In the Lake of the Woods (Paperback, Paperback Original)

O'Brien proves to be the Oliver Stone of literature, reiterating the same Vietnam stories endlessly without adding any insight. Politician John Wade has just lost an election, and he and his wife, Kathy, have retired to a lakeside cabin to plan their future when she suddenly disappears. O'Brien manages to stretch out this simple premise by sticking in chapters consisting of quotes from various sources (both actual and fictional) that relate to John and Kathy. An unnamed author - an irritating device that recalls the better-handled but still imperfect "Tim O'Brien" narrator of The Things They Carried (1990) - also includes lengthy footnotes about his own experiences in Vietnam. While the sections covering John in the third person are dry, these first-person footnotes are unbearable. O'Brien uses a coy tone (it's as though he's constantly whispering "Ooooh, spooky!"), but there is no suspense: The reader is acquainted with Kathy for only a few pages before her disappearance, so it's impossible to work up any interest in her fate. The same could be said of John, even though he is the focus of the book. Flashbacks and quotes reveal that John was present at the infamous Thuan Yen massacre (for those too thick-headed to understand the connection to My Lai, O'Brien includes numerous real-life references). The symbolism here is beyond cloying. As a child John liked to perform magic tricks, and he was subsequently nicknamed "Sorcerer" by his fellow soldiers - he could make things disappear, get it? John has been troubled for some time. He used to spy on Kathy when they were in college, and his father's habit of calling the chubby boy "Jiggling John" apparently wounded him. All of this is awkwardly uncovered through a pretentious structure that cannot disguise the fact that there is no story here. Sinks like a stone. (Kirkus Reviews)

A remarkable novel from the National Book Award-winning author of 'Going After Cacciato' and 'The Things They Carried', which combines the power of the finest Vietnam fiction with the tension of a many-layered mystery. In a remote lakeside cabin deep in the Minnesota forests, Kathy Wade is comforting her husband John, an ambitious politician, after a devastating electoral defeat. Then one night she vanishes, and gradually the search for Kathy becomes a voyage into the darkest corners of John Wade's life, a life of deception and deceit - the life of a man able to escape everything but the chains of his darkest secret.

General

Imprint:	Fourth Estate
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	April 1995
Authors:	Tim O'Brien
Dimensions:	197 x 130 x 20mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	306
Edition:	Paperback Original
ISBN-13:	978-0-00-654395-4
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-00-654395-2
Barcode:	9780006543954

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