell, you're thinking? Well, because...(less)

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04/16/08

William rated it:

Read in February, 2009

If you like an epic story this is for you. I wanted to give it 4 stars but the number of interwoven stories deterred me. I can see this being a plus for many. There are no heroes or saviors here. If you need at least one good guy in your novel you won't find one here. No matter how heroic they start out to be. If your of a certain age as I am when Vietnam and S.E. Asia were the every day topic of conversation then the amazing ability of the author to bring those headlines to life and put you ins...more

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6 comments

11/17/08

Diane rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Diane by: The New York Times

I must not be smart enough for this book because I didn't love it the way I know I should have. The critical reviews of this book were amazing--words like "masterpiece" were used often (see eg NYT review). To me, this novel felt like work, so much so that I had to take breaks and read the truly awful Sushi for Beginners just to get through it. The story is complicated because there are so many characters it becomes hard to focus on the so-called "main" ones. The narrative cha...more

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02/08/08

Alex rated it:

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: anybody

Tree of Smoke is something like a good, plot-driven thriller (like LeCarré more than Clancy) injected with a heady dose of fog of war. It's a novel that looks at the Vietnam War through a wonderfully tuned eye for the humane, a critical piece that has no truck with the cliché activisms we're used to. It's a novel about the human effects of fighting for abstractions. It's about forgiveness and salvation, about guilt itself in the face of the unswerving trueness of death. It's about what we ...more

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3 comments

10/14/07

W rated it:

recommends it for: anyone who has passed Am Lit 100 & 101

First of all, TREE OF SMOKE is as similar to JESUS' SON as DUBLINERS is with ULYSSES. Compare a writer messing around with his experience and craft and an author who has come under the full blown power of his pen. One can also say TREE OF SMOKE is about Vietnam in the same way MOBY DICK is about whaling. I will wait until a second reading, but we may have our first great American novel since Faulkner and, in a certain sense, Dreiser.
“Tree of Smoke” is a more literal translation of ...more

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06/17/08

Phillip rated it:

Like many of you, I can't figure out why this book won the NBA. Not that DJ isn't a great writer, and parts of TOS are wonderfully constructed. But as a reader of hundreds of books on Vietnam and a three year all expenses paid visit there during the war, I didn't find insight into a darn thing, nothing new or meaningful. And I can turn and look at dozens of books on my shelf which are all of the above. And they didn't win squat. Obviously, some of you did.

Some of the comments (few a...more

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01/07/08

Roderick rated it:

Read in January, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This book makes me want to be a novelist at the same time that it makes me realise (again) how very hard it is to pull off. Denis Johnson manages to be psychologically concise and lyrical over and over again, which strikes me as incredibly difficult. How many different people can one person manage to be subtle and perceptive about at the same time? A lot, apparently, if you know what you're doing. Unlike, say, Ian McEwan. Just saying.

I'm having quite a hard time keeping up with ...more

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07/08/07

Shauna rated it:

(review of isbn 0330449206)

Read in August, 2007

Hm. Let me back up here (back up, back up) because I'm not sure anyone wants to hear this.

It ain't all that.

There are big problems with some redundant characters and both flat writing and listless plotting in the opening chapters. Then it gets good. Then the last section kills. But I can't help but think that if this were a debut, I would not have persisted through the sloppier portions of it, and I really don't think epic is Johnson's game.

Now let me add ...more

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12/23/08

John rated it:

Read in February, 2009

I'm still not sure what I feel about this book. Frankly, after reading a number reviews here on goodreads I can sympathize with them all. So maybe that makes it a fascinating book. If you are wondering whether to put this on your list read 10 or so of the first reviews and you'll save yourself some time.

Yes this book IS about "Vietnam". You know the war. Another book 'Nam. And I think to compare it to other earlier novels on the topic is fair. But it's approaching 40 years ...more I'm still not sure what I feel about this book. Frankly, after reading a number reviews here on goodreads I can sympathize with them all. So maybe that makes it a fascinating book. If you are wondering whether to put this on your list read 10 or so of the first reviews and you'll save yourself some time.

Yes this book IS about "Vietnam". You know the war. Another book 'Nam. And I think to compare it to other earlier novels on the topic is fair. But it's approaching 40 years later and he actually finished it now (even though he had notes on it back in '83). I looked a bit for interviews with Johnson on 'Tree of Smoke' because I wanted to know what he's said about it. Don't get me wrong I love all the erudite reviews and the reviews of reviews but just like in lit class I keep wondering what the author wanted to say. Until he speaks out I guess I'll have to tell you what I feel.

First it wasn't about the 60's-70's. It was about now. Iraq. Afghanistan. Yes. But for me it was about the characters struggling with the ever shifting vagueness of the moral world today. So you want to love your country and defend it against the nihilistic forces of the religious mafia nationalists. But once you take the stance, once you put up your dukes the world shifts. Smarts, bravado, faith, loyalty they all aren't enough to keep you from getting really dirty and confused. The main characters in the book all think they have a way to figure war out. How to deal with. Just look at where they end up. Is it a moral lesson? I don't think either. Most of the characters come to some sort of peace with their flawed viewpoints and ways of copping.

