Tree of Smoke
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Denis Johnson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus & Giroux |
Publication date | September 4, 2007 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 624 |
Tree of Smoke is a 2007 novel by American author Denis Johnson which won the National Book Award for Fiction[1][2] and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.[3] It is about a man named Skip Sands who joins the CIA in 1965, and begins working in Vietnam during the American involvement there. The time frame of the novel is from 1963 to 1970, with a coda set in 1983. One of the protagonists of Tree of Smoke is Bill Houston, who was the main character in Johnson's 1983 debut novel Angels.
There are several references in the novel to the title phrase, which has Biblical origins in three cited passages: Song of Solomon 3:6; Book of Joel 2:30, 31; and Exodus 33:9, 10.
Plot
Johnson's novel revolves around the associations and interactions with Francis X. Sands, a retired air force colonel and war hero, now a CIA official in Southeast Asia. The story is told primarily from the point of view of his nephew, William "Skip" Sands; Infantry Private James Houston and his brother Bill; and Kathy Jones, a Canadian NGO worker. The plot also includes minor but important characters Major Eddie Aguinaldo, a Filipino army officer; Nguyen Hao and his nephew Minh who work for Colonel Sands; Trung Than, Nguyen Hao's Vietcong friend turned double agent; Sergeant Jimmy Storm, a henchman of the Colonel; and a German assassin named Dietrich Fest.
Characters
Colonel Francis X. Sands
Retired Air Force colonel and war hero. Uncle of Skip Sands and head of Psy Ops for the CIA in Southeast Asia.
William Skip Sands
CIA officer in Philippines and Vietnam who works under his uncle's tutelage.
Kathy Jones
Canadian NGO worker in the Philippines and Vietnam.
James Houston
Marine private in Vietnam. Although not technically under the command of Colonel Sands, he is a member of Echo Reconnaissance of Delta company which is under the direction of Psy Ops.
Bill Houston
Brother of James Houston who initially serves in the Navy.
Burris
Youngest brother of James and Bill Houston
Sergeant Jimmy Storm
Operative for Colonel Sands in Psy Ops.
Nguyen Hao
Vietnamese businessman serving as driver and operative for Colonel Sands.
Minh
Nephew of Nguyen and helicopter pilot in the Vietnamese air force but works more directly for Colonel Sands.
Kim Hao
Wife of Nguyen Hao.
Thu
Nephew of Nguyen Hao and brother of Minh who kills himself by self-immolation.
Trung Than
Childhood friend of Nguyen Hao who is a member of the Vietcong but with the help of Nguyen agrees to become a double agent.
Sergeant Harmon
Commander of James Houston in Cao Phuc who is badly wounded in a firefight.
Dietrich Fest
German assassin who kills Father Carignan and later attempts to kill Trung Than.
Father Carignan
Priest in Manilla who is assassinated for allegedly running guns for the communists.
Reception
Reviews of the book have been mostly favorable. Tree of Smoke was swiftly cited as one of the Best Books of 2007 by The New York Times, whose reviewer, Jim Lewis, called the book "a massive thing and something like a masterpiece".[4] Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, ranking it at #5. Grossman praised the book as "the most ambitious novel of the year, and one of the greatest."[5]
Tree of Smoke won the U.S. National Book Award[1][2] and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.[3]
References
- ^ a b
"National Book Awards – 2007". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
(With interview, acceptance speech by Johnson, essay by Matthew Pitt from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog, and other material linked to Johnson's name.) - ^ a b
Thompson, Bob (2007-11-15). "Johnson's 'Tree of Smoke' Wins National Book Award". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ a b "Fiction". Past winners & finalists by category. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
- ^ Jim Lewis, "The Revelator,", New York Times, September 2, 2007.
- ^ Lev Grossman, "Top 10 Fiction Books," Time, December 24, 2007, pp. 44–45.
External links
- "The Revelator", by Jim Lewis, The New York Times Book Review, September 2, 2007.
- "A Bright Shining Lie", by B. R. Myers, The Atlantic, December 2007.
- Slate magazine Book Club Podcast. Critics Meghan O'Rourke, Katie Roiphe, and James Surowiecki discuss the novel Tree of Smoke.