In the Lake of the Woods

December Book of the Month

In the Lake of the Woods

By Tim O'Brien

This month we read In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien.  Unfortunately, because of a crazy snowstorm that is supposed to hit tonight we aren't out eating and discussing this book right now!!!!  Unfortunately, I did not finish the book this time!  Unfortunately, this has been a crazy month for The Chicks with Books.  

I'm about halfway through the book right now.  I have to say this was a really hard book for me to get into.  I think the plot is actually interesting but I think the way the story was told was really hard for me to follow and to figure out what is actually going on.  I guess I'll have to finish it and see if it all makes sense in the end.  I'm slowly trying to make my way through it.  

My dad is a Vietnam veteran and he has post-traumatic stress disorder.  Post-traumatic stress disorder is something many war veterans and other people who have been through extremely horrible experiences suffer from.  Again, I have to finish the book, but at this point I'm kind of disappointed with the way he portrays John Wade, the main character, in terms of being a Vietnam veteran.  I'm sure everyone deals with post-traumatic stress in different ways, and obviously, the kind of person you are before the war will play into how a war, especially Vietnam, will effect you.  I just hope not everyone gets the impression that all veterans, from Vietnam or any other war, are all as strange as John Wade.  I will definitely post when I actually finish the book, but I really felt that I had to explain that the main character is, in my opinion, psycho before he goes to war, and that that seems to play a major role in how he acts when dealing with the war and as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.  

I am glad the author describes some possible experiences for a soldier in Vietnam and isn't afraid to talk about them.  In my knowledge of the Vietnam War, so many things that happened were hidden or even denied and no one wanted to acknowledge what soldiers went through in Vietnam.  I think besides having to deal with the horrible unimaginable experiences the soldiers had to go through, when they came back from Vietnam they weren't able to talk about it or deal with it, instead they had to keep it to themselves and try and pretend like they had no problem going back to being in normal society.  This is something we do see in John Wade, the main character.  He keeps everything to himself and it haunts him even more because he tries to tell himself it didn't happen.  I think it is so sad that these soldiers had to deal with all their memories on their own.  Just think of how common it is to talk through a problem with a friend, or to share an experience with a friend, and how much better it makes you feel.  What if you had something, probably many things, completely unbelievable that you have no choice but to keep with yourself.  It breaks my heart.  I think that now that post-traumatic stress disorder has been recognized as an actual disorder, soldiers are getting help when they come back from war.  I hope at least they have the chance to discuss and deal with their experiences in the war instead of having to hide it and keep it to themselves.   

I would really love to hear your opinions on the book and I hope we can discuss this book at our January book club along with the book we pick for January.  I welcome any thoughts you have now...and feel free to ask me any questions you have.