As has been pointed out the book is a bit obtuse to start and takes awhile to pick up the pace. For those that need a more straight line narrative this book will be a trial. I found that I had to make enough time to finish a full sub story so that I wasn't lost when I came back after a longer absence. And if you're looking for a plot you can predict, well move on.

I often judge the strength of a book by the effect it has on me. This book disturbed me. The characters disturbed me. The story is messy and so are the characters. I didn't find myself rooting for them but I sure wanted to know what would happen. I was sometimes confused by it's complexity. And I could help feeling that Johnson was trying to tell me something.

Again just look at the reviews and you'll see that the book must be multi-dimensional if readers (critics too) see it in so many different ways. I recommend it in part based on that.(less)

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12/04/08

Dennis D. rated it:

Read in December, 2008

recommends it for: people who have trouble sleeping.

I don't usually read others' reviews before writing one of my own, but I had to in this case, because I figured I must have been reading a different book than everyone else. I picked this up in the first place because so many people liked it (National Book Award, numerous Top 10 lists for 2007, including NYT, Time, and EW). I rarely give up on a book, but I came close with this one a number of times; for instance, at page 300, 400, 500...even 600. I forged on, buoyed by all the acclaim and my...more I don't usually read others' reviews before writing one of my own, but I had to in this case, because I figured I must have been reading a different book than everyone else. I picked this up in the first place because so many people liked it (National Book Award, numerous Top 10 lists for 2007, including NYT, Time, and EW). I rarely give up on a book, but I came close with this one a number of times; for instance, at page 300, 400, 500...even 600. I forged on, buoyed by all the acclaim and my own inability to just give up and move on. So give me my damned cookie, I finished the thing.

The novel in a nutshell is largely about Skip Sands, a CIA trainee working for the military in Vietnam during the war, and assigned to his uncle, the legendary Colonel (serious echoes of the deranged Col. Kurtz here). But it's also about Trung, an NVA spy, and his uncle, Hao. And raw US newbie soldiers Bill & James Houston. And Kathy, the missionary/nurse from Canada. And solider Jimmy Storm. The priest, Father Callahan...Callaghan?...makes a brief but memorable appearance (screw it, I'm not going to open the book again to look the actual name up). As does CIA operative Voss. And a CIA assassin. And the Professor. And Gilligan. Yes, there were a lot of characters and storylines; some intersected, and some didn't, and it was very chaotic, just like war itself. War is hell, I get it.

But does reading about it have to be hell, too? I can handle ‘long,’ that wasn’t the issue. Situations and circumstances struck me as wholly unoriginal. I caught bits of “Apocalypse Now,” as I mentioned. But also “Platoon,” “A Bright Shining Lie,” even “The Last Picture Show.” Characters that are built up as if to be a major part of the story have little to do or say, and disappear for pages and pages on end. Often, their stories are brought to a close “off camera” and in a matter-of-fact fashion, which I thought blunted their impact. Denis Johnson reportedly spent a long time writing this, so I have to assume that these stylistic choices were his. As a novel, “Tree of Smoke” just didn’t hang together for me. I thought it was meandering, unfocused, and in need of some serious editing.

Having said all of that, there were large chunks of this narrative that I really liked. Some of the prose is truly beautiful. The parallels that Johnson is making to the Iraq war are unmistakable and unnerving. Bill Houston’s encounter in the jungle when he first arrives in the Phillipines is heart-rending. If a few of the subjects/arcs were short stories as part of a thematic collection, I would have liked the whole thing a lot more.
(less)

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09/07/08

John and Kris rated it:

Read in January, 2009

A rare review...

I prefer non-fiction...

Tree of Smoke, like Franzen’s The Corrections, was a Target impulse purchase because it won the National Book Award.

Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke won the National Book Award due to the fact that Johnson is, supposedly, a writer’s writer. If you or I would’ve submitted this long Vietnam era manuscript it would’ve been tossed in the trash heap by any publisher looking to earn a living because of its length and la...more

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07/29/08

Ben rated it:

recommends it for: B.R. Myers

I admit I was biased toward this novel even before I opened it, due partly to prior admiration toward Denis Johnson and partly to the fact that this is the most beautifully designed book I own. I just want to hold it and look at it and rub it against my face.

That said.

