After reading The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, I decided to pick up another book by this author. I chose, "In the Lake of the Woods".
It was a very interestingly written story, which posed as a mystery, but in the end left bits of the puzzle missing, allowing the reader to piece together their own ideas about who the characters really were and what they did.
The book was set in Minnesota and had a very authentic feel to it.
I really enjoyed the non-traditional chapters which consisted of excerpts from books and the criminal investigations, which the book referenced in overt and oblique ways. They fit very nicely into the story and in their own way added to the narration.
Amazon link
In the Lake of the Woods
June 2008
Ephemera
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This page contains a single entry by tim published on January 19, 2005 10:57 PM.
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My two cents:
The Things They Carried is excellent.
In the Lake of the Woods is a waste of paper. Ranks in my top five of worst pieces of literature ever.
The Old Man and the Sea is also in my top five worst ever.
In the Lake of the Woods is one of my favorite books. I'm curious to know if he had Bob Carey in mind when he wrote it.
I read it years ago and many visuals are still with me: the wife's eyes snapping open. The character constructed out of smoke and mirrors. The fucking flies. The people running out of the smoke. I might have to read it again now.