What Happened to Her?
I’ve recently finished Tim O’Brien’s In The Lake of the Woods, one of his few that I had not read before. If you’re at all familiar with O’Brien you know that his novels always relate back to his experiences in Vietnam as an infantryman in the 1960s. His writing isn’t for everyone, but I love it. I don’t think In the Lake of the Woods overtook If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home in my Tim O’Brien ranking chart, but it’s definitely above Tomcat in Love.
In the Lake of the Woods is about John Wade, recently failed U.S. Senate candidate and Vietnam veteran, and his wife Kath. After his loss in the primaries John and Kath retreat to a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota. Everything is peaceful and life as usual between the unhappily married couple when late one night Kath goes missing. The rest of the novel is spent learning about John’s violent experiences in Vietnam, the growth and demise of his relationship with Kath, and the nature of her disappearance. Rather than building this story as a traditional mystery, O’Brien chose to sprinkle in several different Evidence chapters throughout the book. Each one takes a new look at what might have happened to Kath, and ultimately leaves the reader with the choice to decide which scheme they liked better. I won’t spoil any of them here, but let me know if you’ve read this I’d like to know what you think happened.
The horrors John Wade faced in Vietnam are the most difficult I’ve read from Tim O’Brien. There were multiple instances where I was in a strong reading groove, but then I’d read a Vietnam chapter and I’d have to put the book down. Despite these scenes being hard for me to swallow, they are also some of the strongest passages of imagery that O’Brien has ever written. Don’t let the tough parts deter you from picking up this book though.
While reading I noticed, as have others, that O’Brien peppered in some of his classic characters and scenes that can be found in his other stories. I’m pretty positive these are recycled because they have great personal value to O’Brien, but I have also seen that some people find it to be trite at this point. One returning character type is the Native American soldier serving alongside the main character, another is the guy who steps on a landmine and is blown into a tree, and of course the main character who has the opportunity to escape to Canada.
In the end, I really enjoyed the book. I gave it 5 stars in my journal and over on Goodreads. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.