Everything is accomplished in this book. The Vietnam War is approached from a variety of angles--infantry, tunnel rat, South Vietnamese fighter pilot, North Vietnamese agent, CIA operative, outsourced assa...more

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04/29/08

Jill rated it:

Read in July, 2008

I finally finished this amazing book. I am a fan of anything about the Vietnam war, you know, the first one we lost. That is what this novel is about, and naturally delves into each characters' "heart of darkness."
Denis Johnson paints unfiltered portraits of a general, a corporal, a marine, a navy newbie, VC's, CIA operatives, assasins on both sides, a volunteer nurse, a priest, a double-agent, a girlfriend back home, an ignorant mom- every possible character perspective of a wa...more

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02/22/08

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading this book is a little like reading Don Delillo novel; it is so full of descriptive passages and internal mind-scapes that one could get lost reading a page after page, or lost, needing to go back wondering the thematic importance of the last excerpt. I sometimes can't bring myself to put it down and go to much needed sleep late at night, or cannot bring myself to pick it up because the enormity of it leaves me bewildered. I am beginning to think that this is, in part, due to the format o...more

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02/14/08

Grant Faulkner rated it:

Read in December, 2007

I think I'm Denis Johnson's ideal reader in some ways--his first novel, Angels, and then his collection of short stories, Jesus's Son, are among my favorite books. So I was eager to read Tree of Smoke, especially after several reviews elevated it to masterpiece status and it was nominated for a National Book Award.

The novel is ambitious, but doesn't deliver. The things Johnson does so well--for example, his keen, poignant portraits of people desperately clinging to the edge of life-...more

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02/02/08

Tripp rated it:

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Literary fiction lovers, international relations students

There are Tree of Smoke lovers and haters. Count me on the side of the lovers. The time shifts in the first section might make you think you are in for a trippy update of Dispatches, but the book quickly moves into a year by year account of the destruction of a number of American and Vietnamese lives.

The title represents a number of images and themes in the book. It references a verse in the Bible which a grizzled intelligence vet uses as a code name and a kind of mantra. The tree is...more There are Tree of Smoke lovers and haters. Count me on the side of the lovers. The time shifts in the first section might make you think you are in for a trippy update of Dispatches, but the book quickly moves into a year by year account of the destruction of a number of American and Vietnamese lives.

The title represents a number of images and themes in the book. It references a verse in the Bible which a grizzled intelligence vet uses as a code name and a kind of mantra. The tree is used to signify ghosts, mushroom clouds, fire, threat and, I think, the potentially weak nature of family connection. Most of the characters wrestle with family members, some betraying and some trying to save, but nearly all lead to disaster. And like smoke, many find that their family is simply gone.

Religious imagery is also significant, with characters wondering just who the Judas is and what the nature of betrayal and redemption is. Again, it is primarily at the hands of family that the action takes place and when some are accused falsely it is terribly sad. In one case, people commit wrong to help their family, and the portrayal of it is morally ambiguous.

While this is a Vietnam novel, very little combat is depicted. This book is more in the mold of spy fiction with its exploration of the life of the operative and the Quiet American (which one character references more than once.) Ultimately it is about the human cost of war and it shows the cost is even worse than is usually shown.

There is a wide range of characters, including a Canadian nurse whose husband disappears in the Philippines, two working class brothers who experiences in the Navy and Army do not set them up well for civilian life, a Vietnamese Viet Cong volunteer who now doubts his choice, and the elder operative. The nephew of said operative, named Skip, is the core. He, and his uncle, ties the characters together and he goes through the worst of all of them.

The book's epilogue is a bit long, as it covers almost all of the surviving characters in 1983, but it helps wrap up the book. I had to re-read the opening section set in 1963, as it made little sense when first read, but clearly sets up the major themes of the book which include the possibility of spiritual death, betrayal, family and cultures which cannot comprehend one another.

Ignore the haters who, in my view, criticize tangential detail. My first reaction on closing the book was that I needed to read it again because I realized that I missed quite a bit. That is the sign of a great book.(less)

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01/22/08

Christopher rated it:

Read in January, 2008

Denis Johnson's NBA-winning novel reminded me of another major cultural event from last year -- Todd Haynes' Dylan biopic/mindfuck I'm Not There. Both are set mostly in the sixties, and both say less about the decade itself than about the sheen of fantasy that the subsequent years have applied to it. Both attempt, with the highest artistic intentions, to breath life into a tired form -- the Vietnam novel; the rock n roll biopic. Both contain a series of exquisite, even impeccable, gestures, p...more

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12/09/07

Doug Schrashun rated it:

Read in September, 2007

It's hard not to be disappointed with a Denis Johnson novel. Something about everything he does allows it to be possibly the greatest writing thing to be ever written, but then he always sort of fucks it up.

This isn't any different. It's still great in a way, but for someone with an imagination as good as his he seems to get bogged down in facts, accuracy and boring things pitfalls like history. Of course the book has it's great points - showing the relationship between fear and b...more

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quotes from this book

"War is ninety percent myth anyway, isn’t it? In order to prosecute our own wars we raise them to the level of human sacrifice, don’t we, and we constantly invoke our God. It’s got to be about something bigger than dying, or we’d all turn deserter." More quotes...